Meade: Lady Bird Golf Course is a 55-year-old municipal golf course located within a park. I have been the PGA of America General Manager and Head Golf Professional since 2018. We have a very active junior golf program and are the host facility for our local high school teams, as well as the Fredericksburg Junior Golf Foundation, which provides free U.S. Kids-based instruction to local juniors.
Meade: I started, like so many golf professionals, in the cart department while in high school and have been employed in the golf business ever since and have been a PGA Member since 1999. In 1994, I applied for an assistant professional position at Grandover Resort in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was during this interview that I met the man who would mold the direction of my career.
Greg Abadie was the PGA GM of the facility and apparently saw something. Greg and his wife Vicki were like parents to me while teaching me the golf business. After Greg moved on, I had the opportunity to work for him again, in Katy, Texas. Following that post, I got my first opportunity to run my own facility in Pass Christian, Mississippi. I was there for Katrina, and Greg was among the first to show up and offer aid and support. We have stayed close friends for the past 30 years, and he is now wrapping up his career back in Mississippi. Greg Abadie is 100 percent responsible for all I have accomplished as a golf professional!
Meade: As is often the case in our industry, goals are set through the budgeting process, and we are measured against those goals. Although we look at the overall scope of work, or the year-end results if you will, I try to judge each day on its merits, what we achieved, what we could have done better, and I use those results to plan the remainder of the week, month and year.
Meade: I am most encouraged that the diversity we experienced during the pandemic has continued. I am seeing younger, more non-traditional golfers than ever before. We have so many more couples and groups of friends at the range and playing golf than ever before.
What steps have you taken to be a more effective PGA of America General Manager?
Meade: It sounds insignificant, but delegation has always been an area that I struggled with - trying to do too much alone. I have now developed a team that has grown and handles their departments so well that it affords me the time to do what I enjoy, which is working with the juniors and high school golfers.
Meade: Luckily, I have a young apprentice who is eager and will be an amazing PGA Member. This young man was a standout high school golfer and had some opportunities to play golf in college. We visited with him about these goals. I then visited with his family, and we decided that the best way for Shepherd to get where he wanted to be was to go ahead and get started. He chose to enter the PGA PGM Apprentice program rather than delay his career. What I would tell anyone is if you know what you want, don’t be afraid to take the most direct route to get it!