Nearly two dozen future leaders of the golf industry gathered recently at the 2024 PGA Assistant Golf Professional of the Year Conference to share ideas and network around a theme of “Embracing Constant Change.” They were joined by a trio of award-winning PGA of America Professionals as mentors at the invitation-only event, which is part of the PGA Magazine Conference Series.
The seventh annual PGA Assistant Golf Professional of the Year Conference was held Oct. 20-23 at The Union League Liberty Hill in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. Attendees spent time to gether meeting, sharing meals and playing golf at Liberty Hill and the new Landings short course at The Union League Torresdale facility – where 2024 Southern Ohio PGA Assistant Golf Professional of the Year Wyatt Wilson, an Assistant Professional at NCR Country Club in Dayton, Ohio, made a hole-in-one.
Sitting in on breakout sessions and participating in panel discussions were PGA of America award winners Sean Palmer, Joshua Tremblay and Jim Smith Jr., who shared their personal journeys from the assistant ranks to becoming head professionals, directors of golf and general managers. PGA of America Career Consultants Joe Doughty and Ryan Holland were also on hand to provide guidance and discuss the career-building resources available to young golf professionals.
Breakout sessions facilitated by PGA of America Members covered a range of topics, from navigating the ongoing golf boom to setting goals and planning for future career moves.
“I was really happy to hear from other assistants from all around the country,” Wilson said. “Even though a lot of us are at different types of facilities, we’re all navigating the same issues in our careers, and it’s helpful to hear how others are approaching them. I feel recharged and ready to move forward with my career goals.”
Added Bridget McLaughlin, who won the 2023 Justin Riegel Assistant Golf Professional of the Year Award in the New Jersey PGA Section and is now the PGA of America Head Professional at Waynesborough Country Club in Paoli, Pennsylvania, “Getting to know the other attendees gives me a lot of energy. I’m definitely taking some ideas back to my club with me that should help my staff and me personally in the future.”
The 2024 PGA Assistant Golf Professional of the Year Conference included an in-depth Q&A session with Tremblay, the 2023 PGA of America Player Development Award winner and the PGA of America Director of Golf at Lehigh Country Club in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Smith, the 2024 PGA of America Bill Strausbaugh Award recipient and the PGA COO/Director of Golf at Philadelphia Cricket Club in Flourtown, Pennsylvania. Palmer, the 2021 Philadelphia PGA Golf Professional of the Year and PGA of America General Manager at The Union League Liberty Hill, also took questions from attendees.
“The important thing for making the transition from an assistant to a head professional is learning how to be a leader, not a doer,” said Palmer. “Don’t keep being an assistant as a head professional. Let others learn and fail like you did, and guide them along their journey. You’ll succeed as they succeed.”
Attendees also participated in a panel discussion with event partners, providing them insights into the golf business and how current and future trends are impacting the industry – and will impact their careers moving forward.
Presenting partners of the 2024 PGA Assistant Golf Professional of the Year Conference included Full Swing, Holderness & Bourne, the PGA of America, Ping, Pukka, the Union League Liberty Hill and UST Mamiya. Supporting partners included BN3TH and StrackaLine.
—Don Jozwiak