Becoming a Leader on PGA of America’s National Stage
As Rea was establishing himself as the PGA of America Head Professional at Augusta Ranch in the early 2000s, he realized one limitation of his non-traditional background: He didn’t have a strong golf network. To remedy that, he did the same thing that helped him get into the business in the first place by turning to the Southwest PGA Section.
“I was out in Mesa when it seemed like every other golf professional in the Section was in the Scottsdale/Phoenix area, and they all knew each other,” Rea says. “I felt like an outsider, and I wanted to get involved, so I went to the Section.”
Rea joined a committee overseeing the Southwest Golf Pass, a discount program which Augusta Ranch participated, with hopes of making some suggestions and meeting his peers. He quickly became chair of the committee, and his enthusiasm was noted by his fellow professionals.
“I was an officer on the Section board when Don became active, and as an officer you’re always trying to encourage the next generation,” Shershenovich recalls. “Don was that guy at the meetings who wasn’t afraid to ask questions, wasn’t shy about getting involved. I encouraged him to fill the void as other officers cycled out. It takes a certain person, and you could see his passion and how much he cared from the start.”
Rea went on to run for Southwest PGA Section Secretary, winning on his second try before cycling through the chairs of the Section and serving as Section President in 2013–14. He also represented District 14 on the PGA of America Board from 2016–19, has chaired the PGA of America Junior Golf Committee and worked with the Coaching and Player Development and Community Golf Committees. Rea has also been active outside the PGA of America as a board member of the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) and the Arizona Tourism Alliance.
For the past four years, Rea has traveled the country as PGA of America Secretary and Vice President, which he says is the perfect education for his two-year term as President.
“I think the way things are set up for PGA of America officers is brilliant,” Rea says. “As Secretary, you learn everything and anything about the member because you chair the committees for education, employment, membership and the Board of Control. So you really find out about all the different categories of PGA of America Golf Professionals, the Medical and Disaster Relief Fund, the code of ethics, you name it. It’s basically a two-year degree in how the PGA of America serves its members and how that all works.
“Then you become Vice President, and now you chair the budget committee, the investment committee, the audit committee and the innovation committee – anything to do with money – and that’s like another two-year degree. So, by the time you’re President, you know everything about how PGA of America Membership works and how the finances work, so you have this amazing education you can use to help PGA of America Members.”
Rea is also happy with the geographic education he’s received in his travels, which include 38 of the 41 Sections to date – and he plans to have visited each by early next year. He marvels at the number of PGA of America Members he’s met during meetings, awards ceremonies and visits to golf facilities.
“You really get to see the strength of our Association that it is these 41 Sections working together, just like our country is 50 states working together,” Rea says. “Each Section is completely different and independent, but we all work together and have the national PGA of America staff to push more resources and support to the Sections as they need it. It’s very inspiring to see how we all help each other.”
As PGA of America President, Rea wants to prioritize meeting and mentoring students in PGA Education. With more than 8,000 Associates and students in the pipeline, Rea wants to make sure they have guidance to help launch their careers.
“I know our PGA Education is so strong, but we have so much institutional knowledge out there with our 30,000 members that I want to make sure gets passed along,” Rea says. “You know, you don’t learn to cook from a cookbook the same way as if you have chefs telling you their secrets. So, I’m excited to prioritize mentorship and elevate the craft of being a PGA of America Golf Professional even more.”
Rea also plans to continue strengthening PGA of America government advocacy through partnerships with the NGCOA and the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) to amplify golf’s voice with elected officials.
“Golf is more popular than ever, but 92 out of 100 Americans still don’t play golf,” Rea says. “If our elected officials don’t play the game, or if they don’t understand what golf is all about – or if they have inaccurate preconceived notions about the sport and business – that’s a problem.
“With government advocacy, we have to ap proach it intentionally to make sure our game is healthy so our PGA of America Golf Professionals will have healthy careers. The good news is that all we have to do is make sure our lawmakers know the truth: that golf facilities are a collection of small businesses, and that golf is good for people, it’s good for the environment and it’s good for the economy.”
At the end of his two-year term, the PGA of America’s 44th President knows the game and business of golf could look quite different from today. Rea wants to make sure the Association is looking forward to keeping members vital to the game.
“You have to be thinking about how something like AI is going to affect everyone in our profession, and how we can incorporate that into things like PGA Coach,” Rea says. “It makes what we’re good at – creating relationships with people through golf – even more important and valuable to golf facilities. Maybe AI takes over some tasks, but we’ll still be the ones on the lesson tee, on the first tee, leading golf trips and planting the seeds of golf.
“So, if after two years we have excited PGA students, legislators that better understand who we are and a boatload of professionals embracing PGA Coach, then that will be mission accomplished for me. I’m so excited and proud to lead the PGA of America, and I can’t wait to see what happens over these next two years.”