The best leaders demonstrate a genuine connection with their organization and facility. For PGA of America Golf Professional Tony LaFrenere, his feelings for the Schaumburg (Illinois) Park District where he serves as Executive Director radiate even more fiercely.
LaFrenere grew up right down the street from where he goes to work every day in this large northwestern Chicago suburb. He played pickup basketball and attended art programs within the physical plant he now manages – which includes three different community centers, a tennis center and indoor aquatic park and the 27-hole Schaumburg Golf Club, which has hosted qualifying for the U.S. Open, Illinois Open and Illinois Amateur.
“This is where I grew up, where I fell in love with the game of golf and where I’ve had the privilege to give back,” says LaFrenere, the 2025 PGA of America Golf Executive of the Year Award recipient. “The resources and opportunities this community provided shaped my career and my passion for the game.”
The scope of LaFrenere’s responsibilities across all of those facilities, 90 full-time staff and an annual budget of $45 million are substantial, but his work spearheading the renovation of Schaumburg Golf Club stands out. The Park District bought the course in 1989, and the three-stage renovation commenced in 2017.
The undertaking included an extensive flood mitigation project and a series of structural and cosmetic changes that brought back features original to the 1920s design and the greens to USGA standards. In the clubhouse, a lightly-used locker room was converted into a modern three-bay indoor practice area, complete with launch monitors.
“I’ve always been a huge advocate of technology, and being part of a park district allows us to think out of the box and introduce the game to a broader audience,” says LaFrenere, who was named the Illinois PGA Section Executive of the Year in 2022.
“We brought Toptracer mobile technology to our learning center, which makes the game more engaging and accessible.”
LaFrenere started in golf playing at the then-Moon Lake Golf Course in neighboring Hoffman Estates, where his mother worked in the golf shop. He moved up to golf car attendant there and eventually returned when the course came under the control of the Hoffman Estates Park District, where LaFrenere had become deputy director after serving as PGA of America Head Professional and General Manager at Poplar Creek Country Club. When the Schaumburg Park District’s general manager retired in 2012, LaFrenere was ready to come home.
“We had bought my in-laws’ house and had already moved back to Schaumburg,” says LaFrenere. “It was surreal interviewing for the job and going on bike rides to check out the parks and facilities around the town to reacclimate myself. Going through the process, I think my Schaumburg passion showed through to the board members.”
Participation in all of the park district’s programs has risen dramatically since the pandemic, and bigger budgets have given LaFrenere some chess pieces to move to keep his facilities in step with the community. That means new pickleball courts with lights, a cricket pitch and a new slate of programs designed to get kids away from screens and moving around.
“My staff and I are constantly challenging ourselves to make our parks, programs and facilities as engaging as possible,” LaFrenere says.
“Community programs can open doors, and that’s what energizes me about the work we do – finding creative ways to make golf and our other programs a part of more people’s lives.”
—Matthew Rudy
