The PGA Master Professional Program was established in 1969 to recognize PGA of America Members who make a significant effort to improve themselves as golf professionals and maintain the highest degree of excellence for themselves and their operations. As of press time, 478 individuals have achieved PGA Master Professional status since the program began. For more information about the program, log on to PGA.org or email PGAMEMBEREDU@pgahq.com, or call 866-866-3382 and select option 6.
The highest designation a PGA of America Golf Professional can achieve is PGA Master Professional status. The program was recently updated as part of the PGA Certified Professional Program to provide additional support to those hoping to reach this rarified achievement. Pursing this designation allows applicants to study in the career path they’ve chosen – Executive Management, Golf Operations or Teaching & Coaching – and, after being employed for 10 years, an individual can apply for the PGA Master Professional program through the PGA Education department.
Once in the program, candidates will serve as a mentor to five PGA Certified Professionals while being assigned a mentor of their own from the roster of current PGA Master Professionals. We recently talked with PGA Master Professional candidate Michael Wenzel and his mentor, PGA Master Professional Bob Intrieri, about what it takes to complete the curriculum and how having a mentor helps the process.
Intrieri became the 31st PGA Master Professional when his thesis on golf schools was approved in 1986. He was involved in the creation of the Penn State University PGM Program, and his project drew upon his experiences there.
“My thesis was ‘The Golf School,’ and it was basically a how-to book on setting up a school from A to Z, the fundamentals of teaching and then how to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your own effort,” says Intrieri, who is now a PGA Life Member (Retired) Master Professional. “I drew deeply on my own experience at Penn State, where I was involved in teaching every level of player from beginning to elite.”
Intrieri has mentored many candidates in the decades since earning his PGA Master Professional designation, and he understands how completing the program requires planning and persistence.
“People get discouraged by the time and effort, and as a mentor I can untangle a lot of that,” he says. “It comes from understanding them as a person. A mentor can help a mentee with their golf game, with their employers and with their finances.”
For Wenzel, the process of completing his PGA Master Professional project on coaching has benefitted from having Intrieri as a mentor. Wenzel’s busy schedule as PGA of America Director of Instruction at Northbrook Golf Academy at Heritage Oaks Golf Club in Northbrook, Illinois, has kept him from completing the program as quickly as he hoped, but that in itself has led to a learning experience.
“The process seems very intimidating at the outset. What I’ve learned is to do it as early as you can in your career,” Wenzel says. “The years fly by, so you need to make it a priority. The process gets harder as you get older and life gets in the way.”
With Intrieri’s help, Wenzel has simplified his thesis to focus upon how people learn and what triggers them to enter a flow state of learning.
“I’ve been very lucky and fortunate to have Mr. Intrieri as a mentor,” says Wenzel, a PGA of America Certified Professional in Golf Operations, Retailing and Teaching & Coaching. “He is a class act, and very knowledgeable. He’s a very caring and genuine person who has helped me through every step.”
Intrieri is glad to work with mentees like Wenzel, and is glad to see him and other PGA of America Golf Professionals working to attain their PGA Master Professional designation.
“It has been an absolute pleasure and honor to work with Michael and others over the years as a mentor,” Intrieri says. “I take great pride in what we’ve managed to achieve. I sincerely hope we encourage more people to pursue the PGA Master Professional designation.”
