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The Utah Section PGA is observing a 40-year anniversary in 2026, and there’s a lot to celebrate.
Designed to complement the Utah Golf Hall of Fame that was established in 1991, the newly created Utah Section PGA Hall of Fame will honor primarily PGA Professionals whose careers extended into the era after Utah was awarded its own Section in 1986.
Administrators determined that four decades is sufficient for the Utah Section PGA to have charted its own course of golf history in the state, with a long list of deserving candidates. A second class likely will be honored in 2027, Executive Director Devin Dehlin said, and subsequent groups will be selected every two to four years.
“I’m just excited that we’re getting this going, to be able to honor some of our great professionals,” Dehlin said.
The charter class of the Utah Section PGA Hall of Fame will commemorate the founding of the PGA of America’s newest Section, with several of the nine inductees having been instrumental in both that campaign and the early years of the Section’s operation.
The class includes Tee Branca, Jeff Beaudry, John Evans, Robert McArthur, Ken Pettingill, Ernie Schneiter Jr., Jimmy Thompson, Doug Vilven (photo) and Scott Whittaker.
“I look at all the (professionals) who laid the groundwork for all of this,” said Section President Craig Norman. “The work they did to get it off the ground was amazing.”
Dehlin and other administrators are proud to look back at what the Section has achieved in its first four decades and, he said, “It will be fun to see our Hall of Fame grow over the next 40 years.”
Tee Branca’s name has long stood for professionalism and character, built through a 51-year tenure directing golf operations at The Country Club in Salt Lake City and a lifetime reputation for treating people with respect. Jeff Beaudry helped chart the Section’s direction as its first Executive Director, guiding the founding philosophy that Utah professionals should be engaged in the broader golf world, while also establishing enduring partnerships including the Section’s deep connection to Special Olympics Utah. Doug Vilven’s legendary advocacy for Utah’s own PGA Section with national leaders remains central to the Section’s origin story as is his commitment to education, rules, and a career devoted to growing the game.
The Hall of Fame class also includes several of the Section’s most impactful head professionals, and teachers whose fingerprints remain visible across Utah golf. John Evans is celebrated not only for his own playing accomplishments and long leadership at Cedar Ridge Golf Course in Cedar City, but for the remarkable tree of influence that produced assistants who became Utah PGA Professional of the Year winners and three consecutive Section Presidents. Robert McArthur built one of Utah’s most influential professional “classrooms” through a 39 year tenure at Riverside Country Club, mentoring future leaders and earning national respect as an educator in the PGA of America’s national training program. Ken Pettingill, the first elected President of the Section, was instrumental in establishing its early business practices while also leaving a defining legacy at Valley View Golf Course in Layton, where his 35-year tenure included the construction, operation, and continued improvement of a course that earned national recognition.
Rounding out the inaugural inductees are three figures whose impact spans competitive achievement, instruction, and Section-wide innovation. Ernie Schneiter Jr. brings a rare blend of accomplishments, from winning the 1966 Utah Open to shaping public golf through course development at Schneiter’s Riverside and Schneiter’s Bluff, all while earning a reputation for integrity and unselfish service. Jimmy Thompson, known throughout Utah as a mentor of mentors, influenced generations of professionals through his teaching and devotion to the craft, earning recognition as Teacher of the Year and leaving behind a legacy inseparable from the professional lives he shaped. Scott Whittaker (photo), a Section founder who wrote its first constitution, later guided Utah golf as the Section’s Executive Director, saved and strengthened the Utah Open by leading the Section into operational stewardship, and became the only member in Section history to be honored three times as Golf Professional of the Year, always testing new ideas against one standard: how they would serve Utah golf.
The inaugural Utah Section PGA Hall of Fame induction ceremony is slated for mid-March.
