When Jared Henzlik walks the aisles of the PGA Show each January, he can barely go more than a few yards without running into one of the many friends he’s made over the years.
Henzlik, the 2026 PGA of America Merchandiser of the Year for resort facilities, has a genuine Upper Midwestern charm that has always been magnetic — whether working as a PGA of America Golf Professional at private and resort facilities early and later in his career, or leading one top-tier golf apparel company after another in between.
“My journey as a PGA Member has taken me many wonderful and challenging places, and has broadened my perspective on life and business,” says Henzlik, who has been the PGA of America Director of Retail at Big Cedar Lodge Resort in Ridgedale, Missouri, since 2021. “Through strategic merchandising, team empowerment and a deep respect for the traditions of golf, I aim to inspire passion, foster community and set a national standard for retail excellence within the PGA of America.”
Henzlik’s journey began in Minnesota, where he played high school golf before attending the University of Kansas, and then pursuing business opportunities in the Twin Cities area. However, he knew something was missing and consulted a mentor.
“He asked me, ‘When you aren’t working, what do you think about?’ I said, ‘Mostly, securing a tee time,’” Henzlik recalls. “He encouraged me to explore the golf business. I’m so happy I did.”
In 1990, he became an assistant professional at Majestic Oaks Golf Club in Ham Lake, Minnesota, where he met his wife, Sheila. Two years later, Henzlik earned an opportunity to move to North Oaks Golf Club, a private facility in the Twin Cities. He ran the retail operation and increased golf shop sales from $200,000 to $600,000 in a Mill River environment over a five-year period.
In 1996, the same year Henzlik was elected to PGA Membership, he received a call from Polo Ralph Lauren, which was expanding its golf business and asked him to join the team as an account executive servicing five states.
“Joining the wholesale side of the business with Polo Ralph Lauren was most fortunate. With all my experiences as a buyer, I had learned what constitutes a good sales rep and what does not, leading to early success,” he recalls.
Five years after joining the company, Henzlik was promoted to Director of Operations and relocated his family from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Greensboro, North Carolina. But he soon recognized the job was more about inventory, spread sheets, coordination and rep management than what he loved: customers and product. “It was around then I met (Peter Millar founder) Chris Knott, who explained to me about his fast-growing company and how he could use some help,” he says. “While at Peter Millar, I acquired a great education on how to build garments, working with factories and creating a line/collection that worked for multiple business channels – and the entire country. I was fortunate to learn from one of the best in the business.”
In 2006, the desire to spend more time with his wife and their four young daughters led Henzlik to reunite with industry veteran Andy Bell, who was building a brand called House of Carrington. It meant another relocation – this time from North Carolina to Milwaukee, which was closer to home – but after five successful years, the company was unable to survive the recession of the late 2000s.
Over the next decade, Henzlik spent time as a sales and operations executive with Summit Brands, Bobby Jones/Sunice and johnnie-O, each stop increasing his industry knowledge, expanding his network and allowing him to learn from some talented people along the way.
“I then got a phone call from longtime friend John Richeson telling me he had accepted the Director of Golf position at Big Cedar and they were looking to hire a Director of Retail,” Henzlik says.
After meeting with the resort’s VPs and president, he was excited and onboard. And the timing could not have been better, as Big Cedar had recently staged the Payne’s Valley Cup, introducing the new Tiger Woods-designed Payne’s Valley Golf Course with a PGA TOUR presence that included Woods, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Justin Rose. In the four years since, Big Cedar’s retail golf operation has grown 300 percent, and the resort’s overall business more than 200 percent.
“Our success in golf has come from a better vendor mix, negotiating better terms and pricing, and merchandise that sells incredibly well. That has always been my world,” explains Henzlik. “The biggest thing I have done is to collaborate with vendors on SMUs (special make ups), which means instead of us just buying open piece goods from their line, they develop products for us to co-brand.”
Perhaps Henzlik’s biggest achievement came three years ago with the creation of an alternative logo for Payne’s Valley.
“I remember thinking, we built this magnificent stone building as our turn station we refer to as the Crow’s Nest,” he recalls. What if we created a special logo, one you could only get there? We will do monster numbers out of the Crow’s Nest this year, and that’s incremental revenue.”
Besides its six golf courses, two gift shops, two marinas, spa, outdoor amphitheater, multiple pools and numerous outdoor activities like hiking, fishing and boating, one of the things Henzlik likes most about Big Cedar is how every new employee – whether a dishwasher or a Director of Retail – is required go through a two-day hospitality class where they study the resort’s “set of non-negotiables.” Every associate is required to wave and be the first to greet guests, holding open doors, picking up trash and guiding them around the sizable property.
“Whatever you must do to have guests say, ‘Big Cedar is absolutely the best,’ that’s what we do here,” Henzlik says.
