After joining the MGA’s Board of Directors back in 2021, Damon Wright of Winged Foot was elected secretary for 2025. The 39-year-old executive director with JP Morgan has been soaking up all he can as a new officer and is excited about the heightened opportunity to give back to the game. If there’s a foremost thought for Wright in his service, it’s helping people get into golf at a younger age and more quickly realize the outstanding qualities of the game.
Here are five things about Damon Wright:
His late father, Dale, introduced him to the game at a young age, but team sports captured his attention as he grew up. He played baseball at Dartmouth and was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 2008 MLB draft. When an injury halted his pro career, Damon immersed himself in golf, going on trips with his dad and turning into that guy you see on the subway working on his hip rotation and grip.
Though he grew up in Plano and Dallas, Texas, Damon was actually born in New York. His parents moved to the Lone Star State for work when he was three, but he still became familiar with the Met Area through the years. “I always would come back to New York – we had family here – and I kind of knew this was where I wanted to be for the rest of my life. There’s so much energy here, so much culture, wonderful sports, wonderful education, so I knew this area was where I wanted to raise my family.”
It seems as if Damon was destined to get involved with the MGA. His father played basketball at Pace University, where he was coached by longtime MGA championship director Gene Westmoreland. On one trip to New York, Dale was going to see Gene and Damon was planning to play alone that day. One phone call turned into a round of golf for the three and Damon’s own relationship with Gene. “Once I got to really connect with Gene, who I had been hearing about since I was young because he was such an impactful coach for my father, that was really my entrée into the MGA. It all started rolling from there.”
Damon also loves playing the piano. He learned at a young age and though he has his hands full with work, a 10-month-old son, Preston, and his golf obsession, he looks forward to being able to play more in the coming years.
Damon knew his now-wife Jennifer was the one rather quickly. So much so that on their second date, he took her to a golf store in New York City, bought her a set of Callaway clubs and a golf outfit, then took her to play at Ferry Point. “I knew that she was the one and I knew that because she was the one, she was going to have to be ok with my golf obsession,” recalls Damon with a chuckle.