nebraska pga july 2013 newsletter
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Nebraska PGA July 2013 NewsletterTRANSCRIPT
Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
OMAHA, Neb. – Two things that Kenny Perry loves are
fast cars and fast greens.
On Sunday at Omaha Country Club, he got the fast greens,
and given those conditions, he zoomed past the field at the
34th U.S. Senior Open like he was in a Ferrari.
He appears to have found a fifth gear the past three weeks.
Perry, 52, of Franklin, Ky., carded a 7-under-par 63 –
matching the week’s low round and one off the champion-
ship record – on the 6,657-yard layout to complete a five-
stroke victory over Fred Funk.
His 127 total over the final two rounds shattered the U.S.
Open record by three strokes, and it was the second time in
three weeks that Perry had posted 127 on a weekend to
claim a senior major championship. Two weeks ago, Perry
had rounds of 63-64 to win the Senior Players Champion-
ship outside Pittsburgh. He is now the third golfer in
Champions Tour history to win the Senior Players and U.S.
Senior Open in the same year, joining Gary Player (1987)
and Orville Moody (1989).
His 10-stroke comeback over the final 36 holes also is the
greatest in Senior Open history.
“That was probably the greatest closing round I've ever had,
meaning the ease of it,” said Perry, who plans to take a new
General Motors COPO Camaro out on the racetrack near his
home next week. “The score was easy. The shots were easy.
I didn't have any stress.
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Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
“I've always putted great on super, super fast greens.
Muirfield [Village] is always 14 [feet] or whatever [on the
Stimpmeter]. I just like to be able to let the ball lead off the
face instead of having to hit the ball. And I felt very comfort-
able on the greens today.”
Perry’s 267 total (13 under) matched Irwin for the lowest
72-hole score in Senior Open history. It’s also the sixth time
in the last 10 Senior Opens that the champion finished dou-
ble-digits under par.
“He gets on these crazy runs,” said Rocco Mediate, who
finished tied for third with Corey Pavin at 7-under 273. “He
did it on the [PGA] Tour. Now he's doing it here. It's amaz-
ing. He doesn't back off. He's a great champion. He should
win one of these, as good as he plays.”
How good was Perry? He started the day two strokes behind
54-hole leader Michael Allen, who shot a 2-over 72 to finish
fifth at 274, and raced right by him – and anyone else trying
to catch him – by shooting 5-under 30 on the outward nine.
During one stretch, he birdied five holes in a six-hole stretch
from No. 6 to reach 12 under.
He did bogey the 12th hole, but recovered by stuffing his
third shot to the par-5 14th to a foot for a tap-in birdie. And
for good measure, he tallied another easy birdie on the 15th
hole. He finished the championship ranked No. 1 in birdies
(22), total putts (113) and driving distance (300.5 yards).
“I played flawless out there,” said Perry.
His pursuers would agree. Mediate, Pavin and Funk shot 66,
67 and 68, respectively, and it was as if they were running in
quicksand. Perry was simply too strong and too good to
catch.
“When he gets going, he's really tough to catch,” said Pavin,
who made five consecutive birdies from No. 8. “He's power-
ful, hits it a long way and makes a lot of putts when he gets it
going. [When] he shoots scores like he's shooting now, it's
pretty tough to keep up with him.”
During his PGA Tour career, Perry came close to winning
majors twice, losing heartbreaking playoffs at the PGA
Championship (1996 to Mark Brooks) and the Masters
(2009 to Angel Cabrera). He also tied for third at the 2003
U.S. Open at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club. Perry, in
fact, has been trying to win USGA championships since his
first U.S. Open appearance 25 years ago at The Country
Club in Brookline, Mass.
But not until he turned 40 did Perry begin to show his poten-
tial. Eleven of his 14 PGA Tour victories came after age 40
and now he owns four wins on the 50-and-over circuit,
including the two majors. The Senior Open might have been
his third senior major of 2013 had he not blown a late lead at
the Senior PGA Championship earlier this year at Bellerive
Country Club in St. Louis.
“It's probably my greatest win,” said Perry of his Senior
Open triumph. “When you win your National [Senior]
Open, I mean, that's what we all strive for. I really wanted to
win the Masters and the PGA and a U.S. Open on [the
PGA] Tour, but I couldn't make it happen. Now to finally
have a national title to my name … I'm very proud of that
trophy. I think it's probably the greatest trophy I've won.”
Funk knows about clutching the Francis Ouimet Trophy. He
won it in 2009 at Crooked Stick and now has finished
second three times. The 57-year-old from Ponte Vedra
Beach, Fla., was within striking distance on the first nine, but
never got closer after Perry went on his birdie barrage
midway through the round.
Ditto for Mediate, the 2008 U.S. Open runner-up who was
competing in his first Senior Open. An eagle at the par-5
sixth moved him to within two strokes of the lead, but like
Funk, he couldn’t keep up the fast pace being set by Perry.
“Kenny just played phenomenal,” said Funk. “I played with
him the first two days [of the Senior Players Championship]
at Fox Chapel, and through 30 holes, he wasn't doing any-
thing. All of a sudden, he just went crazy.”
But don’t look for Perry to go for three consecutive majors
in two weeks at the Senior British Open at Royal Birkdale in
England. Having played eight of the last nine weeks on
either the PGA Tour or Champions Tour, he is planning to
take a break from competitive golf. He wants to spend some
time with his family and, of course, hit Beech Bend, the
drag-racing track 20 miles from his home, with the new
vehicle that he expects to pick up on Friday.
It’s a limited-edition Camaro that is not street-legal.
“I’m tired,” he said. “I am going home to celebrate.”
And take a victory lap.
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Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
When Carly Ulrich finally decided to pursue a degree in golf
management, she spent one long and exhausting day canceling all
her psychology classes and enrolling in courses that would be
transferable.
She can laugh about that minor sacrifice today, especially now
that she’s finished with her role in corporate sales and retail opera-
tions at the U.S. Senior Open.
“All I knew was that I wanted to teach and merchandise,” Ulrich
said. “I didn’t care where I went.”
She’s doing exactly that for Omaha Country Club, which is why
she chose about a half-decade ago to end her collegiate golf career
at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and move to Lincoln to
prepare for a future job associated with a sport she’d been playing
since age 5.
In 2009, she was the first female to graduate from the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln with a degree in PGA golf management, a 9-
year-old program that’s one of 20 nationally.
The specialty major requires 16 months of internship experience
before graduation, along with the completion of standard core
course requirements and a series of classes specific to the golf
industry.
“It’s everything, from the business of golf, to customer relations,
to how to teach players golf,” said Alan Baquet, the university’s
PGA golf management director. “By the time students have
graduated, they’ve had lots of interaction (with the industry).”
Perhaps that is why Baquet said the program’s alumni typically
don’t have much difficulty looking for a golf job after they leave
school.
Ulrich’s first was at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson,
Kan., but she returned to Omaha just in time to help organize the
biggest golf event in the community’s history.
There were two other former UNL students involved in the organ-
ization and execution of several behind-the-scenes aspects at the
U.S. Senior Open, too. Three current students interned at the
event, including Jami Melson, who’s in her second year at UNL.
Melson was a semester away from graduating from the University
of Nebraska at Kearney two years ago, but she kept hearing about
possibility of getting a golf degree. Eventually, she looked into it.
“Everything I wanted to do was golf-related,” Melson said. “I was
thinking about the number of opportunities I would have.”
Like working at the championship event last week or managing
the pro shop at Omaha Country Club for the past few months
while Ulrich focused on pitching U.S. Senior Open sponsorship
options to local businesses.
Both Melson and Ulrich are ready for a short vacation now that
the Open’s over, though.
Of course, it likely won’t be long before they’re back at work on
the next project.
Melson comes from a golfing family. Her brother, Bret, hit a hole
in one from 448 yards out in 2006, believed to be a world record.
Ulrich, from Norfolk, said she didn’t truly fall in love with the
sport until her mom, Cindy Froehlich, died of cancer in 2002.
Ulrich dedicates her determination to Mom.
Now, Ulrich is glad to be helping others enjoy playing golf the
same way she and her mom did.
“Golf is so many people’s hobby, their escape. This is what they
love to do,” Ulrich said. “I just try to be as carefree and as nice as I
can be. It’s very service-oriented.”
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Since the inception of the Nebraska PGA Scholarship fund in 2007,
$36,750 has been awarded to 47 children or grandchildren of Nebraska
Section PGA Members. Congratulations to the 2013 Scholarship
recipients:
Jacob O. Hogen: son of Kirk Hogan, PGA
Madison Romjue: granddaughter of Larry Romjue, PGA
Katharine A. Garland: daughter of Sean Riley, PGA
Hayden J. Thomson: son of Chris Thomson, PGA
Lauren E. Davies: daughter of Lawrence Davis, PGA
Over 160,000 spectators and millions of viewers witnessed first hand how Nebraska embraced one of its most
historic moments in golf at the 2013 U.S. Senior Open. While the success of this event featured record
sponsorship dollars attained and merchandise sold, an underlying impact will also be the Junior Golf
Experience.
This is only the second time the USGA has allowed PGA Section involvement in the Junior Golf
Experience. During the U.S. Senior Open, numerous USGA officials stopped by daily to see first hand our
world class Junior Golf Experience that featured over 1400 lessons given by a Nebraska Section PGA
Professional. Over 90 Nebraska Section PGA Professionals stepped up to teach over 300 hours of lessons
during this championship and will be the benchmark for all future major golf events.
Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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Special thanks to Tad Leistico from Black Clover and Antigua for helping support this event.
Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
Families nationwide are encouraged to play golf together during Family Golf Month in July. PGA
Professionals and facilities offer a wide variety of programs designed to provide a structured, yet casual
opportunity for families to learn and play golf together.
In 2012, participating facilities averaged 81 participants and generated $5,4200 in median revenue as a
result of hosting Family Golf Month through additional sales in equipment, merchandise, instruction,
tee times, leagues and memberships.
Participation in Family Golf Month may include any or all of the following programs:
Family Golf Clinics - 1- to 3-hour program for families to learn
Family Golf Day - events to encourage playing as a family
Get Golf Ready for Families - welcome families to learn and play together
Take Your Daughter to the Course Week, July 8-14 - offer discounts to encourage kids to play
Kids Play Free - with a paying adult
Family/Parent-Child programs - events with parents, grandparents, kids
PGA Family Course or TEE IT FORWARD - offer a short course experience for beginners
Download the following marketing resources to promote your program to your customers/members.
Flyer
Poster
Download the web banner
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Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
This month it was amazing to see the Nebraska PGA Section Professionals come together to provide the first ever PGA Junior Golf Experience at a US Senior Open and only the second of such appearances at a USGA Major Championship. Thank you to our professionals who taught nearly 1,400 lessons over 5 days; thank you to all Section leaders who helped coordinate and plan such a big golf experience and another thank you to all Section members who have supported the newly formed Nebraska Section PGA Foundation which enabled us all to host the experience. Thanks to a thrilling US Senior Open Championship at Omaha Country Club, the Nebraska Section is seeing unparalleled excitement in the game of golf. People are sharing their experience with golfers and non-golfers alike. Families are re-energized and motivated to play golf together thanks to all the family programming present at the championship. As Nebraska Section PGA Professionals we need to be thinking about how we can use this newly found excitement for golf to increase rounds at our clubs, sell more merchandise and retain golfers at each facility. Step one is to make sure you can be found. New golfers and youth without a home course are going to be searching online for a club featuring programs that fit them. Post your programs today on PGA.com, PlayGolfAmerica.com, ACTIVE.com and other industry sites. Below are some fun ideas and follow-up steps you can use to bring new and young golfers to your facility:
Above are only a few ideas that have proven to be best practices for many facilities right here
in Nebraska. If you have any questions about any of the above programs or would like
assistance in posting programs on golf industry websites, please contact Nebraska PGA Player
Development Coordinator Joe Canny, PGA at [email protected].
Host a Get Golf Ready class.
Features a proven curriculum that retains golfers who spend money at your facility! GetGolfReady.com is seeing record traffic this year with an expected spike next
month around the PGA Championship. Now is a great time if you haven’t started already.
Incorporate the PGA Sports Academy into your existing junior golf programs.
The PGA of America annually hosts PGA Family Golf Month each July, but this doesn’t mean you can form your own at the club to generate new interest.
Make your own Family Golf Month, Week or Days
PGA Sports Academy has fun games for today’s youth and a focus on fitness and nutrition that parents love.
8” cups Go-Low or TEE IT FORWARD events 3-hole leagues for beginners
Incorporate new and fun formats into parent-child, beginner golfer and junior events.
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Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
One concept or idea this great game involves is trying to focus on the shot at hand. As noted Sports Psycholo-gist, Dr. Bob Rotella says, “stay in the present”, in his book, Golf is Not a Game of Perfect.
How has your focus been this year? Did you have a plan put into place that you shared with your employer? Or, if you are the employer, did you share with your employees “what” the plan was? The focus for many of us is always about the outcome and not about the necessary components one must put into place to have a suc-cessful outcome. Those components involve planning and then sharing the plan and action steps involved to achieve the outcome. Staying in the present is so necessary to play the game successfully and to achieve suc-cessful outcomes in your business.
August is right around the corner (or already here depending on when this is published)! Did the year get away from you? How has your focus been in a business sense? Did your action plan work or is it working? Were there legitimate reasons the plan did not work and were these reasons shared with the employer?
I want you to be thinking about and focusing on what you have done to increase your value to your employer. Have you been communicating with them about what has transpired thus far? Have you kept your focus or have the weather or some other “problem” taken over and you have lost your way/ focus?
Have you done everything possible to feel secure in your job? Have you implemented growth of the game ini-tiatives? Have you been a leader and taken on added responsibility to show your value? Have you communi-cated what you have done or accomplished thus far?
Dr. Rotella also wrote, Life is Not a Game of Perfect. Sometimes, the best laid out plans fail and we fail! How do you or how can you use this failure as a bridge to accomplishment? Please use these next few months to continue or attempt to regain your focus to show your employer by communicating with them what has hap-pened or what you have accomplished. What do you have to lose?
Bruce Lubach, PGA, is the PGA of America Employment Consultant for the sections of Iowa, Midwest, Min-
nesota and Nebraska. He can be reached at 402.261.3604 or [email protected].
Bruce Lubach, PGA Employment Consultant
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Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
OFFICIAL PATRIOT GOLF DAY HOST FACILITIES!
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Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
There are instances where a PGA Professional could be the potential victim
of fraud or a scam. Please review the circumstances below and alert the
appropriate authorities if you are contacted in relation to the following:
1. A PGA Professional in Michigan received an inquiry from a consumer
via e-mail as to the availability to special order a number of brand name clubs including Callaway and
PING The e-mail indicated a credit card number would be provided prior to placing the order. (11/2010)
2. We have been alerted about a possible fraud that involves travel to China. The owner of a golf school
in South Carolina was contacted to arrange a school for some 80 businessmen from China. Once the
proposal was submitted and accepted, the owner was asked to travel to China to make final arrangements
and sign the contract. The owner decided to proceed, hired a lawyer in China and spent $4,000 on airfare
and expenses only to discover (after traveling) the "office" in China didn't exist. After additional research,
the owner discovered that once in China he would have been asked for money and/or gifts as a gesture of
"good faith" to get the deal signed.
3. A consumer recently purchased two Masters badges on Ebay for $4,000 from a person claiming to be a
PGA employee. The alledged employee promised delivery prior to the Masters. The consumer has not
received the badges and has not been able to get in touch with the seller. The FBI has been contacted.
4. A PGA Professional received an e-mail from an out-of-the-area consumer, requesting information
about lessons for his son/daughter. After several e-mails, the professional received a cashier's check in the
amount of $5,000. The consumer was immediately sent an e-mail and alerted to an over payment. The
PGA Professional was asked to deposit the check and to wire the remaining funds to several travel agents
so that an airline ticket could issued.
The member took the cashier's check to his bank, only to learn the endorsement line was not in the correct
location and the check did not have preforated edges. The bank also ran the trace numbers and discovered
it belonged to someone else.
5. A PGA member in the Pacific Northwest PGA Section is warning all members about a group of golfers
referring to themselves as the "WPGA" (World Golf PGA). They generate membership cards and attempt
to use these cards at U.S. facilities for free golf. It is not a legitimate organization and is not affiliated
with the PGA of America.
6. Thieves, in Northern Ohio, are stealing clubs from golf bags while carts are parked. The culprits seem
to be concentrating on drivers, irons, woods, and wedges. Reports are coming from Elyria, Avon and
Concord, Ohio.
In another incident, a gentleman would purchase merchandise with a check, which would later be
returned because the account was closed. This occurred in Barberton, Canton and the surrounding areas.
7. The Deaf Relay Telephone system is being used to run a merchandise scam. In this case, a person calls
using the relay system, wanting to purchase sets of clubs, charge the cost to a credit card and have the
clubs shipped to them. Many of facilities do not process their own credit cards. The facility ships the
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Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
merchandise before the facility’s accounting department processes the credit card. The credit card
payment would be declined. This has occurred at facilities throughout Ohio.
PGA members and facilities in Greenville, S.C., Middlebury, Ind., Cedarburg, Wis., Roseburg, Ore.,
Northern New Jersey, and the Phildelphia PGA Section have received calls through the Deaf Relay
Telephone System.
8. A PGA member in California, who posted an internet ad offering lessons, received a request to teach
an individual's child. After several phone calls and e-mails, a price, acceptance of terms and time frame
was agreed to. The customer sent a cashiers check for more than double the amount, and when notified of
the mistake, requested the balance be forwarded to a brother living in the area. Within a day of receiving
the check, the member was contacted by the brother.
The member checked with the bank and discovered the check was not valid. The bank's security depart-
ment, Postal Inspector, local authorites, and the internet service provider were all notified. Authorities
were adamant that members should not get involved in any face-to-face meetings.
The e-mail was traced to a yahoo.com address and the phone calls were traced to a throw away cell
phone.
8. A PGA member recently received an e-mail from the National Credit Union Administration indicating
additional information was needed in order to provide the member with secure services. The member was
also informed their PGA Credit Union account access would remain limited until the issue was resolved.
The member forwarded the e-mail to the PGA Credit Union and was informed the e-mail was a phishing
scam. The PGA Credit Union reported this to the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the
FTC and the Better Business Bureau.
The PGA Credit Union will never ask you for your confidential information via e-mail. If you should ever
receive an e-mail or phone call you're not sure about, please contact the PGA Credit Union for assistance.
10. The Northern Ohio PGA Section is alerting PGA Professionals that a customer is attempting to pur-
chase golf clubs with a credit card and have them shipped to a post office box in South Africa. When the
PGA Head Professional replied and asked for a phone number so that he could contact the customer, he
was informed that only the credit card number could be provided via e-mail at this time.
Facilities in the Philadelphia PGA Section are receiving similar inquiries.
Should you receive an e-mail that you think may be fraudulent, forward it to the FTC at [email protected]
and delete it from your computer. For additional information about possible fraudulent practices, visit
these government Web sites:
OnGuard Online
Federal Citizen Information Center
National Cyber Security Alliance
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Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
Lincoln, NE- The Country Club of Lincoln played host to the 2013 Club
Car/Mizuno Pro-3Am and Nick Wanderscheid, PGA of Green Valley Golf
Course stole the show after finishing with a four-under-par 68.
Wanderscheid’s seven birdie performance was good enough for a two shot
victory over Jon Petersen, PGA of Tiburon Golf Club.
The team of Jon Petersen, PGA, Carson Schaake, Ben Maschka and Tony
Roth dominated the field with a 19-under-par 125 total in the one gross plus
one net format. The next closest team, comprised of Tom Hearn, PGA of the
PGA Tour, Rj Metteer , Jeremy McHugh and Joe Wolsleger, made a late
push but ended alone in second place five shots back.
Jim White, PGA MP of West Nine and Learning Center captured the Senior Professional Division after
finishing at even-par 72 which was good enough for a two shot victory over Mike Antonio, PGA of Happy
Hollow Club and Mike Cornell, PGA of Champions Run.
Tony Baranowski of Shadow Ridge Country Club finished the day at two-over-par which was good
enough for a one shot-victory over Ryan Vermeer of Oak Hills Country Club and Kyle Schellpeper of Oak
Hills Country Club in the Assistant Professional Divisions.
The Nebraska Section PGA would like to give a special thank you to all of today’s tournament sponsors:
Don Brudny of Nebraska Golf and Turf, Jeremy Galbreth of Mizuno, Vinnie Krikac State Farm Insurance
agency and to Omaha Steaks.
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Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
Sioux City, Iowa – Seven birdies
and no bogies propelled, Jon
Petersen, PGA Teaching
Professional at Tiburon Golf Club
to a seven-under-par 65 at
Whispering Creek Golf Club.
Petersen got off to a hot start by
birding the first two holes and
didn’t look back.
Ryan Vermeer, Teaching Professional at Oak Hills
Country Club finished in second place at five-under-par
67 and Shane Zywiec, PGA, Teaching Professional at
Highlands Golf Course and Nick Wanderscheid, PGA,
Head Golf Professional at Green Valley Golf Course,
finished in third place at one-under-par.
The team competition was a one team show as Matt
Nice, PGA, Director of Golf at the Ridge Golf Club, Bj
Koch, Corey Braunschweig and Luke Essing.
Braunschweig took full advantage of the “TEE IT
FORWARD” campaign as he shot a personal low,
nine-under-par, 63.
The event was highlighted by a PGA of
America/USGA campaign called, “TEE IT
FORWARD” which encourages golfers to play from
tees best suited to their game and abilities. By playing
from the forward tees, amateur golfers had the chance
to play the course at the same relative distance as a
touring professional would over 18 holes. The playing
field is leveled by giving golfers the opportunity to play
from distances that are properly aligned with their
abilities. “By shortening the course we gave the
amateur golfers the chance to hit less club into the
green which allowed for a few more birdies and less
time spent on the golf course,” said David Honnens,
PGA Executive Director Nebraska PGA.
This event also celebrated its 11th Anniversary which
has raised over $120,000 to local Siouxland Charities
that benefit the Sioux City community.
The seventh annual Golf Fore
the Troops Pro-Am featured
lots of great golf on a
beautiful day at the difficult
Firethorn Golf Club in
Lincoln. Shane Zywiec,
PGA, of Highlands Golf
Course, led the Professional
division with a four-under-par
67 which was good enough for a two shot victory
over Nick Wanderscheid, PGA, of Green Valley
Golf Course and Kyle Schellpeper of Oak Hills
Country Club.
The team division was a one team show as Bryan
Hughett, PGA, of Norfolk Country Club teamed up
with Mike Hershberger, James Hershberger and
Dustin Hershberger to shoot 18-under-par and win
by six shots over the three way tie for second place.
The day’s event ended with special guest, Jack Riggins who is an Executive Officer for the Naval Special Warfare Unit. Golf Fore the Troops helps military families by awarding scholarships to family members of active personnel serving here locally or abroad. To date, this event has awarded over $60,000 in scholarships. The Nebraska Section PGA would like to give a special thanks to the Co-Chairs of Golf Fore the Troops, Jim White, PGA MP and Dave Breetzke from Time Warner Cable for a special day.
(Pictured Left to Right- Jim White, PGA, Jack Riggins, Shane Zywiec, PGA and David Breetzke)
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Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
Matt Shaner, PGA Professional at the Kearney Country Club, is proud to announce that the Tasha Keiter
Memorial Golf Tournament was a great success. With the purchasing power of the Nebraska Section of
the PGA, the funds raised will be used to purchase 5 SNAG® kits. Starting New At Golf (SNAG®) is a
program that teaches golf basics to K-5 elementary students. It instills values while educating students in
the game of golf using age-appropriate equipment. The core values of SNAG® are Discipline, Etiquette,
Honesty, Integrity, Patience, Respect, Self Control, Persistence, and Teamwork.
The Tasha Keiter Memorial Youth Golf Fund was established with the Kearney Area Community
Foundation as a way to bring this program to Central Nebraska. The curriculum has been approved by
Kearney Public Schools for implementation in their Physical Education department. This program will
impact over 2600 elementary students. With the cooperation of the Physical Education Teachers in the
Kearney Public School System, SNAG® will be offered in the 10 public elementary schools for the
2013-14 school year. All KPS elementary schools will have access to the curriculum, but will share
equipment. Additional area schools will be added as future dollars are raised. David Honnens, PGA,
Executive Director, and Joe Canny, PGA, NJGT Director & Player Development Coordinator, both of the
Nebraska PGA, have endorsed the SNAG® program. It is the goal of the Tasha Keiter Memorial Youth
Golf Fund to sustain this program through an annual golf tournament and ongoing donations and local
support.
Visit www.tashakeiter.blogspot.com for more information or call the Kearney Country Club at
308-234-3151. Donations can be made directly through the Kearney Area Community Foundation,
designated to the “Tasha Keiter Memorial Youth Golf Fund”.
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Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
Results from the 2013 PGA Annual Operations Survey are
now available on PGALinks.com. With approximately 3,200
highest ranked PGA Professionals participating this year, the PGA Annual Operations Survey continues to
enhance its status as the golf industry standard for facility data. The online interactive reporting tool is in-
tended to provide invaluable information to:
• Benchmark your facility’s performance with other “like” facilities
• Obtain customized reports
• Prepare for the annual budgeting process
Click here or log on to PGALinks.com and navigate to the Research area to begin using the tool immedi-
ately.
Thank you for helping ensure that one of our Association's most powerful facility operations tools remains
effective for you and your fellow PGA Professionals.
Pursuant to a recent Board of Directors decision, the guidelines for
Acceptable Progress will be changing as of July 1, 2013 as follows:
Successful Completion of Level 1 – Two (2) years (24 months) from Level 1 Start Date; suspended until
completed; terminated after four (4) years from Level 1 Start Date
Successful Completion of Level 2 –within two (2) years (24 months) from Level 2 Start Date; suspended
until completed; terminated after four (4) years from Level 2 Start Date
Successful Completion of Level 3 and Election to PGA Membership– within eight (8) years (96) months
from Level 1 Start Date;
No further suspensions for Level 3, remain in program until terminated at eight(8) years from Level 1 Start
date There are numerous programming reports and processes to be amended, forms to be revised and
PGALinks links to be updated, all of which are currently being reviewed and undergoing revisions in
preparation for implementation with a July 1, 2013 effective date.
Once the new policy is implemented, there will be some currently suspended apprentices who will have
their suspension lifted.
20
Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
21
Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
22
Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
23
Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
STAFF
Joe Canny, PGA Junior Golf Director/
Player Development Coordinator
Renee Tyson Administrative Assistant
David Honnens, PGA
Executive Director
Thomas Harmon, PGA
Tournament Director
Updates between 7/1-7/29