Lowcountry Lowdown

An update from your Area Director, Ben Smith, PGA:

HHIPGA Chapter Education: Politics and the Game of Golf 
Monday, May 14 
Berkeley Hall Club at 5:30pm 

We hope to see many Chapter Members join us for a great discussion with some of our very best Professionals! John Farrell, Mike Harmon and Billy Sampson will be sharing their experiences of dealing with politics in the golf industry in a roundtable discussion format. Please e-mail HHIPGA Education Committee members Mark Reilly (markr@colletonriverclub.com) or Terry Davis (tdavis@palmettodunes.com) to sign up for this event. An MSR hour is available for those Chapter Members that attend.

PGA Career Consultant Mike Mueller
Tuesday, May 15 and Wednesday, May 16 
Port Royal Golf Club

Our Section Career Consultant Mike Mueller will be in Hilton Head for an interactive Career Planning Workshop at Port Royal Golf Club. This is a great opportunity for our PGA Professionals and Associates to learn career building skills and receive personal career advice. Mike will be available after the Workshop for individual meetings to discuss your specific career goals and objectives. Space is limited - email Mike (mmueller@pgahq.com) to reserve your space.

HHIPGA Chapter Meeting Featuring Chris Phelps from Polo Golf 
Tuesday, May 15 
Moss Creek Golf Club at 7:00pm

The last opportunity to earn Required MSRs from the Chapter before the current cycle ends will be at the upcoming Chapter Meeting on May 15 at Moss Creek. The Business Meeting starts at 7:00 pm, with our Education to immediately follow. We're excited to welcome Chris Phelps from Polo Golf for a presentation on merchandising. Remember, you must be a Chapter Member to earn these MSRs - visit www.hhipga.com to signup if you haven't joined the Chapter yet.

Hilton Head Open - Save The Date
July 28 & 29
Sea Pines CC

Join us for the 2018 Hilton Head Open at Sea Pines Country Club on July 28 & 29! Be on the lookout on the Chapter's website for more details and signup dates. 

Ben Smith - Area III Director
Director of Golf
Port Royal Golf Club
843.681.1765
bsmith@heritagegolfgroup.com

Carolinas PGA President Paige Cribb - Section Update

I hope your spring is off to a good start.  I look forward to providing you quarterly updates on section activity.  The Officers and I have a monthly phone call with Executive Director Jeff Abbot to stay informed between our face-to-face board meetings.  I wanted to share a few of the highlights from the first quarter.

Big Week was a “big” success.  We received wonderful feedback on the meeting, speakers and merchandise show.  All of the merchandise booths were sold out for the third consecutive year.  The new venue of Greensboro CC for the Club Car CPGA Awards Dinner was also well received.  Plans have already begun for 2019 Big Week!

The CPGA Global Golf Sales Area Meetings were well attended and recently concluded.  Congratulations to A.J. Sikula (Area IV), Jim Lohbauer (Area VI) and Marshall Stott (Area VIII) who were elected as Area Directors and immediately appointed to serve on the board.  Steven Hartwig (Area II) and Dan O’Boyle (Area X) were elected and will start in February 2019. 

I appointed our Committee Chairs shortly after Big Week.  The chairs have been working to finalize their committee members, and the directory will be posted to the section website by mid-May.  We are excited to add a new PGA REACH Committee to provide direction on youth player development, military/HOPE initiatives and diversity & inclusion.

Registration opens on May 15^th for the inaugural PGA REACH Harvick4Heroes Charity Pro-Am on Monday, October 1^st at Charlotte CC.  This is the main fundraiser for our PGA REACH Carolinas Foundation.  Teams are $5,000 (1 Pro-4 Ams) and all participants will receive a $500 tee gift package featuring a Scotty Cameron putter.  We are playing Charlotte CC the week after it hosts the USGA Mid-Am, so the course will be in pristine condition.  We plan to have sponsors, food and beverage on nearly every hole, so this will be a can’t miss event!! 

Our 2017 PGA Works Fellow Jessica Asbury accepted the PGA REACH Carolinas Coordinator full time position on May 1^st.  Our new 2018 PGA Works Fellow is Telvin Walker, a recent graduate of Livingstone College in Salisbury, NC.  Telvin will start on May 14^th, after spending  the past year working at the East Potomac Golf Course in Washington DC.  We also welcome our three new tournament interns this month:  Paul Zeuschner of Coastal Carolina, Brandon Moore of Middle Tennessee State and Ben Weeks from the University of Georgia.

Our next board meeting is June 18 & 19 at the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst.  We have a busy agenda as we continue to serve you and grow the game.  Please reach out to me if you have any questions or issues you would like to discuss.  Get out and play some golf, and don’t forget to complete all of your MSR requirements before the June 30^th deadline!

Sincerely,

Paige Cribb, PGA 
President
Carolinas PGA