The Palmetto Times

A message from your Area Director, Tom Mason, PGA:

Congratulations to Steven Hartwig, Head Professional at The Country Club of Lexington for being elected the new Palmetto Area Director.  A special thanks to Chris Sparrow and the Staff at Columbia Country Club for hosting the Palmetto Area Meeting. 

We have two Drive, Chip and Putt Local Qualifiers taking place in the Palmetto Area over the next few months.  The Par Tee Golf Center will be hosting a qualifier on Saturday, May 19^th, and Cobblestone Park will be hosting a qualifier on Monday, July 23^rd.  PGA Professionals will earn MSR hours for volunteering at the events.  If you are interested in volunteering, please call Tom Mason at 803-600-8671.

If anyone has questions regarding PGA Junior League, please feel free to contact me by phone or email.  The Post-Season will be handled much differently in 2018.  It will be less time consuming and formatted a bit differently. 

Tom Mason - Area II Director
Par Tee Golf Center
(803) 600-8671
tamason7272@gmail.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