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Officers President Tony Pesavento, PGA Omaha Country Club tpesavento@pga.com

Vice President Nathan Kalin, PGA Fremont Golf Club nathan.kalin@fremontgolfclub.org

Secretary Gil Russell, PGA ArborLinks Golf grussell@arborlinks.com

Honorary President Mike Antonio, PGA Happy Hollow Club mikea@happyhollowclub.com

Staff Executive Director David Honnens, PGA dhonnens@pgahq.com

Tournament Director Sean Oâ€™Neill, PGA soneill@pgahq.com Junior Golf Director/ Player Development Coordinator Joe Canny, PGA jcanny@pgahq.com

Operations Manager Renee Tyson rtyson@pgahq.com

Development Officer Bob Danenhauer bdanenhauer@pgahq.com

2016 Assistant Professional of the Year

Tony Baranowski, PGA Assistant Golf Professional, Shadow Ridge Country Club Golf has always been an integral part of my life and my career. I grew up working summers as a caddie and cart attendant, spending afternoons practicing and playing golf with my dad. My first experience with a golf professional came when my dad took me to see Tony Pesavento, a friend of his, at Omaha Country Club. It was then I saw how cool it was to be a golf professional and how exciting a career could be. Years later, it was another golf professional, Joseph Finnegan, my boss and mentor, who would help push me to become a golf professional. I began my career as a golf professional in the fall of 2011 at Shadow Ridge Country Club. I obtained my class A membership in January 2015. I was very fortunate to work under four long time PGA Professionals whose years of experience helped me to grow as a professional. I have to thank Gary Gabrielson, Joseph Finnegan, James Sieckmann, and the late Wes Malnack for their guidance and mentoring as I completed my apprenticeship and on a daily basis. I truly am blessed to be a professional at such a great facility with a great staff and a fun, enthusiastic membership that loves the game of golf and enjoys learning the game as well. My duties to the club and membership have included daily management, merchandising and inventory, and teaching individual and group lessons. Daily management has included scheduling and managing the outside staff, tee sheet control, and fulfilling member requests. I pride myself on being strong in customer relations, making sure that every member and guest that comes through the door has an experience is beyond their expectations, Merchandising the golf shop has been a fun and challenging experience. With so many great brands and options within the golf apparel business, it has been an enjoyable challenge to sit down with all of our reps and try to find the right combination of brands that the membership likes to exceed their needs. I have to thank the numerous reps that I had the pleasure of working with in the past 4 years. They all had great advice for me that I was able to apply to my merchandising strategy and provide the golf shop with profitable seasons. Teaching and growing the game of golf at Shadow Ridge has truly been one of the most exhilarating parts of my career. Helping members improve their game and get a maximized amount of enjoyment out of their round is my goal in every lesson. As a Titleist staff member, I have grown as a fitter. An increased level of expertise has helped me to garner a high level of trust from my membership and know that they can come to me with any club fitting question. Growing the game of golf through our Junior Golf Programs has been very fulfilling. To see a young golfer hit a great shot and get excited is a big reason why I strive to get better as a teacher and a professional every day. I have been very fortunate to be the lead instructor of the Advanced Development Program (ADP) for juniors ages 12-18. I have been able to help the juniors develop their game to help them get to the next level, including making their high school golf teams. Again, I would like to thank all of my fellow staff members at Shadow Ridge for their guidance and great team atmosphere. I would to thank the members of Shadow Ridge for their overwhelming support of my career and my game. And I would like to thank my fiancĂŠ, family and friends for their love and support as I continue to grow and achieve in my career. 4

Participation in the PGA Annual Operations Survey is vital in helping provide key statistics and benchmarking capabilities to support management of golf and club operations. The comprehensive data that is collected during the survey is reflective of the marketplace and intended to help facilities. Two MSR credits are awarded upon completion of the survey. Click here to complete the survey before June 5th, 2017

Parents Can Register Their Junior Golfers, Get More Information at www.DriveChipandPutt.com The USGA and the PGA of America announced that qualifying registration for the fifth Drive, Chip and Putt Championship is now officially open. This fun, free and nationwide youth golf development initiative invites boys and girls, ages 7-15, to participate in local qualifying opportunities set in all 50 states throughout the months of May, June, July and August. Boys and girls will enter to play across separate divisions in four age categories, with scoring centered around golf’s three fundamental skills (Drive, Chip and Putt). Top performers at the local level will advance through sub-regional and regional qualifiers in July/August and September/October, respectively, at some of the nation’s most acclaimed venues and championship sites. From these qualifiers, 80 finalists – 40 boys and 40 girls – will earn an invitation to the National Finals at Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday, April 1, the eve of the 2018 Masters Tournament.

The USGA and The R&A have issued a new Decision on the Rules of Golf to limit the use of video evidence in the game effective from April 25, 2017. The text of new Decision 34-3/10 [Limitations of Use of Visual Evidence] is provided below. USGA Executive Director/CEO Mike Davis said, “This important first step provides officials with tools that can have a direct and positive impact on the game. We recognize there is more work to be done. Advancements in video technology are enhancing the viewing experience for fans, but can also significantly affect the competition. We need to balance those advances with what is fair for all players when applying the Rules.” Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “We have been considering the impact of video review on the game and feel it is important to introduce a Decision to give greater clarity in this area. Golf has always been a game of integrity and we want to ensure that the emphasis remains as much as possible on the reasonable judgment of the player rather than on what video technology can show.” Decision 34-3/10 Limitations on Use of Visual Evidence It is appropriate for a Committee to use video evidence in resolving questions of fact when applying the Rules (see Decision 34-3/9). Such evidence may lead to the conclusion that a player breached the Rules or to the conclusion that there was no breach. Video evidence may also help players and the Committee in determining other factual questions such as the location of a player’s ball when it has not been found or where a ball last crossed the margin of a water hazard. However, video evidence can sometimes present complications because of its potential to reveal factual information that was not known and could not reasonably have been known to players and others on the course. Golf is a game of integrity in which the Rules are applied primarily by the players themselves. Players are expected to be honest in all aspects of their play, including in trying to follow the procedures required under the Rules, in calling penalties on themselves and in raising questions with other players or with the Committee when they are unsure whether they might have breached the Rules. Video technology, especially the use of methods such as high resolution or close-up camera shots that can be replayed in slow motion, has the potential to undermine this essential characteristic of the game by identifying the existence of facts that could not reasonably be identified in any other way. Such evidence should not be used to hold players to a higher standard than human beings can reasonably be expected to meet. For this reason, there are two situations in which the use of video evidence is limited: When Video Evidence Reveals Things that Could Not Reasonably Be Seen with the Naked Eye. The use of video technology can make it possible to identify things that could not reasonably be seen with the naked eye. Examples of this include: •

When a player unknowingly touches a few grains of sand in a backswing with a club in making a stroke from a bunker.

•

When a player is unaware that the club struck the ball more than once in the course of making a single stroke.

In such situations, if the Committee concludes that such facts could not reasonably have been seen with the naked eye and the player was not otherwise aware of a potential breach of the Rules, the player will be deemed not to have breached the Rules, even when video technology shows otherwise. See also Decision 18/4. In applying this “naked eye” standard, the issue is whether the facts could have been seen by the player or someone else close by who was looking at the situation, not whether the player or anyone else actually saw it happen. 2. When a Player Has Made a Reasonable Judgment. Players are often required to determine a spot, point, position, line, area, distance or other location on the course to use in applying the Rules. Examples of this include: •

Estimating where a ball last crossed the margin of a water hazard (see Decision 26-1/17).

•

Estimating or measuring where to drop or place a ball when taking relief, such as by reference to the nearest point of relief, to a line from the hole through a point or to the spot from which the previous stroke was made.

•

Estimating or measuring whether a ball that was dropped in taking relief was dropped in the correct location and whether it has come to rest in a position where a re-drop is required.

•

Replacing a lifted ball in relation to a ball-marker or replacing a ball on the spot from which it was accidentally moved.

Such determinations need to be made promptly and with care but often cannot be precise, and players should not be held to the degree of precision that can sometimes be provided by video technology. A “reasonable judgment” standard is applied in evaluating the player’s actions in these situations: so long as the player does what can reasonably be expected under the circumstances to make an accurate determination, the player’s reasonable judgment will be accepted even if later shown to be wrong by the use of video evidence. The relevant circumstances to be considered by the Committee when applying this standard include: •

The particular actions taken by the player and the context in which they were taken;

•

The player’s explanation of the reasons for those actions;

• •

Information from other players or persons who were there; and The amount by which the location was wrong in relation to the type of determination made, recognizing that certain actions (such as replacing a marked ball on the putting green) can be taken with greater accuracy than other actions that may involve more inherent uncertainty (such as estimating where a ball last crossed the margin of a water hazard at a point well ahead of the player).

This “reasonable judgment” standard also applies to any other type of later information, such as testimony from other persons, that shows that the player made a mistake in determining a spot, point, position, line, area, distance or other location. These “naked eye” and “reasonable judgment” limitations on the use of video and other evidence are not intended in any way to change or reduce each player’s obligation to be honest in applying the Rules and to raise questions when they are uncertain whether they have breached a Rule. When applying this Decision in any particular case, it is the Committee’s responsibility to assess all the circumstances in determining whether these standards have been met.

Date

Site

City

Deadline

June 1 June 6 June 8 June 9 June 14 June 15 June 19 June 20 June 23 June 28 June 29

Awarii Dunes The Knolls Firethorn Short Course The Bluffs Shoreline Wilderness Ridge - Talon Course Floyd Park Ashland GC Riverside Miracle Hill Sioux City CC

Axtell, NE Omaha, NE Lincoln, NE Vermillion, SD Carter Lake, IA Lincoln, NE Sioux City, IA Ashland, NE Grand Island, NE Omaha, NE Sioux City, IA

May 24 May 29 May 31 June 1 June 6 June 7 June 11 June 12 June 15 June 20 June 21

June 29

Jackrabbit Run

Grand Island, NE

June 21

Name

Class

Current Facility

Previous Facility

Previous Class

John Bierbower

B-1

Council Bluffs Country Club

B-8

Ted P. DiGiacomo, PGA

A-15

Golf Galaxy - Omaha

Council Bluffs Country Club

A-1

Maxwell A. Hadenfeldt, PGA

A-4

Scottsbluff Country Club

B-4

Camden Jones

B-8

Omaha Country Club

The Cliffs at Mountain Park,

B-8

Kyle J. Matson, PGA

A-13

The Players Club @ Deer Creek

Winding River Golf Club

A-1

Ryan W. Norman, PGA

A-14

Fox Run Golf Club

GolfTEC-Omaha

A-6

Kyle W. Schellpeper, PGA

A-1

Oak Hills Country Club

B-1

Display Name

Day

Joseph J. Finnegan, PGA

Thomas R. Everett, PGA

Scott W. Harmelink, PGA

Kyle J. Huse, PGA

Tyler S Lane

Timothy T. Kruse, PGA

Mark Mooberry, PGA

Brian M. Steventon, PGA

Kyle E. Bullerman, PGA

Seth R. Scollard, PGA

Kevin C. Doby, PGA

Thomas R. Potvin, PGA

Kirk L. Hogen, PGA

Thomas M. Jeffers, PGA

Loudan T. Steffes, PGA

Jacob M Burling

Cliff W. Yohe, PGA

William K. Keane, PGA

DON BRUDNY â€” (402) 466-6222