Nebraska Section PGA | 610 J Street., Ste 10 | Lincoln, NE 68508 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fax: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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 O’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
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Free Access to Business Simulations Access innovative simulations that will help enhance your job performance. Through these simulations, you will learn new techniques that impact customer engagement, their experience and loyalty to you and your facility. Click here to start 3
Earn up to two Member Service Requirement (MSR) credits for completing the Survey by the March 31 deadline. The PGA requests your participation in helping to ensure that one of our Association's most powerful employment tools remains effective for you and other PGA Professionals. By completing the 2017 PGA Golf Professional Compensation Survey by March 31, 2017, you can receive up to two (2) Member Service Requirement (MSR) credits. MSR credit is automatically applied upon completion of the survey with a summary of your responses available for your records. In an effort to continuously improve the survey experience for our members, we have streamlined many areas. Ideally, this will direct you to only answer questions that are relevant to your position. As a reminder, all survey responses are treated confidentially with results being reported only if there are five or more responses. To ensure your confidentiality, results continue to be shared in an aggregated format and not by individual. Your participation is key to ensuring that your Section's compensation information is valid and meaningful. Your support of this important PGA initiative is greatly appreciated. 4
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.
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Champions Run—2016 Facility of the Year
The Staff at Champions Run is honored to be chosen the Nebraska PGA Facility of the Year for 2016. There are many fine golf facilities in the Nebraska Section so this award holds a special place for everyone here at the club. We believe what makes Champions Run special is the support of the ownership and the quality staff that come to work every day to make a difference. Many of the staff have been here multiple years so we have created a strong team who is consistent with their delivery of service to the membership. The staff strives to deliver a total family experience in regards to all the programs and activities scheduled each year. We have always felt that you can have the best pool, golf course or clubhouse facility but if you don’t have the right staff in place you cannot elevate yourself above the competition. We all feel fortunate to be able to come to the club each day and make a difference in our member’s lives and the community.
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NORCROSS, Ga. – Jonathan Mielke, PGA, Director of Instruction – Oak Hills Country Club, has been named to U.S. Kids Golf’s annual list of Master Kids Teachers. The Award recognizes the world’s most outstanding youth golf instructors, and Mielke is part of a select group that earned Top 50 accolades three times, making him a Master Kids Teacher. Since 2004, U.S. Kids Golf has honored the best youth golf teachers with the Top 50 Kids Teacher Award. Applicants complete an online survey and winners are chosen based on their contributions to youth golf, such as: experience young golfers; time devoted to teaching youth; innovation, creativity and fun in their programs; communication; parental involvement; use of a well-organized instruction program and overall effort to grow the game. work at public, private, resort and municipal courses.
Each year, award recipients include teachers who
“The teachers and coaches who win this award play an important part in our corporate mission to make the game of golf for kids,” said Dan Van Horn, President and CEO of U.S. Kids Golf. “Our goal in recognizing these youth golf coaches is to recognize their accomplishments and also to help parents find quality golf instruction for their kids.” The Top 50 Kids Teacher Award is administered by the U.S. Kids Golf Coaches Institute, a division of the U.S. Kids Golf Foundation. For more information about the Top 50 Kids Teacher Award, please contact U.S. Kids Golf at playandlearn@uskidsgolf.com. About U.S. Kids Golf The U.S. Kids Golf Foundation, a Georgia non-profit recognized as a 501(c)(3) charity, was created in 2001 and provides services that include competition and instruction. The Foundation organizes over 800 tournaments each year for more than 10,000 players, ages 5-18. These tournaments include Local Tours in more than 50 cities, eight Regional Championships, the European Championship, and the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship and Teen World Championship, which are held each year in Pinehurst, North Carolina. The vision of the U.S. Kids Golf Foundation is to provide kids and their families the opportunity participate in the game of golf through instruction and competition. With the belief that family interaction is critical in the development of young golfers, parents are encouraged to serve as caddies for their kids during tournaments and to develop positive coaching techniques. U.S. Kids Golf, LLC is based in Atlanta and manufactures equipment and related golf products designed for kids. It was created in 1997 when Founder/CEO Dan Van Horn found that his children were losing their interest in golf due to not having the proper equipment. In addition to more than 4,000 golf shops and retail locations in the United States, the company's products also are available in more than 75 countries worldwide. 7
FULL RESULTS Summerlin, Nevada – After three days of battling championship courses and windy conditions Nick Wanderscheid, PGA of Green Valley Golf Club (Sioux City, IA) won the 27th Annual Vegas Classic presented by Callaway Golf and Vinnie Krikac State Farm. Wanderscheid earned 37 points on the final day hosted at TPC Las Vegas for a three-day total of 112 points in the modified stableford format. Runner-up honors went to Justin Herron of Pacific Springs Golf Course (Omaha) & Shane Zywiec of Highlands Golf Course (Lincoln) who both earned three-day totals of 104 points. View More
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You have probably heard of the “Ten Commandments.” You know, all of those “Thou shalts” and “Thou shalt nots” handed down by God to Moses on two tablets of stone. However, you have probably never heard of the USGA’s “commandments.” These are primarily all of the “musts” and “must nots” written into the Rules to keep the player from falling astray on the golf course. In the Rule book alone, i.e., not including the Appendices or the Decisions book, the word “must” appears approximately 180 times, while the phrase “must not” shows up about 60 times. Those are a lot of commandments for the player given that there are only 34 Rules! In the introductory remarks of the Rule book, there is a brief section titled “Understand the Words” which reads, in part: The Rule book is written in a very precise and deliberate fashion. You should be aware of and understand the following differences in word use: •
may = optional
•
should = recommendation
•
must = instruction (and penalty if not carried out)
Here are just a few examples of the USGA’s commandments, with the words “must” and “must not” highlighted in bold face type for emphasis: • Rule 1-3 [Agreement to Waive Rules] states, “Players must not agree to exclude the operation of any Rule or to waive any penalty incurred.” • Rule 4-1 [Form and Make of Clubs] directs that “The player’s clubs must conform with this Rule and the provisions, specifications and interpretations set forth in Appendix II.” • Rule 6-7 [Undue Delay; Slow Play] commands that “The player must play without undue delay and in accordance with any pace of play guidelines that the Committee may establish. Between completion of a hole and playing from the next teeing ground, the player must not unduly delay play.” • Rule 14-1a [Fairly Striking the Ball] points out that, “The ball must be fairly struck at with the head of the club and must not be pushed, scraped or spooned.” • Rule 27-1b [Ball Out of Bounds] instructs, “If a ball is out of bounds, the player must play a ball, under penalty of one stroke, as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played ….” It should be noted that, in addition to these “musts” and “must nots,” there are other USGA commandments for the player in the Rule book that appear as straightforward statements. Consider the following examples: • Rule 3-2 [Failure to Hole Out] states, “If a competitor fails to hole out and does not correct his mistake before he makes a stroke on the next teeing ground or, in the case of the last hole of the round, before he leaves the putting green, he is disqualified.” • Rule 6-6d [Wrong Score for Hole] advises, “The competitor is responsible for the correctness of the score recorded for each hole on his score card. If he returns a score for any hole lower than actually taken, he is disqualified.” • Note 1 to Rule 22-2 [Ball Interfering with Play] points out, “Except on the putting green, a player may not lift his ball solely because he considers that it might interfere with the play of another player. If a player lifts his ball without being asked to do so, he incurs a penalty of one stroke for a breach of Rule 18-2 ….” 11
The USGA and The R&A announced back in December that players will no longer be penalized when their ball is accidentally moved on the putting green! Dustin Johnson’s one-stroke penalty in the final round of the U.S. Open sparked controversy when his ball slightly moved on the putting green at Oakmont Country Club. Under the new rule, Johnson would not have been penalized in that situation. The new local rule went into effect Jan. 1, 2017. Rules 18-2, 18-3 and 20-1 are now modified as follows: “When a player’s ball lies on the putting green, there is no penalty if the ball or ball-marker is accidentally moved by the player, his partner, his opponent, or any of their caddies or equipment. The moved ball or ball-marker must be replaced as provided in Rules 18-2, 18-3 and 20-1.” This Local Rule applies only when the player’s ball or ball-marker lies on the putting green and any movement is accidental. It is important to know that anything deemed “not intentional” is considered to be an accident, thus preventing the player from incurring a penalty. The governing bodies of golf continue to try and modify the Rules of Golf to make the game easier for everyone to understand, something that is beneficial for both players and tournament administrators. Click the flyer below to view the illustration. See you all on the course in 2017!
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Date
Site
City
Deadline
June 1
Awarii Dunes
Axtell, NE
May 24
June 6
The Knolls
Omaha, NE
May 29
June 8
Firethorn Short Course
Lincoln, NE
May 31
June 9
The Bluffs
Vermillion, SD
June 1
June 14
Shoreline
Carter Lake, IA
June 6
June 15
Wilderness Ridge - Talon Course
Lincoln, NE
June 7
June 19
Floyd Park
Sioux City, IA
June 11
June 20
Ashland GC
Ashland, NE
June 12
June 23
Riverside
Grand Island, NE
June 15
June 28
Miracle Hill
Omaha, NE
June 20
June 29
Sioux City CC
Sioux City, IA
June 21
June 29
Jackrabbit Run
Grand Island, NE
June 21
July 5
Council Bluffs CC
Council Bluffs, IA
June 27
July 5
Jim Ager
Lincoln, NE
June 27
July 10
Mahoney
Lincoln, NE
July 2
July 11
Pacific Springs
Omaha, NE
July 3
July 11
Hidden Valley
Lincoln, NE
July 3
July 12
Dodge Riverside
Council Bluffs, IA
July 4
July 13
Lochland CC
Hastings, NE
July 5
July 19
Crooked Creek
Lincoln, NE
July 11
July 19
Tara Hills
Bellevue, NE
July 11
July 20
Two Rivers
North Sioux City, SD
July 12
July 26
North Division Playoffs
Fremont GC
Qualify
August 3
South Division Playoffs
Holmes GC - Lincoln
Qualify
August 11
NJGT TEAM GOLF Championship
Country Club of Lincoln
Qualify
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100th PGA Annual Meeting Presentations: Videos include the election of Officers, the Keynote address from Jack Nicklaus, Futurist Erik Medina and a panel discussion featuring representatives of leading sports entities. Watch the videos
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Name
Class
Current Fac
Prev Fac
Prev Class
Scott A. Bruha, PGA
A-1
Meadowlark Hills
Meadowlark Hills
A-8
David M. James, PGA
A-13
Meadowlark Hills
Meadowlark Hills
A-1
Patrick J. Kilbride, PGA
A-4
Hillside Golf Course
Amana Colonies GC
A-1
Casey L. Wroot, PGA
A-4
Lake Maloney Golf Course
Lake Maloney Golf Course
A-1
Name
Day
Kyle W. Schellpeper
1
Travis L. Anderson, PGA
4
Ron Block, PGA
8
Patrick H. Johnson, PGA
8
Bradley J. Neunaber, PGA
8
Karrie A. Van Ravenswaay, PGA
8
Jason L. Meininger, PGA
9
Adam L. Bradfield, PGA
10
Trevor L. Chesnut, PGA
12
Nathan M Kalin, PGA
13
Zach P. Wetovick, PGA
13
Tom Weekes, PGA
16
Kevin D. Boehler, PGA
17
Christopher C. Jacobson, PGA
18
Anthony W. Baranowski, PGA
23
Jesse D. Brodersen, PGA
23
Denis M. Vontz, PGA
25
Juan Elizondo, PGA
27
Timothy M. Whalen, PGA
27
Charlie Borner, PGA
28
Christopher R. Cover, PGA
29
DON BRUDNY — (402) 466-6222
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