Nebraska Section PGA Newsletter

NEBRASKA PGA OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER

September 2012

Know Your Customer Tactics

PERFORMANCE TRAK WHAT IS IT?

Nebraska Open

The PGA and TEAM UP!

Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

Newsletter Contents

2012

ON THE COVER 14-15

PGA Teams up With ACTIVE Network

INSIDE 6 Golf 2.0—Know Your Customer Tactics 17-18

So, What is Performance Trak?

In Every Issue...

Employment pg. 7

Tournament Schedule pg. 13

Tournament News pg. 8-11

Member Updates pg. 19

Wells Fargo Nebraska Open Pg. 5 Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

2

Dear Members and Apprentices, August has been an exciting month! The Web.com Tour’s Omaha Cox Classic was another great success! I want to thank all the PGA Professionals who helped out with the Junior Clinic. Special thanks to Greg Neujahr, PGA and his staff for making this clinic another memorable part of this event. Congrats to Jon Petersen, PGA, Shane Zywiec, PGA and Raul Cortes de la Riva on competing in this event. Lastly, to all the volunteers who helped at Tiburon and Bent Tree, I greatly appreciate you helping out on one of the hottest day of the year.

August also featured some really good finishes at our Championships. Jim White, PGA MP captured another Nebraska Senior PGA Professional Championship, Ryan Vermeer won the National Car Rental Nebraska PGA Assistants Championship presented by COBRA PUMA GOLF. Chris Wiemers, PGA won his first Nebraska PGA Professional Championship by making 23 birdies in 54 holes! All these Championships are re-capped in this newsletter and congratulations to all the qualifiers.

The Wells Fargo Nebraska Open is right around the corner and this year marks the 21st Anniversary of this event that is considered one of the premier state opens in the country. To date, over $1 million dollars will have been raised for this event that provides scholarships for students who attend the community colleges in NPPD’s service areas.

Lastly, Patriot Golf weekend is here! If you have not registered your facility I encourage you to do so today! If there is any doubt about what this weekend is about just remember there are more than 200,000 dependents of military service men and women, 85% of whom do not qualify for educational assistance from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and other governmental programs. Patriot Golf weekend allows the Folds of Honor to present an ongoing tribute to our brave service members by ensuring that the families of fallen and wounded warriors have hope for the right education start to life and the best future possible…

I greatly appreciate your commitment to our beloved game and to the Nebraska PGA! Respectfully,

David Honnens, PGA Executive Director/CEO Nebraska PGA

Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

3

Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

4

Nebraska Open September 14-16, 2012 Elks Country Club Columbus, NE

Spots Still Available Registration Deadline- 11:59 P.M. Friday, September 7

REGISTER NOW

Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

5

The latest resource in the Know Your Customer series is now available for you to download.

Know Your Customer Tactics provides action steps for you to execute at your facility to help grow your business.

Know Your Customer Tactics Tactics

Playbook

The Tactics is the primary resource to help you execute the Know Your Customer action steps, through simple and direct techniques to activate Golf 2.0 at your facility. After reviewing the Tactics, the secondary resources - the Know Your Customer Playbook and Know Your Customer Facility Plan can provide further benefit to you to make the game more fun and welcoming to millions of new golfers.

The Playbook is a secondary resource that provides an expanded amount of information. It is suggested that the reader start with the Tactics. If you have any questions when reading the Tactics, refer to the Playbook for more information.

There are five Know Your Customer action steps listed in the Tactics. The action steps include:     

Relationship Building Customer Database Development Communicating With Your Customer Database Customer Database Segmentation CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Marketing Plan

Facility Plan Use the Facility Plan to inform and engage your employer and other key personnel about the facility's customer strategy to improve retention and drive further facility usage and spending from core customers.

You can print this multipage document as a booklet. Click here for instructions. Note: If your copier does not allow you to print a booklet, you can also go to OfficeMax or another local printer for assistance.

Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

6

E M P L OY M E N T How did the execution go with your fifth action step in the Player Development Action Steps? My hope is that the “Circle of Life”, the Communication, Analysis, Planning, Marketing, Execution and now Tracking has provided you with the framework from which to work for a successful Player Development program.

The completion of the sixth action step as mentioned is tracking. Along with this tracking comes reporting results. You can complete all the action steps, give yourself a pat on the back and say “job well -done”! But, you know what? All of this will be worth very little if your employer is not aware of what you have done. They “may” see you have been extremely busy, think that the bottom line “may” be better, BUT, how do they know? YOU TELL THEM!!

More than likely, your employer is interested in making more money, right? Do you think that your chance of having more job security increases if you can quantify the impact of your Player Development programs on your facility’s bottom line?

Probably the most crucial step in the entire process I have covered over the last six months of writing these articles is this sixth step- Tracking and Reporting Results. I want you to be viewed as a revenue generator at your facility. Increasing your value to your employer, showing you are interested in executing a plan and seeing it through to completion are all by-products of a successful Player Development program.

You still have some time to prepare and document what you have accomplished at you facility thus far in 2012- hopefully you still have some additional great weeks in front of you to add to the bottom line.

PLEASE, if there is one thing I can get across to you is to “tell your story”. Utilize the PGA Professional Report found at pgalinks.com on the PGA Employment page and this will help you quantify what you have done in Player Development and all facets of your business. I know it is a little early to be thinking about “end of the year” reporting but I want you to do something to ensure that your employer knows what you have done in 2012. Are you prepared to complete the sixth and final step? You bet you are!

Just Do IT!!

Bruce Lubach, PGA, is The PGA of America Employment Consultant for the Iowa, Midwest, Minnesota and Nebraska Sections. blubach@pgahq.com | (402) 261-3604.

Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

7

Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

8

T OURNAMENT N EWS Ryan Vermeer Captures National Car Rental Nebraska PGA Assistant Championship presented by Cobra Puma Golf Ryan Vermeer of Oak Hills Country Club, Omaha, NE won the National Car Rental Nebraska PGA Assistant Championship presented by COBRA PUMA GOLF Monday, August 9, 2012 at Iron Horse Golf Club in Ashland, NE. By winning, Vermeer qualified for the 36th National Car Rental PGA Assistant Championship presented by COBRA PUMA GOLF, Nov. 1-4, at The PGA Golf Club (Wanamaker Course) in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The facility will be hosting its seventeenth consecutive PGA Assistant Championship.

Vermeer, posted a 36-hole tournament total of -10 under par 132 to secure a three stroke victory over Nick Wanderscheid, of Green Valley GC, Sioux City, IA. The 126-man field for this year’s 36th edition of the PGA Assistant Championship consists of the Top 4 players from last years Championship, if eligible, and assistants from a weighted average of total entries of the 41 PGA Sections.

The winner of the 36thNational Car Rental PGA Assistant Championship presented by COBRA PUMA GOLF earns $9,000 out of the purse of $100,000. The top-70 finishers after the second round, including ties, will make the cut.

Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

9

JIM WHITE, PGA MP CAPTURES NEBRASKA SENIOR PGA PROFESSIONAL TITLE Jim White, PGA MP of West Nine & Learning Center, Lincoln, NE, was the winner of the 2012 Nebraska Senior PGA Professional Championship at Happy Hollow Club. White will lead four Section PGA Professionals to compete Oct. 11-14, in the 24th Southworth Senior PGA Professional National Championship.

The National Championship, presented by Mercedes-Benz USA, will return for a second straight year to Creighton Farms of Aldie, Va., and River Creek Club of Leesburg, Va. White turned in a winning total of even -par 142 to capture the Nebraska Senior PGA Professional Championship supported by Southworth Development LLC and Mercedes-Benz. Defending Champion, Mike Schuchart, PGA of Wilderness Ridge Golf Club, Lincoln, NE finished three strokes back at 145. They are joined by Mike Antonio, PGA, Happy Hollow Club, Omaha, NE; Doug Dunbar, PGA, Quail Run Golf Course, Columbus, NE and

Don Germer, PGA, The Players Club at Deer Creek, Omaha, NE. The Southworth Senior PGA Professional National Championship brings together a field of 264 contestants representing The PGA of America’s 41 nationwide Sections, and features a total purse of $285,000 on both courses over the first two rounds. Creighton Farms, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, will host the final 36 holes.

Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

10

2012 NEBRASKA PGA PROFESSIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

C

hris Wiemers, PGA of Happy Hollow Club captures the 2012 Nebraska Professional Championship.

Wiemers shot a final round 68 to finish the event at 14 under-par which was good enough for a three shot victory over Jim White, PGA MP of West Nine and Learning Center.

White was able to match Wiemers final round 68 but Wiemers' 36-Hole lead proved to be to hard to overcome.

Chad Lydiatt, PGA of Awarii Dunes finished alone in third place after finishing with a final round 68 to finish the tournament at 5 under-par. Tom Hearn, PGA of the PGA Tour and Bryan Hughett, PGA of Norfolk Country Club tied for fourth place finishing the event at 4 under-par.

Wiemers, White, Lydiatt and Hearn will represent the Nebraska PGA in the 46th PGA Professional National Championship presented by Club Car, Mercedes-Benz USA and OMEGA which will be held at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Oregon June 23-26, 2013.

Thank you to the Sponsors!

Thank you to Don Brudny for your support of this event.

The official timekeeper of The PGA of America.

Thank you to Mark Crowther and Stan Sheffield for their support of this event.

Thank you Tod Puetz and Mike Long for their support of this event.

Thank you Chandler Evans and Thad Franklin for their support of this event.

Thank you to Todd Petersen and Callaway Golf for their support of 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

11

TEAM WILDERNESS RIDGE CLAIMS INAUGURAL E-Z-GO FACILITY CHAMPIONSHIP

VERMEER CLAIMS PROFESSIONAL DIVISION OMAHA, Neb.- Shadow Ridge Country Club was the host facility for the inaugural E-Z-GO Facility Championship. Teams came out to represent their pro’s facilities and tried to be the first to get their name engraved on the trophy. The team of Wilderness Ridge Golf Club finished at an astonishing 17 under-par to capture the championship and win by two shots in the one gross + one net.

in second place at two under-par.

The Nebraska PGA would like to give a special thanks to Shadow Ridge Country Club for hosting the E-Z-GO Facility Championship. Also, they would like to thank Randy Prince of Miller and Sons Golf Cars and Vinnie Krikac of State Farm Insurance Agency for sponsoring this event.

The team representing Wilderness Ridge G.C. put together a great team performance by getting off to a terrific start and riding the momentum all the way to the end. The team from York Country Club and the team from Dick’s Sporting goods put together a great performance to finish in a tie for second place after finishing at 15 under-par.

Ryan Vermeer of Oak Hills Country Club captured the professional division title after finishing the day at three under-par. Vermeer’s round featured 5 birdies which propelled him to a one shot victory. Nick Shanahan, PGA of Shadow Ridge Country Club utilized his home course knowledge and finished alone

Team Wilderness Ridge

John Knicely (#13)

Dan Parks (#17)

Winners, each, of a $50 gift card to Omaha Steaks.

Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

12

Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

13

Remaining 2012 Nebraska PGA Schedule

Event

Date

Callaway Golf Team Championship Beatrice Country Club - Beatrice, NE

Sep 4

Info

Yamaha Pro - 1 AM Ridge Golf Club - Sioux Center, IA

Sep 10

Info

Register

Wells Fargo Nebraska Open Elks Country Club - Columbus, NE

Sep 14 - Sep 16

Info

Register

Sep 24

Info

Opens 9/24/2012

Nebraska PGA Cup Series Championship Quarry Oaks - Ashland, NE

Registration

Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

14

The PGA of America Teams Up with ACTIVE Network to Create Online Registration for Participatory Golf Events PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - The PGA of America is teaming up with ACTIVE Network to create a new, easy-to-use online registration system allowing PGA Professionals to promote their participation in Get Golf Ready – along with all programs occurring at their facility including golf camps, tournaments and clinics – via PGA.com and ACTIVE.com. The agreement with ACTIVE Network is in support of the PGA’s Golf 2.0 initiative to drive consumer engagement and continued growth of the game.

Benefits of the modernized registration solution include: •Ease of use for both PGA Professionals to list upcoming events and for consumers to register. ACTIVE Network’s ACTIVE Works® platform makes it easy to set up an account and start posting events in a few minutes.

•Broader visibility and marketing opportunities for events. ACTIVE.com reaches an average of 7.7 million unique users per month and PGA Professionals will reach the core golf demo via PGA.com, Yahoo! Golf and across the Turner Digital portfolio. PGA Professionals will also gain access to ACTIVE Network’s marketing tools including email distribution, database management and payment solutions, in addition to increased exposure for their events, camps and clinics.

•An online payment system for event registration. Consumers can sign up for the event and pay online upon registration.

"We are extremely excited about offering these online tools to help PGA Professionals connect with new and existing golfers in marketing their golf programs, leagues and outings through ACTIVE.com and PGA.com," said PGA President Allen Wronowski. "This new online tool will help drive more players to PGA members and their facilities, to showcase golf and help grow the game and business of golf."

"The Active solution registration process has been a great improvement for posting our player development sessions," said Jon Goin, PGA head professional at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tenn. This customized online tool has helped us register students, track how many sessions they attend, and market to them to help keep students engaged."

PGA Professionals can immediately take advantage of the ACTIVE Network registration portal by using their PGALinks username and password to log into the following: http://www.pgalinks.com/professionals/content/index.cfm?ctc=4316

Continued on next page Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

15

http://www.pgalinks.com/professionals/content/index.cfm?c=4 http://www.pga.com/pro-services/event-entry For assistance getting started with ACTIVE Network, PGA Professionals can contact: Bethany Denzer The PGA of America bdenzer@pgahq.com 561-630-1763

Ken Clay ACTIVE Network ACTIVE Network Technical Support Ken.Clay@ACTIVENetwork.com 800-663-4991 702-489-4909

ABOUT ACTIVE NETWORK ACTIVE Network (NYSE: ACTV) is on a mission to make the world a more active place. With deep expertise in activity and participant management™, our ACTIVE Works® cloud technology helps organizations transform and grow their businesses. We do this through technology solutions that power the world’s activities, as well as online destinations such as ACTIVE.com® that connect people with the things they love to do. Serving over 50,000 global business customers and driving over 80 million transactions annually, we help organizations get participants, manage their events and build communities. ACTIVE Network is headquartered in San Diego, California and has over 30 offices worldwide.

Learn more at ACTIVEnetwork.com or ACTIVE.com and engage with us on Twitter @ACTIVEnetwork, @ACTIVE and on Facebook.

HOW TO Get Started with ACTIVE Click the play button below to start the Video.

Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

16

___________

This pathway to membership blends the PGA PGM Program courses and requirements with a bachelor’s degree offered at an accredited PGA Golf Management University. Students in the university program will cover the same course material and must complete the same requirements — such as work experience activities and the Playing Ability Test — as PGA apprentices. However, they will do so in addition to their regular college course load. Click here to obtain specific information about the PGA Golf Management University Program and the individual universities.

Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

17

Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

18

Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

19

September Randy Carlson, PGA 9/1 Joseph Madsen, PGA Brian Kuta, PGA 9/5 Trevor Austin, PGA Kevin Chesnut, PGA 9/6 Anthony Thiner, PGA John Craw, PGA 9/9 Jeff Nielsen, PGA Jerad Palmer, PGA 9/9 Ted DiGiacomo, PGA Sean Riley, PGA 9/13 Tim Fox, PGA Skip Tredway, PGA 9/14 Colin H Mitchell Bradley Goetsch, PGA 9/14 Scott Ethington, PGA Dan Fox, PGA 9/15 Devon E Kastler Don Graham, PGA 9/16 Adam Coates, PGA Jonathan Benson, PGA 9/30

9/16 9/17 9/18 9/20 9/21 9/25 9/27 9/29 9/29 9/30

STAFF David Honnens, PGA Executive Director dhonnens@pgahq.com Thomas Harmon, PGA Tournament Director tharmon@pgahq.com Renee Tyson Administrative Assistant rtyson@pgahq.com

Nebraska Section PGA | 8700 Executive Woods Dr., Ste 100 | Lincoln, NE 68512 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com

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