Nebraska Section PGA | 610 J Street., Ste 10 | Lincoln, NE 68508 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
Nebraska Section PGA | 610 J Street., Ste 10 | Lincoln, NE 68508 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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Long Term Strategic Plan
We are pleased to share with you the PGA of America's Long-Term Strategic Plan, which will act as a
blueprint for our future success. By setting and communicating the following Long-Term Strategic Plan, we
can all rally around its very obvious, yet critically important mission: we exist in order to serve the members
and grow the game.
From a long-term vision perspective we will all be defined by ...
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OUR constant pursuit of excellence and commitment to innovation and collaboration.
OUR teamwork and talent that define our culture and are exhibited in our communications, accountability,
honesty, trust and impact.
 OUR commitment to diversity and inclusion that resonates throughout the PGA of America, its programs
and practices.
Initiatives that we pursue should meet one or more of the following criteria:
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Protect and enhance the PGA brand.
Help our members directly or indirectly.
Develop new golfers, promote the game of golf and/or make it more fun and enjoyable.
Position the PGA of America and our members as leaders in the business, teaching and playing of the
game.
Develop national and/or international growth and influence.
Strengthen the perception of the PGA of America and our members as tangible connection between the
game and all that play it in the United States.
We will move away from a top-down approach to a Member- and Section-Focused Approach, driven through
8 Core Products:
And moving forward we will become a more accountable Association, measuring our success against the
following key indicators:
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Effectiveness of Serving Our Members
Growing the Game and Making a Difference in Opportunities Available in the Game Participation Trends
Diversity and Accessibility in the Game
Public Perception of PGA and Members
Breadth and Scope of PGA and Member Influence
We invite you to watch the full discussion as presented at the 2014 PGA Annual Meeting. To learn more
about the strategic plan, please download the full brochure here.
The contents of this plan are purposefully concise and the words are carefully chosen. The execution against
this plan, however, is much more complex and detailed. We are now in the process of integrating this plan into
all aspects of our business including the prioritization of organizational initiatives into clearly defined tiers.
This prioritization effort will enable better budgeting, staffing and overall resource allocation by the PGA in
the months and years to come. Please submit any questions here.
Nebraska Section PGA | 610 J Street., Ste 10 | Lincoln, NE 68508 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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EMPLOYMENT CORNER
TIME
The word TIME denotes a finite amount of minutes, hours and days. What does the word TIME mean to
you? As we draw to a close on 2014, I hope you feel the TIME you “used up” this year was worthwhile.
I know as a child, there were days that seemed to take forever. Possibly, it was because I was so impatient for
an event or happening I wanted to participate in or wanted to watch. I think many of you have had similar
feelings. I think this TIME of year especially can conjure up those memories as we reflect back on the year
but also look forward to what this TIME of year has to offer related to Christmas and seeing family and
friends. Heightened anticipation, feelings of joy and very possibly sadness/ melancholy, are feelings that make
this TIME of year unique for many of us.
As you move towards 2015, please make a conscious effort to use your TIME to make your family and loved
ones part of your TIME. I am privileged to attend some of the luncheons/ dinners to celebrate those PGA
members who have been recognized as Section Award winners. Almost without fail, each winner will
recognize their spouse, mom or dad or some important family member for supporting them or being there for
them. The element of TIME is often times mentioned by the winners as something they know their job took
them away from such things as family events or the thank you to their parents for the TIME they gave to help
them. All of you give so much TIME and energy to your job. Try to recognize and acknowledge those people
you say you love and care for by giving them some TIME. As I move into the sixth year of being a PGA
Employment Consultant, I want to offer my TIME to any of you to assist you with your career, to lend an ear,
review your materials and help you in whatever way I can.
MERRYCHRISTMAS! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Bruce Lubach, PGA, is the PGA of America Employment Consultant for the Colorado, Iowa, Midwest,
Minnesota and Nebraska Sections. He can be reached at [email protected] or (402) 261-3604.
Nebraska Section PGA | 610 J Street., Ste 10 | Lincoln, NE 68508 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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Nebraska Section PGA | 610 J Street., Ste 10 | Lincoln, NE 68508 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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As the “Experts in the Game and Business of Golf” the power of education is the single most
important way to help enhance and transform our industry. Many of today’s thriving industries
outside of the golf industry have alluded to the fact that there is a strong correlation between the
economic viability of an industry and its education attained by those who work in it.
The current MSR cycle is roughly 8 months away from coming to a close and it is a priority of the
Section to provide meaningful educational opportunities for you to meet these requirements. To
review your current MSR status, please go to www.pgalinks.com and login. Under “your
membership data” will be your current credits earned and what is still required.
To receive MSR’s for your Player Development Program, please complete the “MSR Report
Form” and submit it to Nebraska Section Player Development Coordinator, Joe Canny, PGA at
[email protected] or by fax 402-489-1785.
WHAT:
Complimentary Online Education
WHERE:
Click here for Log In
MSRs:
1 or 2 MSRs for each Video
Completed
WHAT:
TEAM GOLF Meetings
WHERE:
Various Locations
MSRs:
2 MSRs for attending 1 meeting
Nebraska Section PGA | 610 J Street, Ste 10 | Lincoln, NE 68508 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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Nebraska Section PGA | 610 J Street, Ste 10 | Lincoln, NE 68508 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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I designed the putting combine to test a student’s overall putting skills and to let them have a way to identify
what areas of putting they need to focus on. The three components of being a better putter and making more
putts are in order on importance, green reading, face alignment and aim, and distance control. I recommend
every student to go through an AimPoint green read course and a Putting Combine skills test.
James Kinney, PGA
GolfTEC Omaha
Director of Instruction
Nebraska Section PGA | 610 J Street, Ste 10 | Lincoln, NE 68508 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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Nebraska Section PGA | 610 J Street., Ste 10 | Lincoln, NE 68508 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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Occasionally, words or phrases from the world of sports work their way into our everyday conversation.
Consider, for example, home run (from baseball), slam dunk (from basketball), snookered (from billiards) or
blind-sided (from football). From golf, there’s par for the course and stymied. Regarding the latter, a
dictionary definition of stymie is “to stop (someone) from doing something or to stop (something) from happening.”
The stymie was a part of singles match play from virtually the beginning of the game in the mid-1700’s until it
was abolished about 200 years later in 1952. Here’s how the stymie worked: If there were two balls on the
putting green separated by more than six inches, and your ball intervened between the hole and your
opponent’s ball, then your opponent was forced to play his ball without striking your ball. He could either try
to chip his ball over your ball or putt around your ball. If his ball struck your ball, there was no penalty.
However, you then had the option of playing your ball from its new position or replacing your ball. If his ball
knocked your ball into the hole, then your ball was deemed to be holed with your previous stroke!
The adjacent drawing illustrates a stymie having been laid by the player on the right, and
the player on the left attempting to play his ball into the hole without striking his
opponent’s ball. The great Bobby Jones was an ardent supporter of the stymie, writing the
following in his book, Golf Is My Game published in 1959, less than ten years after the
abolition of the stymie:
“I have always been thankful that the governing bodies of golf on both sides of the
Atlantic have resisted changes in the rules. Throughout the years there have been plenty
of suggestions for changes, but few have been made. The one instance which I think was
a real mistake was the elimination of the stymie.”
“It has been appalling to me to find that there are golfers of today who do not even know
the meaning of "stymie." Twenty years ago I should not have dreamed that it would ever be necessary to
explain that a stymie results, in match play, when one ball on the green interposes some or all of its
mass between the other ball and the hole.”
“With the stymie in the game, match-play golf becomes an exciting duel in which the player must
always be on guard against a sudden, often demoralizing thrust. More than anything else, it points up
the value of always being closer to the hole on the shot to the green and after the first putt. The player
who can maintain the upper hand in play up to the hole rarely suffers from a stymie.”
“In my observation, the stymie has more often been the means of enforcing a decision in favor of the
deserving player, rather than the contrary. I think that today as in the past it merits a respected place
in the game. I know that a return to it would greatly enhance the interest, suspense and excitement of
match-play golf for player and spectator alike.”
A couple of closing notes on the stymie:
To assist players in determining whether or not two balls were within six inches of each other, back in the day,
score cards were printed with a “stymie gauge,” i.e., a bold line, across the very top or bottom of the card,
measuring precisely six inches.
Ever wonder why Rule 19-5a [Ball in Motion Deflected or Stopped by Another Ball at Rest] does not penalize
the player in match play when his ball played from the putting green strikes another player’s ball at rest on the
putting green? This current Rule is eerily similar to the stymie Rule of old!
Nebraska Section PGA | 610 J Street, Ste 10 | Lincoln, NE 68508 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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PGA Winter Championships
PGA Golf Club – Port St. Lucie, FL
January-February 2015
2015 Schedule & Entry Deadlines
Deadline - 5:00 p.m., EST - Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Senior-Junior Team Championship - January 27-30, 2015
Deadline - 5:00 p.m., EST - Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Women's Stroke Play Championship - February 3-5, 2015
Stroke Play Championship - February 3-6, 2015
Deadline - 5:00 p.m., EST - Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Match Play Championship Qualifying - February 9, 2015
Match Play Championship - February 10-13, 2015
The PGA Financial
Assistance Fund Scholarship
Program was established in
Online registration for a 2015
1986 to provide college
PGA/USGA Rules of Golf
scholarships for graduating high school seniors and
Workshop is now open. You college students who are the children or
can register via phone.
grandchildren of a PGA member. Since its inception,
this program has awarded some $5.7 million to 2,808
More information
students. The PGA Financial Assistance
Scholarship application is available on
PGALinks.com with a submission deadline of
Monday, March 16, 2015.
Graduating high school seniors and college students
who are the children or grandchildren of PGA
members are encouraged to apply. Click here to
view more information.
Scholarship Resources:
Click here to view Scholarship Search Tips
Click here to view Additional Scholarship
Suggestions
ARE YOU ON TRACK?
MSR Cycle Ends 06/15/2015
See Where You Stand:
Log into PGALinks.com to
see your current MSR status
Nebraska Section PGA | 610 J Street, Ste 10 | Lincoln, NE 68508 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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Justin J. Arlt, PGA
Ryan W. Norman, PGA
Pete A. Balerud
Ryan T. Vermeer
Tony Pesavento, PGA
Matthew L. Nice, PGA
Dennis E. Fruchtl, PGA
Scott F. Brunzell, PGA
1/1
1/6
1/10
1/11
1/12
1/13
1/14
1/21
Steve M. Ritz-Woller, PGA 1/21
Matthew W. Shaner, PGA 1/21
Michael J Stone
1/21
Bill Thomas, PGA
1/22
Scott Carlson, PGA
1/23
Michael U Stolarskyj
1/25
Matthew J. Meuret, PGA 1/27
Terry D. Heskett, PGA
1/30
STAFF
David Honnens, PGA
Executive Director
[email protected]
Sean O’Neill, PGA
Tournament Director
[email protected]
Joe Canny, PGA
Junior Golf Director/
Player Development Coordinator
[email protected]
Renee Tyson
Operations Manager
[email protected]
Nebraska Section PGA | 610 J Street, Ste 10 | Lincoln, NE 68508 | Ph: (402) 489-7760 | Fx: (402) 489-1785 | www.nebraskapga.com
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