nebraska section pga march 2012 newsletter

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Dear PGA Members and Apprentices, As you read this newsletter we are just capping off a fantastic start to the 2012 season with some unsea-sonably warm weather for the month of March. As we turn the page to another golf season, I am sure you and your staff are gearing up for another busy season of events, member-guests and teaching our beloved game to the masses. As you prepare to execute these programs remember that a benefit of being or becoming a PGA Member is that you have many great programs available to assist you and your staff. Ultimately, you must take advantage of these programs and the resources the PGA of America provides. Like last year, starting in April, the Section Office will be sending out emails re-minding you of specific national programming that is available to assist you and your staff that you can take advantage of to help grow your bottom line and the game of golf. Lastly, mark your calendars to attend Nebraska’s third annual Golf Day on Friday, April 27, 2012,

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

David Honnens, PGA Executive Director Nebraska PGA


9:00 a.m. to noon, at Wilderness Ridge Golf Club. In addition to having our Lt. Governor and Governor on hand, we will also have some special national guests including Joe Steranka, CEO, of the PGA of America and Rhett Evans, CEO, GCSAA. The pur-pose of this event is to educate state leaders, the me-dia, and other key stakeholders on the economic, human and environmental benefits of golf. Nebraska Golf Day also demonstrates how the allied golf associations join as a coalition to speak with one voice about issues important to the game of golf. I wish you and your staff a continued great Spring and hope you can join me for this historic occasion on April 27, 2012. Respectfully,

First Tee. Proceeds benefit Hogan’s Junior Golf Heroes – The First Tee of Omaha Summer Golf & Life Skills Program Scholarship Fund. Tickets are just $35 for an individual, $140 for a foursome or $280 for a table of eight. Please join us and others in the golf community. To make your reservations, please go to www.thefirstteeomaha.com. For questions, please call 402-960-2203.

The golf community is invited to come together for a lunch

event to learn about a number of opportunities for junior golfers, get an update on the building excite-ment for the 2013 U.S. Senior Open at Omaha Country Club and support Hogan’s Junior Golf Heroes – The First Tee of Omaha. The lunch is set for 11:30 at the Scott Conference Center, 6450 Pine Street, and will feature speakers from the USGA, 2013 U.S. Senior Open and The

May 7 Lunch Event to Promote

Junior Golf Announced

http://www.thefirstteeomaha.org/Club/Scripts/Home/home.asp

http://www.thefirstteeomaha.org/Club/Scripts/Home/home.asp

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

T hank you to everyone who was part of the record number of attendees at the Spring Meeting and to our sponsors Under Armour and PGA Resort & Spa. Those in attendance could sense there was a tremen-dous vibe in the room and definitely an excitement for the 2012 sea-

son. Hopefully you left the meeting rejuvenated and ready for the 2012 season! This year there was a significance placed on Golf 2.0. The goal is to understand what it is and have some ideas on how you can make it personal at your facility. Senior Director of Golf 2.0, Darrell Crall, did a fantastic job ex-plaining why the PGA of America is investing so much time into this initiative. For those of you that were unable to attend please visit the Professional only side of the website. You will find all of the committee reports as well as the powerpoint. To login you will need to use your PGA Links ID. Due to the consideration for time not every committee chair was able to give a report but please click on the link below to review each committee's report. Jared Anderson, PGA touched on a lot of the major changes for 2012 during the Secretary Report at the meeting. As he mentioned the tournament committee has made changes to the 2012 tournament guidelines with the intent of simplfy-ing areas as well as improving the quality of the tournament program. The 2012 Calendar is now available on the Section website. This year you will see a lot of events returning but you will also see a few new events. We're ex-cited that Vinnie Krikac will again be the presenting sponsor of the Nebraska Cup Series Championship. To ensure yourself a chance to play in this event make sure you do all you can to earn points. To view how you can earn points please click here. This year we are also adding two 36-Hole events. First, Green Valley G.C. will host a Pro-Am on July 28-29 and Kearney C.C./Awarii Dunes will be hosting a Pro-Am on Monday August 27. There are also two new championships this year. There will be a season long Assistants Match Play Championship. There will also be the E-Z-GO Facility Championship at Shadow Ridge C.C. on Au-gust 20th. This will be an opportunity for one Nebraska PGA Facility to take home all of the bragging rights. Three amateurs will be teaming up with their professional in the one gross + one net format to see who will be the first ever Nebraska PGA Facility Champion. We have the pleasure of having Omaha Steaks as a new sponsor for 2012. This year Omaha Steaks will be supporting sponsors at eight events as the Nebraska PGA features the "Omaha Steaks Holes of the Week."

Junior Golf Committee Tournament Committee

Special Awards Committee Membership Committee

Publicity Committee Education Committee

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

Spring Meeting Education Rick Reynoldson, PGA put together a great educational opportunity for the membership. Those that attended, worked in small groups with other professionals that work at similar types of facilities and shared how they were incorporating Golf 2.0 at their facilities. There was a tremendous amount of discussion and a lot of good ideas shared throughout the group. Click here for the discussion notes.

NEW SPONSOR!!! Omaha Steaks We also had the pleasure of announcing Omaha Steaks as a new sponsor for 2012. This year Omaha Steaks will be supporting sponsors at eight events as the Nebraska PGA features the "Omaha Steaks Holes of the Week." The Nebraska PGA tournaments will feature 2 Omaha Steaks holes of the week. Players are automatically entered and must play 8 of the 16 Omaha Steaks holes of the week to be eligible to win. Players will post their lowest scores relative to par on 8 of the Omaha Steaks holes of the week to compete for the Omaha Steaks holes of the week Title. Amateurs will not be left out of the equation either! Amateurs will have a chance to win Omaha Steaks gift cards!!!

**2 Holes Per Event Will Be Selected as the Omaha Steaks Holes of the Week**


John Sheridan, Under Armour, and David Honnens, Executive Director.

Thank you to our 2012 Spring Meeting sponsor Under Armour for presenting Under Armour apparel to those who attended the spring meeting. We are grateful for your generosity to the Nebraska PGA Section. Thank you.

Thank you to our 2012 Spring Meeting sponsors Under Armour and PGA National Resort and Spa. Your support to the Nebraska PGA Section helped make this meeting a success!


Golf Professional of the Year Tom Hearn, PGA

View the 2011 Special Awards Presentation by clicking on the image below.

Not Pictured: Tom Hearn, PGA and James Kinney, PGA


EMPLOYMENT Did Spring arrive fast enough for you this year? What interesting circumstances happen due to Mother Na-ture! Perilous Mother Nature created many hardships for some of you in 2011 but seems to have started out in a “kinder, gentler’ way at the beginning of 2012. Hopefully, a sign for a great 2012! But, that does raise a question. How can I minimize my risk related to bad weather and maximize my oppor-tunities when good weather is here? No one can predict what the weather is going to do. There is an adage that goes like this, “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail”. The Golf 2.0 Playbook lays out some excellent “plans” for you to implement and hopefully, you have already laid the groundwork to accomplish your plan for 2012. The words “Player Development” have resonated all throughout this plan as well as the words, “It’s Personal”. By demonstrating your knowledge of player devel-opment programs, your value to your employer will be enhanced thus equaling more job security. Generating more rounds and revenues is always our goal so by putting your plan into action will show your employer you have set the stage. Does this guarantee the weather won’t affect these well laid out plans? No, but within this plan, you should devise some contingencies. There are six (6) player development action steps. I like to refer to this as the “Circle of Life” of your plan. These steps are: 1. Communication 2. Analysis 3. Planning 4. Marketing 5. Execution 6. Tracking Your ability to make this personal and show your employer you are vested in this will go a long way to ensur-ing job security. Please start the process by communicating with your employer what you are doing and then continue to communicate “when/ if” bad weather comes your way. All the steps are important, but start the process with communication!

Bruce Lubach, PGA, is The PGA of America Employment Consultant for the Iowa, Midwest, Minnesota and Nebraska Sections. [email protected] | (402) 261-3604.

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TOURNAMENT NEWS


Henderson, Nevada- Nebraska PGA Professionals and amateurs joined in Las Vegas, Nev. for the 22nd Annual Cleveland Golf/Srixon Nebraska PGA Ve-gas Classic held during March 12th-14th. After com-pleting rounds at three of Las Vegas’ finest golf courses, Tony Baranowski, PGA assistant profes-sional, and his teammates claimed the team title of this year’s event, while Jim White, PGA was named the victor of the professional division. The first round of the tournament commenced at An-them Country Club where 17 teams competed in a two net stableford event. The teams, composed of one Nebraska PGA Professional and four amateurs, experienced beautiful weather and a challenging course as they aimed to shake off their winter rust. The team consisting of PGA Director of Golf Greg Neujahr of Champions Run, Tad Leistico, Matt Hickey, Andy Reeves and Todd Petersen maintained a narrow lead at the end of the first round to finish one point ahead of their competitors going into the second day. Assistant Professional Tony Baranowski of Shadow Ridge Country Club and his team started their climb

towards the top of the leaderboard during the second round. Despite a seventh place start, the team from Omaha, Neb. consisting of Brian Green, Mike John-son, Randy Hoffman and Jeff McPherson earned 96 points while playing Dragon Ridge Country Club to end the day with a two shot lead at 177 points. The 84 players headed to Las Vegas National Golf Club for the final round where the team format changed to three of the five net scores counting on each hole. Baranowski and his team would continue their stellar play throughout the third round to win the event with a 54-hole total of 307 points. “Tuesday and Wednesday went very well for our team,” said Baranowski of the last two days of com-petition. “We all played very well and seemed to feed off each other. We had a string of birdies on Tuesday that led to a good score. On Wednesday, Brian Green had a great back nine and that helped us out a lot. “Overall the Section put on a great event,” said Bar-anowski of his first time playing in the Nebraska Ve-gas Classic. PGA Head Professional Bryan Hughett and his ama-teur team from Norfolk Country Club ended the tournament 16 points behind the leaders at 291 to finish in second while the teams of PGA Life Mem-ber Juan Elizondo and PGA Teaching Professional Jon Petersen of Miracle Hill Golf & Tennis Center finished in a tie for third 23 points back at 284. In the professional division, the players in the top positions fluctuated each round making for a very exciting three days. Ryan Vermeer, PGA apprentice at Oak Hills Country Club, initially led the profes-sionals after racking up 35 points in the first round to gain a two point lead over PGA Head Professional Nathan Kalin of Champions Run. Vermeer collect-ed four birdies as he negotiated the 6,762 par-72 lay-out of Anthem Country Club.

Team Baranowski

By Thomas Harmon, PGA

TEAM BARANOWSKI CAPTURES THE 2012 CLEVELAND GOLF/SRIXON VEGAS CLASSIC

Continued on next page


While the second round saw Baranowski’s team pro-pelling towards the lead, Baranowski’s personal game set him ahead of the pack of professionals as well. Baranowski shot 5-under-67 to claim the low round of the day by four shots. His second round highlights included five birdies and an eagle. PGA Master Professional Jim White of West Nine & Learning Center also finished tied for first to share the lead with Baranowski at the end of the day. Seven players closely following the leaders by four points going into the final round, making a competi-tive run for the professional division title on the last day. White was able to fend off the stiff competition and posted 35 additional points to bring his tourna-ment total to 32-37-35--104.

“My ball striking was solid all three days and I did-n’t make a lot of mistakes,” said White of his 21st appearance in the Nebraska PGA Vegas Classic. “That’s the formula for success out there. “I holed two bunker shots during the last round,” said White. “I don’t think I’ve ever done that before in one round.”

White said he hopes more teams shake off the winter rust and kick off the season by joining them in Las Vegas next year. “It’s a great way to start the year; we all had a lot of fun,” said White. Reigning Nebraska PGA Player of the Year, Shane

Zywiec of Highlands Golf Course, made a late run

but fell one point short to White finishing at 31-37-35--103 . PGA Head Professional Chad Lydiatt of Awarii Dunes Golf Club rounded out the top three by finishing four points off the pace with a total score of 27-37-36--100. First round leader, Ryan Vermeer, ended just outside of the top three tied for fourth at 99 with Bryan Hughett, Tony Baranowski and Jon Petersen. The Nebraska PGA would like to thank Tad Leistico of Cleveland Golf/Srixon for his support of this year’s event. The Nebraska PGA would also like to thank all 84 players who participated in this year’s event.


Event Date Registration

Club Car Pro - 3 Am Riverside GC - Grand Island, NE

Apr 9 Info Register

Club Car Pro - 2 Scratch Iron Horse GC - Ashland, NE

Apr 16 Info Register Closes Thu Apr 12

PING/Club Car Golf Pro - 3 Am Hillcrest - Lincoln, NE

Apr 23 Info Register

Yamaha 27 Hole Pro - 3 Am Tiburon Golf Club - MGW - Omaha, NE Tiburon GC - GWH - Omaha, NE Tiburon Golf Club -HM - Omaha, NE

Apr 30 Info Register

Yamaha Asst. Match Play Championship Tiburon GC - GWH - Omaha, NE

May 1 - Aug 1 Info Register

Callaway Golf Match Play Championship Firethorn GC - Lincoln, NE

May 6 - Aug 29

Info Register

Bushnell/Club Car Pro - 3 Am Champions Run - Omaha, NE

May 7 Info Register

TaylorMade/adidas Pro - 3 Am Fremont GC - Fremont, NE

May 14 Info Register

Callaway Golf Pro - 3 Am Wilderness Ridge - Lincoln, NE


Mizuno Pro/Assistant Championship Oak Hills - Omaha, NE


E-Z-GO Pro - 3 Am Platteview Country Club - Bellevue, NE

Jun 4 Info Register

Yamaha Pro - 3 Am Quail Run - Columbus, NE

Jun 11 Info Register

TaylorMade/adidas Pro - 3 Am Happy Hollow - Omaha, NE

Jun 18 Info

TaylorMade/adidas - Club Car Pro - 3 Am Firethorn GC - Lincoln, NE

Jun 25 Info Register

Click Here for complete 2012 Nebraska PGA Schedule


ELIGIBILITY Junior golfers are able to register for membership in the Nebraska Junior Golf Tour by downloading a paper entry below. On-line membership opens April 15. NJGT mem-bership is open to boys and girls beginning at age 7 and extends through the summer following a golfer's gradua-tion from high school, regardless of age. 2012 Nebraska Junior Golf Tour Membership Form 2012 Membership Dues* $55 annually for boys ages 12 & older and girls ages 14 & older $45 annually for boys ages 7-11 and girls ages 7-13 All dues are non-refundable. A golfer's age on July 1, 2012 determines their age group of competition for the entire summer and their applicable membership dues. * Financial assistance is available to any junior unable to afford the membership dues or tournament entry fees. BENEFITS Boys ages 12 and older and girls ages 14 and older re-ceive eligibility to participate in all NJGT events. Boys ages 7-11 and girls 7-13 receive eligibility to participate in regular NJGT events only. All NJGT members receive the following benefits: -Consideration for the NJGT Tour Championship and Player of the Year Awards -A Subscription to the new NJGT Electronic Newsletter -Membership Bag Tag -Membership Sticker -2012-2016 USGA Rules of Golf Booklet -2012 Membership Gift from Nike Golf -Nebraska Golf Association Membership which includes a USGA Handicap Index, complimentary Cox Classic tickets, subscriptions to both Nebraska Golfer magazine and the NGA E-newsletter (24 editions) and eligibility to compete in NGA competitions. A golfer's age on July 1, 2012 determines their age group of competition for the entire summer and their applicable membership classification. 2012 SCHEDULE/RESULTS Entry forms for NJGT events will be available

beginning April 1. Once your membership has been ap-proved you'll be able to enter most of these events on-line with a credit card by linking to on-line registration. Please note the following regarding event types and eligi-bility: A golfer's age on July 1, 2012 will determine his/her age division for competition the entire season. Regular Events Individual stroke play competitions with various age and gender divisions. Boys 7-11 and girls 7-13 play 9-holes, boys 12 & older and girls 14 & older play 18-holes. Age divisions for regular tour events are: 7-8, 9-11, 12-13, 14-15 and 16+. The entry fee for regular events is $20 for 9-holers and $25 for 18-holers. All tour members are eligi-ble to compete in these events. Beginning in 2012, per-formance points will be awarded for regular tour events. Premier Events Reserved for boys 12 & older and girls age 14 & older. These tournaments are higher level 18-hole individual stroke play competitions with set-up and administration similar to that of a championship. Golfers will play vary-ing yardages based on age and gender divisions. Players will receive higher level performance points based on their finish. The entry fee for premier events is $40. Other Events Nike Golf Junior Four-Ball - This event will again kick-off the season and features a partner better-ball competi-tion for golfers at the 18-hole membership level. Golfers will play varying yardages based on their age and gender division. The entry fee for the Junior Four-Ball is $70/team. Paper Entries: April 1 , 2012 On-Line Registration: April 1 , 2012 2012 Schedule of NJGT Events will be available online prior to registration. For more information, contact:

Nebraska Junior Golf Tour 6618 South 118th Street Omaha, NE 68137 Ph: (402) 505-4653, ext. 105 [email protected]


The Player Development Playbook is the first tool developed to help PGA and LPGA Professionals person-ally activate Golf 2.0 at their facilities. This resource provides action-steps to make our game more fun and welcoming to new golfers.

Player Development Playbook

This Player Develop-ment GamePlan is the initial resource in a series developed to help you and your personal commitment to Golf 2.0. You can use this Player Development GamePlan to gain an overview and understanding on the recommended action steps to enhance your Player Development efforts.

Player Development GamePlan


STAFF David Honnens, PGA

Executive Director [email protected]

Thomas Harmon, PGA

Tournament Director [email protected]

Renee Tyson

Administrative Assistant [email protected]

MEMBERS ON THE MOVE *Updates between 3/1/2012 - 3/31/2012

Name Facility Class Registered

Joshua Kohn-Lindquist Two Rivers Golf Club B-8 3/8/2012

NEW REGISTERED APPRENTICES

Name Former Section New Section Effective Date

Mark Aulerich, PGA Southwest Nebraska 3/12/2012

SECTION CHANGES

CLASS CHANGES

Name Former Class New Class Effective Date Mardi Anderson, PGA A-1 A-6 3/1/2012

Michael Brown, PGA A-8 A-1 3/5/2012

Brian Bussinger, PGA A-8 A-1 3/5/2012

Kevin Drew, PGA A-8 A-1 3/1/2012

Robert Johnson, PGA A-8 A-1 3/1/2012

Brett Morgan, PGA A-8 A-13 3/19/2012

EMPLOYMENT CHANGES

Name Current Facility Class Effective Date Mardi Anderson, PGA Whispering Creek Golf Club A-6 3/1/2012 Mark Aulerich, PGA The Prairie Club A-13 3/12/2012 Nicholas Burkart, PGA Shadow Ridge Country Club A-8 3/6/2012 Brian Bussinger, PGA Old Dane Golf Club A-1 3/5/2012 Kevin Drew, PGA The Fox Run Golf Course A-1 3/1/2012 Daniel Fox, PGA The Country Club of Lincoln A-8 3/6/2012 Robert Johnson, PGA Mahoney Golf Course A-1 3/1/2012 Brett Morgan, PGA Hidden Valley Golf Club A-8 3/19/2012

nebraska section pga march 2012 newsletter

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