PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Brian Whitcomb of Bend, Ore., was elected the 35th president of The Professional Golfers’ Association of America today by delegates at the Association’s 90th Annual Meeting in Kiawah Island, S.C. Whitcomb previously served as Secretary of the Association from 2002-2004 and Vice President from 2004-2006
Whitcomb, 51, succeeds Roger Warren of Kiawah Island, S.C., who will serve on The PGA Board of Directors as Honorary President. Succeeding Whitcomb as Vice President is Jim Remy of Ludlow, Vt., who served the past two years as Secretary.
Allen Wronowski, 51, of Bel Air, Md., was elected Secretary. In addition, six new members of The PGA Board of Directors were sworn into office.
Whitcomb, a PGA member for 20 years, began his career in 1978 at the Arizona Biltmore Country Club in Phoenix. In 1981, he leased Paradise Valley Park Golf Course in Phoenix, and built an additional nine holes of golf. In 1989, he designed and built The 500 Club in Phoenix, which he operates with Tom Sneva, the winner of the 1983 Indianapolis 500. In 1992, he designed and built Club West in Phoenix, which he sold in 1998. In 1995, he designed and constructed Lost Tracks Golf Club in Bend, Ore. Whitcomb also has partnered with three of his former employees to build The Golf Club at Beardance in Castle Rock, Colo., the home of the Colorado PGA Section.
Since 1999, Whitcomb has served on the national PGA Properties Board. He also was a member of the national PGA Board of Directors from 1998-2001, representing District 14.
From 1989-91, he served on the Southwest PGA Section Board of Directors, and was president from 1995-97. He also has served the Section as Tournament chairperson, Education chairperson and Golf Pass chairperson. In 2001, he was named the Southwest PGA Golf Professional of the Year.
Jim Remy, a PGA member since 1984, is the vice president and general manager at the Okemo Valley Golf Club in Ludlow, Vt. Remy began his career at the private Worcester (Mass.) Country Club in Worcester, Mass., the site of the first Ryder Cup. He served as assistant professional at Worcester Country Club and Mount Pleasant Country Club, two of Massachusetts’s premier private facilities. After accepting the head golf professional position at Killington Golf Resort in Vermont in 1985, he went on to become the director of golf and summer sports, and eventually the director of golf for the Vermont Divisions for S-K-I Ltd.
In late 1997, Remy accepted a position with Okemo Mountain Resort and became responsible for the construction and development of the Okemo Valley Golf Resort. Today as vice president and general manager, he is responsible for all aspects of one of New England’s leading membership and resort facilities.
Remy, 52, has served in almost every capacity within the New England Section. From 1995-1997 he served as president of the New England Section. Among various awards, he was named the New England PGA Golf Professional of the Year in 1997. He has also served an unprecedented six-and-a-half year term on the National Board of Control, which reviews and rules on membership issues. He was named to the Board in 1997 to finish the term of William A. Mitchell, who passed away, and was then named to his own term in 1999. He took part in nearly 1200 decisions during his more than six years on the Board.
Allen Wronowski, was elected Secretary of The PGA of America. Wronowski, who served as District 10 Director on the PGA Board of Directors, and has served since 1990 as PGA Head Professional at Hillendale Country Club in Phoenix, Md. He has a distinguished record of service to The PGA and to the Middle Atlantic PGA Section, beginning with active involvement in Section governance soon after being elected to membership in 1981.
From 1983-1988, Wronowski served on the Assistant’s Committee as treasurer, vice president, president and tournament chair.
In 1984, Wronowski was named MAPGA’s Assistant Golf Professional of the Year. He has served on the MAPGA Board of Directors since 1996, holding all of the offices of secretary, vice president, president, and currently Board of Control representative. Over the past 21 years, Wronowski has been an active member or chair of numerous Section committees, and at the national level represented the MAPGA as a delegate to the PGA Annual Meeting from 1995-2000, in addition to his role as PGA District 10 Director.
As Middle Atlantic PGA president, Wronowski created a five-year working business plan for the Board and committees to use toward being more effective and efficient, with measurable, trackable results. The plan is still used today after being updated each year. As Section president, Wronowski created a mentoring program in one chapter and this year the program is utilized by all chapters. As a Section officer, he was instrumental in the creation of an MAPGA investment fund and strategy that has grown MAPGA reserves from $200,000 to more than $1.25 million, which is to be used to build a MAPGA permanent office.
Wronowski has earned numerous awards for his merchandising skills. In 1997, he was named Marketing Professional of the Year by the Mid-Atlantic Salesman’s Association, and in 1998 was selected as the MAPGA Merchandiser of the Year in the private facility category. In 1999, Wronowski was named Section PGA Golf Professional of the Year. In 2002, he earned the MAPGA Bill Strausbaugh Award for his behind-the-scenes work on employment efforts for the members of the Middle Atlantic Section.
The six new PGA Board members are: Ted Bishop of Franklin, Ind.; Frank Gumpert of Baton Rouge, La.; Randy Hunt of Lenexa, Kan., Mary Bea Porter-King of Lihue, Hawaii; Dennis Rose of Kamuela, Hawaii; and Alan Wooley of Kyle, Texas. The new directors will serve three-year terms.
The PGA Board of Directors is composed of the Association’s president, vice president, secretary, honorary president and 17 directors. The directors include representatives from each of The PGA’s 14 districts, two Independent Directors and a member of the PGA Tour. New District Directors are elected by their local PGA Sections.
Celebrating its 90th anniversary, The PGA of America was founded in 1916, and is a not-for-profit organization that promotes the game of golf while continuing to enhance the standards of the profession. The Association is comprised of more than 28,000 men and women PGA Professionals who are dedicated to growing participation in the game of golf.
Contact:
Contact: Jamie Carbone, PGA of America
561/352-8963, jcarbone@pgahq.com
