Pittman, Robinson Graduate PGA’s Management Program
TOCCOA, Ga. – Currahee Club assistant golf professionals Ben Pittman and Tim Robinson have achieved Class A Professional status within the PGA of America, according to Head Golf Professional John Wade.
Both Pittman and Robinson recently completed the third and final level of the Professional Golf Management Program, thus attaining full PGA membership.
"I’m extremely proud of Ben and Tim for earning their Class A Professional status and becoming PGA members. This is quite an achievement," said Wade. "When an assistant golf professional takes a job at a club, he or she is stepping into a costly and time-consuming effort to become a PGA Member."
"There are three levels of education an assistant must complete within six years to graduate from the program," continued Wade. "Testing and seminars follow each level, which each assistant must pass and complete before moving onto the next level within the program. The education that Ben and Tim have obtained through the PGM Program, along with their work experience, prepares them for the next step in their career, that of becoming a head PGA golf professional at a prestigious facility like Currahee Club."
In the first level, the PGM Program covers a wide range of subject material, including the Rules of Golf, tournament operations, golf car fleet management, teaching, golfer development programs, golf club design and repair and more.
At Level 2, subjects covered include analysis of the swing, business planning and operations, customer relations, business communications, turf grass management and an elective. The third and final level of instruction covers the swing concepts of teaching, supervising and delegating, merchandising and inventory management, food and beverage control and an elective.
The PGA Electives are golf course design, golf facility design, golf range management and caddie program management. Outside electives include CPR/first aid and public speaking. Students must complete one elective from each category.
Pittman, 35, came to Currahee Club in May 2004 as an assistant to Wade. "I love this place; I absolutely love this place," he said about the community.
Born in Staunton, Va., Pittman grew up in Greenville, S.C. and earned a BA degree in Political Science from Rhodes College in Memphis. He began his career in golf working part-time at Willbrook Plantation at Pawley’s Island, S.C., while earning an associate’s degree in complex golf management at the Myrtle Beach campus of the San Diego Golf Academy’s Myrtle Beach. He has worked as an assistant professional at St. Ives Country Club in Duluth, Ga. and at The Cliffs in S.C.
Pittman is married. He and his wife live in Greenville with their six-month-old daughter.
Robinson, 31, is a native of Gainesville, Ga., who starting playing golf at 11 and working as a cart attendant at Chicopee Woods in his hometown at age 16. But he spent six years in the military before accepting what he calls his "first real golf job," that of assistant pro at Chicopee Woods starting in 2001.
In 2004, he moved to Wynlakes Golf and Country Club in Montgomery, Ala., before coming to Currahee Club in July 2005.
Robinson and his wife live in Baldwin, Ga.
About Currahee Club
Currahee Club, a golf, lake and mountain community, is located just 90 minutes from Atlanta and 60 minutes from Greenville, S.C., off of Highway 17 in Toccoa, Ga. Currahee Club is a development of Whitley Development Group, Inc., a father-son team involved with successful, notable properties such as The Bear’s Club in Palm Beach, Fla., The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club & Spa in Jupiter, Fla., Colleton River Plantation near Hilton Head, S.C. and The Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta. For more information on Currahee Club, please visit www.curraheeclub.com or call (706) 827-1000 or (888) 560-2582.
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