PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Four new members of The PGA of America’s Board of Directors were sworn in Saturday, Nov. 8, at the Association’s 92nd Annual Meeting at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix, Ariz.
Michael Doctor of Camillus, N.Y., Ron Dunham of Jackson, Wyo., Bruce Patterson of Clarendon Hills, Ill., and Jeff Smith of Oskaloosa, Iowa, will each 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.
MICHAEL DOCTOR
Skaneateles (N.Y.) Country Club
Elected to PGA membership in 1979, Michael Doctor is a second generation PGA Master Professional who has served since 1985 as the PGA director of golf at Skaneateles (N.Y.) Country Club.
Doctor, 58, will be entering his second term as District 4 director on The PGA of America’s Board of Directors, having previously served from 1999 to 2002. He will represent the Central New York, Tri-State and Western New York PGA Sections.
Doctor is currently the co-chair of the National PGA Education Committee and a member of the PGA Awards Committee. He won the 2007 national PGA Bill Strausbaugh Award for distinguished service in mentoring PGA Professionals and thereby improving employment opportunities and in service to the community.
Doctor also was the 1991 Central New York PGA Golf Professional of the Year; a four-time recipient of the Section Horton Smith Award winner (bestowed by the Central New York and Northeastern New York Sections). He is a nine-time recipient of the Central New York PGA Junior Golf Leader Award and was the 1995 Central New York PGA Teacher of the Year.
Doctor and his wife, Nancy, live in Camillus, N.Y., and are the parents of a son, Jonathan, the PGA head professional at Chester Valley Golf Club in Malvern, Pa.; a son, Mike Jr. of New York City; and a daughter, Megan, of Syracuse, N.Y.
RON DUNHAM
Teton Pines Resort & Country Club – Jackson, Wyo.
A PGA member since 1976, Ron Dunham previously represented District 4 – Central New York, Tri-State and Western New York Sections – from 1990 to 1993 on the PGA Board of Directors. He now serves District 9, representing the Colorado, Rocky Mountain and Utah PGA Sections.
Dunham began his professional golf career as an assistant professional at Binghamton (N.Y.) Country Club in 1971, and served as PGA head professional at five clubs in the Central New York and New Jersey PGA Sections between 1974 and 2001. Dunham, 60, accepted his current position at Teton Pines Resort & Country Club in 2002.
He was the recipient of the 2005 PGA Merchandiser of the Year Award for resort facilities.
Dunham and his wife, Missie, live in Jackson, Wyo., during the summer and winter at PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Fla. They are the parents of a son, Michael, who played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League and is now a goalie coach for the New York Islanders; and a daughter, Kristen Crawford, of Nashville, Tenn.
BRUCE PATTERSON
Butler National Golf Club – Oak Brook, Ill.
Bruce Patterson succeeds Ted Bishop as District 6 Director, representing the Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin PGA Sections. Bishop was elected Secretary of The PGA of America on Nov. 8.
Patterson, 52, is a PGA Master Professional and since his election to PGA membership in 1982 has served as the PGA head professional at Butler National Golf Club in Oak Brook, Ill.
Patterson’s tour of duty in the Illinois PGA Section includes serving in all officer capacities, including as Section president from 1995 to 1996. The 2008 Illinois PGA Bill Strausbaugh Award recipient, Patterson is a 1979 graduate of the University of Michigan, where he played four years on the Wolverines’ varsity men’s golf team.
He is currently president of the Illinois PGA Foundation, a position he has held for 17 years. In 2001, he was named Illinois PGA Teacher of the Year and he is a two-time recipient (1993, ’96) of the Illinois PGA Golf Professional of the Year award.
Among his many contributions to Illinois PGA Professionals was developing training programs that enabled 17 of his former associate golf professionals to move on to positions of their own. Patterson is a dedicated supporter of junior golf programs.
Patterson and his wife, Dru, live in Clarendon Hills, Ill. Bruce is the father of daughters Becky and Emily.
JEFF SMITH
Harvest Point Golf Course – Oskaloosa, Iowa
A fourth generation member of his family to serve in the golf industry, Jeff Smith is the first in his family to attain PGA of America membership. Smith’s family managed the city-owned golf facility in Oskaloosa, Iowa – Edmundson Golf Course. As District 8 director, he will represent the Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska PGA Sections.
Smith enjoyed a productive junior golf career, winning the 1976 and 1977 Iowa state high school championship, and reached the 1976 quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Championship. He competed on a golf scholarship at Memphis State University, before graduating in 1981. After an unsuccessful bid for a Tour career in 1981, Smith became an apprentice professional at Hillwood Country Club in Nashville, Tenn. He returned to Edmundson Golf Course in 1985 and earned PGA of America membership in 1987.
In May 2000, Smith and his wife, Lori, opened the nine-hole Harvest Point Golf Course and practice range in Oskaloosa, which they continue to own and manage today.
Smith, 49, is a three-time Iowa PGA Merchandiser of the Year award winner (public facilities); a three-time Section Horton Smith Award recipient; the 2006 Section Golf Professional of the Year, and is in his third year as co-chair of Play Golf Iowa. Last year, Smith concluded 12 years of service on the Board of Directors of the Iowa PGA Section, where he chaired all positions during 10 years on the Section’s executive board. He has been an active member of the Iowa PGA-sanctioned GIVE (Golf For Injured Veterans Everywhere) program and is a past chair of the Iowa PGA Junior Golf program.
Smith and his wife Lori, live in Oskaloosa, Iowa, and are the parents of a son, Tyler.
About The PGA of America
Since 1916, The PGA of America’s mission has been twofold; to establish and elevate the standards of the profession and to grow interest and participation in the game of golf.
By establishing and elevating the standards of the golf profession through world-class education, career services, marketing and research programs, the Association enables PGA Professionals to maximize their performance in their respective career paths and showcases them as experts in the game and in the $76 billion golf industry.
By creating and delivering dramatic world-class championships and exciting and enjoyable golf promotions that are viewed as the best of their class in the golf industry, The PGA of America elevates the public’s interest in the game, the desire to play more golf, and ensures accessibility to the game for everyone, everywhere. The PGA of America brand represents the very best in golf.
Contact:
Jamie Carbone
561/624-8446
jcarbone@pgahq.com
