Ken Morton, Sr., CEO of Morton Golf LLC and a leader at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex for more than 52 years, was ranked number seven in the world in Golf, Inc. magazine’s Most Admired Golf Course Operators list. Morton, Sr. is the only person ever awarded six National PGA Awards. In 2005, he was inducted into the National PGA Hall of Fame for his contributions to the PGA, the game of golf, and its members.
Morton, Sr. is a native of Sacramento who caddied, worked in the golf shop, and repaired golf clubs at Del Paso Country Club while attending El Camino High School. On March 1, 1958, he began working part-time for Tom LoPresti, head golf professional at Haggin Oaks, and remains there 52 years later. With the assistance and support of his management team, Morton, Sr. has built the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex into a facility with world-wide recognition while still maintaining the same home-town influences for customer satisfaction that he learned many years ago.
“I am humbled by this award,” Morton, Sr. explained. “My entire career has been devoted to bringing the people of my community the opportunity to learn and grow with the game of golf. Along the way, I’ve worked with a number of professionals who have helped me develop the kinds of management philosophies, staff educational opportunities, and customer appreciation models that have helped us earn our reputation at Haggin Oaks for being on the cutting edge with regard to sales, marketing, lessons, clubfitting, and more. It’s been a wonderful opportunity to serve my community.”
Morton, Sr.’s background is rich with elements that have helped shape him and the Morton Golf LLC management team. In 1978, he was asked to serve as a member of the PGA of America’s Education Faculty and subsequently ran several PGA Apprentice Training Schools until 1982.
Since that time, he has presented hundreds of PGA Training Seminars for the Professional Golfers Association. In the early 1990s, he was a member of the National PGA Faculty working with the Stanford Research Institute to design the new PGA Apprentice Training Program. Later in that decade, he participated on the design team to create Specialized Certification Programs for Head Golf Professionals.
Today, Morton, Sr. is one of less than 150 Certified PGA Master Professionals and is a faculty member, interviewing and grading those members applying for Certification and PGA Master Professional status.
Golf, Inc magazine has recognized the Most Admired golf Course Operators in the World yearly since 2005. Past winners were added to this year’s ballot along with new nominees submitted by readers. More than 100 golf industry insiders, including developers, management company executives, consultants, and brokers were asked to rate all nominees for this year-the first to rank the operators in order.
Haggin Oaks Golf Complex is located at 3645 Fulton Avenue at Capital City Freeway.
Contact:
Ken Morton Jr., (916) 871-2676 or kmortonjr@hagginoaks.com
