Stafford, VA – The MAPGA is proud to announce its 2013 Merchandisers of the Year: David Dorn, PGA of Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland (Private Category), Jeff Rosenberg, PGA of Little Bennett Golf Course in Clarksburg, Maryland (Public Category) and Joseph R. Burbee, PGA of Bay Creek Resort & Club in Cape Charles, Virginia (Resort Category). This award is bestowed on those MAPGA Professionals who have demonstrated superior skills as merchandisers in the promotion of golf. The following winners will be recognized in front of their peers at the 2013 MAPGA Awards and Hall of Fame Banquet which will be held on March 9, 2013 at the Gaithersburg Marriott Washingtonian Center in Gaithersburg, Md.
David Dorn, PGA – Woodmont Country Club
Born in Biloxi, Miss., Dorn was brought up in a military family and raised in the Baltimore area. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing and immediately entered the PGA of America’s Apprentice program. Dorn began his first official golf job in 1989 at Woodmont Country Club where he was fortunate to learn from three great PGA Professionals – Tony Marlowe, Bob Boyd and Lyle Williams.
Dorn earned his PGA membership in 1992 and after spending 10 seasons at Woodmont, he was selected by Hampshire Greens Golf Course in Silver Spring, Maryland to be their Head Professional. For over six years, he was successful in growing the operation at Hampshire Greens and making it one of the stand-out, daily fee facilities in Montgomery County.
In 2006, Dorn returned to Woodmont Country Club as the Director of Golf and has been growing Woodmont’s retail business ever since. Before his arrival, the top annual sales in the golf shop were $350,000. At the end of 2012, gross merchandise sales soared to nearly $730,000. Dorn credits the merchandise success to his staff involvement and to the introduction of new product lines. He believes that a great golf shop is defined as one of which a membership is proud and continues to support. In order to achieve this success, Dorn focuses on “premium customer service, high quality product, variety of merchandise and fair, competitive pricing.” He is very proud of his staff and regularly encourages them to contribute their ideas to the operation.
Jeff Rosenberg, PGA – Little Bennett Golf Course
A Rockville, Md. native, Jeff Rosenberg took an interest in golf at the age of 12. His first golf job was working as a cart attendant at Manor Country Club in Rockville under the supervision of PGA Professional and past MAPGA Award winner Coleman Plecker. After spending a few years studying business at the University of Maryland, Rosenberg decided to turn his attention toward a career in golf.
With country club experience, Rosenberg joined the staff of the former Indian Spring Country Club in Silver Spring, Md. in 1992. He received his PGA membership in 1994 and continued to work in the private club market at Woodmont Country Club (Rockville, Md.), as well as P.B. Dye Golf Club (Ijamsville, Md.). It was in 2008 that Rosenberg accepted his current position as Head PGA Professional at Little Bennett, which is a public facility in Clarksburg, Md. that is managed by the Montgomery County Revenue Authority.
Bringing a country club atmosphere to a public golf facility has helped Rosenberg build the golf shop business at Little Bennett. He streamlined the merchandise and gave the shop a fresh look by regularly changing displays. Following these improvements, he tracked the golf shop’s performance by measuring the average dollars spent on merchandise per each round of golf played. According to the National Golf Foundation, the national average of merchandise dollars spent per round at public golf facilities is $5.15 and Little Bennett reached $6.40 per round in 2012.
For Rosenberg, his success in golf is attributed to his commitment to his philosophy. “Always focus on creating the best experience for the customer,” he states, “Treat each customer with kindness and respect, enabling them to completely enjoy their time at our facility.” Representing a public golf facility, Rosenberg stresses the importance of making a solid first impression with a customer because “it’s not about making sales, it’s about making relationships.”
Joseph R. Burbee, PGA – Bay Creek Resort and Club
With roots in Cincinnati, Ohio, Joe Burbee fell in love with golf at the age of ten after watching fellow Ohioan, Jack Nicklaus, capture national attention as a leader on the PGA Tour. He was intrigued by the game and ironically, at the age of fourteen, landed a job with the Jack Nicklaus Sports Center in Mason, Ohio. He continued in golf, playing for his high school golf team and then decided to attend Miami University in nearby Oxford, Ohio, where he graduated with a degree in Political Science.
Burbee declared his professional status in 1992, and began working as an assistant at the Golf Center at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio in 1993. He was elected to PGA membership in 1995 and became the Golf Center’s Head PGA Professional in 1997. Burbee was selected as the Southern Ohio Section’s Merchandiser of the Year (Resort Category) in 1997. In 2001, he moved to the Head PGA Professional position at The Signature at West Neck in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He was selected as the Head PGA Professional at Bay Creek Golf Club in 2005.
This is Burbee’s second MAPGA Merchandiser of the Year award (his first was in 2012). Through his leadership, the Bay Creek Golf Club staff is trained to anticipate the needs of their guests and empowered to make decisions to meet those needs. Be hospitable, be helpful and be informed are the three essential tenants that guide Burbee and his staff on a daily basis. He also believes that by being intimately involved in merchandise operations, assistant professionals will be more valuable to future employers. They will be able to answer all relevant questions in interviews and actually know how to run a shop when they are head professionals.
About the Middle Atlantic Section of the PGA of America
The Middle Atlantic Section of the PGA (MAPGA), located in Stafford, Virginia, is one of 41 Sections of The Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA), headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. As a part of The PGA since 1925, the MAPGA consists of over 1,100 members and apprentices in Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia and small portions of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Together, the MAPGA golf professionals, volunteers and staff support the mission of The PGA to promote enjoyment and involvement in the game of golf and to contribute to the game’s growth by providing services to PGA Professionals and the golf industry.
Contact:
Stephanie Jennings, PGA
sjennings@pgahq.com
(540) 720-7420 ext. 116
