The Importance of
Committees
As the “R&D” arm of The PGA of America,
they influence the major decisions of
Association leadership
Irecently completed one of the most important, and most exhaustive,
tasks that a PGA President can face: the naming of approximately
250 fellow PGA Professionals to serve on the various committees
that will advise the PGA Board of Directors for the next two years. This
task is so important because it is the committees that collectively do the
legwork and research that will assist the PGA Board and Officers. I’m
very pleased to know that we will have a wide range of talented and
dedicated PGA Professionals and Section leaders involved in helping us
make the key decisions during my Presidency.
I have always been a big supporter of the committee process, and was pleased to see my predecessor, PGA Honorary President Brian Whitcomb,
reactivate it while he served in this role. The reason
I like the process is that it fits my leadership style,
which is to be a facilitator who marches to the
direction of the rank and file membership, and
because I believe that the more good minds you get
involved in the decision-making process, the better
your decisions will be.
That’s not to say that the will of the committees
will always be reflected in the Board’s decisions –
the Board makes all final decisions and there have
been times in the past and may be times in the
future when the Board goes against the recommendations of a committee. In these cases, it’s important for the committee members to know that their
efforts and opinions are still valued, but that the
Board felt it in the best interests of the Association
to go in another direction.
In most cases, the Board and committee will be
on the same page because virtually all of the current
24 committees are co-chaired or served by a PGA
Board Member/Officer. This keeps the Board
Member or Officer close to the topic the committee is working on, or in the loop so to speak, so we
know the back story to each recommendation
when it comes time to make decisions.
Each committee will on occasion meet by
conference call, and also in person at PGA member
events such as the PGAAnnual Meeting and Leadership Conference. Some will be busier than
others, depending upon the hot topics of the day.
Knowing what those topics currently are, it’s easy
to see that the Membership, Education, Employment and Government Relations committees will
have the full attention of the Board this year as we
fight to preserve and enhance the roles of PGA
Professionals as the experts needed to steer our golf
facilities through the current economic climate.
All our committees are important to the gover-
Jim Remy,
President of The
PGA of America,
PGA Vice
President and
General Manager
at the Okemo
Valley Golf Club in
Ludlow, Vt.
8
| March 2009 | www.pgamagazine.com (password: PGAmag007)
PRESIDENT
nance of The PGA, but I’d also like to single out
the Tournament Committee for the recent work it
did in helping us improve our Member Championships, and the Instruction Committee, which
will be looking at how we present our core competency by integrating fitness, fitting and performance to go along with teaching the game.
What I looked for in choosing committee members was representation from each PGA Section
and a good mix of experience and youth. To the
latter, committees present an opportunity toward
an ulterior motive of developing the next generation of PGA leaders, and, as a former Board of
Control committee member, I can tell you the
experience was certainly a springboard for me.
I want to close by thanking all our committee
members for your dedication to The PGA, and say
that I am personally looking forward to your being
part of our governance process the next two years.
To my other fellow Professionals who might someday like to serve in a similar role, I encourage you to
get involved with your Chapter and Section leadership process, keep volunteering, and get noticed. It
worked for me, and it worked for Brian Bain, a
young PGA Professional from the New England
Section whom I appointed to the Junior Golf
Committee after he caught my eye as a future
leader. It also can work for you, and, in the long run,
work for The PGA, as your leadership will be needed.
With Best Regards,
Jim Remy, PGA
President
The PGA of America
