PGA PRO
TO
PRO
Son of PGA member off to fast start on Tour
Alex Prugh (left), son of Steve Prugh, Pacific
Northwest PGA Section
Vice President and PGA
head professional at
Manito Country Club in
Spokane, Wash., was the
hottest rookie on the PGA
Tour through mid-February. As of Feb. 14,
the younger Prugh had
made five cuts this year
on the PGA Tour with
three top-10s, including a
fifth-place finish in the Bob Hope Classic and a T-5 finish in the
Farmers Insurance Open. He ranked 19th on the U.S. Ryder Cup
Team Standings through Feb. 14.
they can expect once they enter the job market.
Wade Hampton Golf Club in Cashiers, N.C., has gone
one step further to help prepare students by implementing a
program called the “PGM Circle.”
Since Tim Boeve, PGA head professional at the 18-hole
private facility, began the program two years ago, more than
a dozen PGA Golf Management University students have
taken part in the experience. “It’s a 90-minute biweekly
meeting with our PGA Golf Management University
interns, which is attended by our assistants, the Director of
Golf Pete Mathews and myself,” says Boeve. “The premise is
to keep an educational focus for the PGA Golf Management
University students while they’re away on their internship.
Initially, we talked a lot about their curriculum and compared
that to our experiences at Wade Hampton to help them bet-
ter understand the real-world application of their studies.”
Boeve adds that it’s become a venue to discuss topics and
challenges facing the industry, not just what they’re learning
through their PGA Golf Management curriculum. “And we
Daughter of PGA Secretary gains PGA
membership, makes history
Ambry LaRosa, daughter of PGA Secretary Ted
Bishop, has made history as
the first daughter of a PGA
national officer to attain PGA
membership. LaRosa, who
turned 28 on Feb. 23, earned
PGA membership Feb. 12, as
part of an 81-member class.
“When she was about 6 or
7, she could hang out at a
course all day. She would play one or two holes, then head to
the nearest pond to look for golf balls,” says Bishop, the general
manager and director of golf at The Legends of Indiana Golf
Club in Franklin, Ind. “She went on to earn a full-ride scholarship
to Indiana, was a four-year letter winner and she became a fine
college coach.”
Married to Rob LaRosa, the PGA head professional at Sterling
Farms Golf Course in Stamford, Conn., Ambry is an assistant
professional at St. Andrews Golf Club in Hastings-on-Hudson,
N. Y., and serving her sixth season as women’s golf coach at St.
John’s University in Queens.
“It feels good to be done, knowing that I have achieved it,”
says LaRosa (pictured with her father). “I believed that it was
the right career path for me. It is definitely a great feeling to be
able to share this with my Dad and my family.”
