In this special edition, we highlight three Colorado PGA of America Golf Professionals chosen as 2023 Award Winners. We start off by hearing from the Assistant Professional of the Year, Marcus Gillmor, PGA Assistant Professional at Fort Collins Country Club. Next, we hear what makes a great coach from Teacher of the Year winner Ed Oldham, PGA Director of Instruction at The Ranch Country Club. We round out the episode by learning from Golf Professional of the Year winner Bob Doyle, PGA. I sat down with each of them and asked some burning questions about their experiences and what it’s like to be recognized as a Section award winner.

Join us in our interview with Gavin Parker, PGA, Teaching Professional at Salisbury Country Club in Midlothian, VA. Gavin is a PGM Graduate from Campbell University and a PGA of America Golf Professional. If you are active on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, you may know him by a different name. He’s the Chief Energy Officer (CEO) of Junior Golf! At the time of recording, over 10 million people have viewed the hashtag CEOofJuniorGolf on TikTok. What began as a goal of posting content every day for a year, has become a platform for elevating junior golf and HUMAN development in our current culture. Staying relevant, relatable, and real are some of the highlights of how Gavin uses his platform to impact the lives of the juniors he coaches and others who have their own golf aspirations.

Does your facility need help with buying or leasing golf cars? Have you ever been curious about owning your own private golf car? Did you know that there are different classifications of golf cars? Well, our guest for this episode, Jason Masek, co-owner of Masek Rocky Mountain Golf Car, can help answer all those questions and more. Long-time Colorado PGA Section partner, Masek Rocky Mountain Golf Cars has an almost 100-year history of being in the motor industry, selling everything from tires, scooters, turf equipment, boat motors, and even refrigerators. Since the 1980s, though, Masek has sold and distributed golf cars. Servicing both commercial and private clients, Jason and his team are experts in everything golf cars. Whether you are a golf professional in search of information for your facility or an individual wishing you were heading to your neighborhood pool in style, Jason has you covered.

The DECADE Course Management System has solved golf strategy by combining shot distribution patterns and PGA Tour scoring statistics. When Scott Fawcett combined those two data sets, he created a simple way to optimize target selection. DECADE quickly generates the optimal target that will produce the lowest score based on distance, hazards, and hole location. 412891

Though COVID is still with us and may never leave, it doesn’t seem to dictate our lives as it once did. However, it has significantly impacted many day-to-day things we do and think about. Are you left feeling overwhelmed or feeling heavy with the additional mental load? Well, that is what we will be chatting with Thane about. The pandemic helped push society into a much more digital age where we can accomplish so much more in new environments such as a home office or virtual meetings. Sounds great, right? Well, as Thane explains, there is a cost with every change. These new advancements also came with feelings of having no room to breathe and no end in sight.

Have you ever wanted to travel to play golf? Or, are you a PGA Professional that wants to offer more to your customers or members with thoughtful travel opportunities? Our Colorado PGA Section Partner, Tom Cotter, with The Consummate Pro, can help if you have always dreamed of going on the golf trip of a lifetime and playing some of the world’s most historic facilities. After talking with Tom, he makes his customers feel so much more prepared to hopefully make that dream a reality. During this episode, Tom answers all the questions about traveling abroad for golf. From booking tee times to transportation, entertainment, and more, The Consummate Pro has you covered.

As surely you’ve seen, golf has recently made quite a few headlines. From the Netflix series Full Swing to the news surrounding the controversial, Saudi-Backed LIV Tour and PGA Tour drama, our great game is gaining a lot of attention. So just how do the PGA of America and its PGA Members fit into all this? Joining this episode are two of the PGA’s best, the current Vice President of the PGA of America, Don Rea, and the Director of the Mountain and Midwest Regions, Keith Soriano. Don and Keith share their insight on the value of PGA Membership and how PGA Professionals can define themselves as MVPs in the golf industry. To learn more, please enjoy this episode of the Elevation Podcast.

It's 2023, and Colorado has not one but two USGA Major Championships within the Section. Join me in hearing from PGA General Manager Steve Wallace from Eisenhower Golf Club at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Steve and his team are hosting the US Girls Junior Championship. Also, hear from PGA Head Professional Andrew Shuck from Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village. Andrew and his staff have partnered with Graham Cliff, PGA at Colorado Golf Club in Parker, to host the US Amateur Championship. Debuting a new clubhouse with an awe-inspiring hall of champions, Andrew brings a unique perspective about hosting the most elite amateur championship in the world.

In this episode, we talk with one of our Section partners, Director of Golf, Ian Crick, PGA, from Strackaline. StrackaLine is a company that specializes in green reading technology, greens guides, and yardage books. Using laser technology, they create accurate green guides which can be used for competitive play. Their system also provides hole location software and other tools to golf operators, which can save tons of time while taking the guesswork out of the daily course and event preparation. We also hear from Colorado PGA Tournament Director Scott Minta on how he uses the software for event management.

Have you ever heard the famous saying from Bobby Jones: “The most important part of golf is the six inches between your ears.” In our first episode of 2023, we hear from one of the leading experts in mental game coaching, Dr. Rick Sessinghaus. Dr. Rick is a PGA Member who co-founded the FlowCode Golf Academy and is the lifelong swing and mental game coach of PGA Tour Player Collin Morikawa. Co-hosting the episode is Colorado PGA Member Corey Zoller, Player Development Director at Colorado Golf Club.