The New England Section of the PGA of America was a charter member of the association, when it was founded in 1916. Oddly enough, for all of the region’s great history in the game – including hosting the first Ryder Cup played in the U.S. at Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts – and for the many respected PGA leaders it has produced, the New England Section has never yielded a PGA president.
Until now.
Jim Remy, vice president and general manager of the golf division at Okemo Mountain Resort in Ludlow, Vt., hails from the region and began his two-year term Nov. 8 in the PGA’s top post.
Though he’s become immersed in business duties, Remy, insists he cherishes the role that first drew him to the golf industry. “When I go home, I’m still the head professional, and I still work hard every day for my members and my customers.”
Grasping the unique perspectives of management and the rank-and-file – and more importantly, understanding they need not be mutually exclusive – Remy says, will shape his approach to the job. Energetic and eager to help, Remy’s efforts will be in high demand as golf strives to gain relevance among consumers who have less time and money to spend. The following is an excerpt of Remy’s interview with
Golfweek deputy editor Gene Yasuda:
Q. What are the most important goals you’d like to achieve as president?Part of my agenda over the next couple of years is to really sell the game to this generation – these young couples and their children. They’re very, very busy, very active. They have so many choices in their lives. Not to downplay (golf’s) great history and tradition, but today’s generation really wants to know what’s in it for them. I think it’s important that we get out and sell the fact, that look, golf is fun. It’s healthy. It teaches all the right lessons. And if you play golf you’re probably going to surround yourself with pretty good people, and your kids are going to grow up to be pretty good kids.
Q. And you intend to accomplish this by. . . Our ‘Play Golf America’ initiative is fantastic, but golf is a local thing. I want to send the message to all 28,000 of our men and women that it’s our responsibility, individually, to get out there and promote this game in our communities (and not just at golf courses). They need to be ambassadors. When our members speak in front of the Rotary Club or the chamber of commerce, or they work with juniors and the Special Olympics in their own locale, they have a huge impact.
Q. We’re hearing more reports about course closures and stagnant participation. How concerned are you about the health of the game and the industry, especially with the economy teetering?Whatever my agenda was, it changed within the past few months. I need to be prepared to help our PGA members through this economic downturn. Now, are our members going to lose positions probably during this time? Of course. If a course closes, and we lose a position for a PGA member, we will do everything we can to help that PGA member find another position within the industry.
But I’ve been in the recreation business for over 30 years, and I’ve seen downturns before. I saw a gas crisis in the ‘70s when you couldn’t even get gas. That was a really bad situation. We’ll get through this, and when we come out the other side, golf will be strong again.
Q. Considering how important it is to have skilled PGA members to grow the game, are you concerned that the industry might struggle to attract talent? Does the PGA need to improve its recruiting initiatives?“I think we are attracting the best and the brightest with our PGM university programs today. The board just agreed to an initiative where we’re going to invest $3 million in new education programs. We have research programs that are providing information not only to our members, but to their employers. There’s a value in having a PGA member, when you can hire someone who is educated and has the tools and has all the support of the PGA. . . . I wouldn’t say I’m worried about it (recruiting). Obviously, I’ll keep an eye on it.”
Q. Is it time for the PGA of America to truly embrace faster or shorter forms of play, and move away from the notion that golf has to be 18 holes of stroke play?We’ve been doing that, and we’ll continue to do that. I was out at a public course in Scottsdale yesterday, and there’s an 18-hole course and a 9-hole, par-3 course called the Futures Course. . . thousands and thousands of families and kids go out and play it for $12 in the middle of the high season.
We’re doing it, but we tend to talk too much about the country club atmosphere, the 18 holes and the serious golfer.
Q. What’s a “best practice” that you’ve learned over the years that you want to share with your fellow members?Every job that we’re at is a little bit different, and it’s a little bit specific to that facility. But there is one thing that is a constant – a golf professional’s public relations skills and their interactions with a customers or members. The ability to be out front and talking with them and spending time with them. That’s what really matters to them. That interaction becomes a lesson, that lesson becomes a round, that round becomes a purchase. We’re trying to get PGA members to become a little bit more visible and a little more valuable. That’s one of the things I always talk about with young professionals.
Posted: 11/17/2008
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