The campus for new PGA of America headquarters in Frisco isn’t expected to be completed before the summer of 2022, but the organization already has boots on the ground.
Dave Anderson didn’t even have to move to take the job as director of development for PGA REACH, a charitable foundation. He was lured away from the Northern Texas PGA where he was the senior director of business development. He’ll work out of his home in Frisco for the time being while the headquarters is being built.
Fundraising is a key element of PGA REACH, and that is something Anderson, a South Dakota native with an MBA in sports marketing from Arizona State is comfortable with.
“I’ve never felt pressure a day in my life about fundraising,” he said.
Anderson was hired as an NTPGA intern in 2002 and received hands-on experience at running tournaments and other responsibilities. He was hired and stayed until 2008 when he left to raise money on the university level and returned to the NTPGA in 2017.
“Dave helped lead our business development and fundraising initiatives and did an exceptional job,” said NTPGA executive director/CEO Mark Harrison. “We’ll miss him for sure, but I am excited for his new opportunity with the PGA of America and I know his skill set in fundraising will be very beneficial for PGA REACH.”
PGA REACH has three pillars: PGA HOPE (Helping Our Patriots Everywhere); PGA Works, which provides a 12-month fellowship at a PGA section; and PGA Junior League, which Anderson describes as Little League for golf.
HOPE is aimed at helping veterans rehabilitate from limb loss or trauma “to enable them to integrate back into society through this game,” said Anderson, 44, who served as an active-duty airman from 1997-99 and as a reservist from 1999-2005.
The Junior League already has 55,000 participants nationwide, Anderson said. The program aims at teaching the game with a variety of competitions and tournaments, including three-hole matches and team events.
“Dave has the same attributes that I look for in all our employees,” Harrison said. “He’s well educated, has a great work ethic, has a passion for the business, communicates well and is trustworthy. That’s a formula that works well in any business, and one that we follow when we hire all our employees. I am very proud of our internship program and the impact it has had on so many lives around the country.”
LPGA star to captain Spirit team: LPGA veteran Stacy Lewis of Houston will captain the U.S. team for the Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity on Nov. 7-9. The tournament features amateur teams of men and women golfers representing 20 countries.
Playoff settles Demaret Junior Classic: Fredericksburg’s Truett Burns defeated Drew Murdock of Houston and Austin’s Colin Slater with a par on the second playoff hole to claim the Boys 15-18 division title in the Legends Junior Tour’s Jimmy Demaret Junior Classic at The Hills Country Club’s Flintrock Falls course. Burns, Murdoch, and Slater tied with an overall score of 4-over par 148. Plano’s Matthew Comegys tied for fourth.
In the Boys 14-and-under division, Grant Yerger of Driftwood shot a 7-over 151 to finish two shots ahead of Dallas’ Ben Delarosa. Abilene’s Maddi Olson won the girls division by five shots with a 4-over par 148. Avery Zweig of McKinney shot 13-over par 157 to tie for third.
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