The STATE of Golf Volume 4 - 2017 | Page 6

100th Annual PGA Meeting & Leadership Session

By: Sally Morgan

In the beginning of November, I had the privilege of attending the 100th PGA Annual Meeting in New York, New York, as the Mississippi State University student representative. Attending the PGA Annual meeting is an experience that not much else could replace, especially given it was the centennial celebration in New York City. Every year, one student from each PGM University attends the annual meeting under the PGA Golf Management Leadership Conference. While the meeting provides for valuable personal growth, the ideas taken from other University students and PGA Professionals provides an opportunity to explore ideas and make improvements within our own program.

There were many memorable experiences

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throughout the week, but a couple really stand out and were noteworthy. One was the National Awards dinner. On this evening, the winners of the various PGA of America awards, such as the Horton Smith award, Herb Graffis award, Teacher of the Year, PGA Professional of the Year, etc., were recognized and honored for their outstanding contributions in their respective area. Seeing the joy and passion in each of the PGA Professional’s faces that had won was so inspiring! It also created motivation to personally work towards accomplishments like that in the future.

The keynote speaker this year was Mr. Jack Nicklaus. His discussion with us made everyone feel like we were personally talking with him, rather than to a group of people, and he didn't fail in making every-

Sally Morgan (Sr.), posing with the PGA of America's Championship trophies at PGA Annual Meeting in NYC