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A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Chad Pitts
Time flies when you’re having fun!
As I look back on my first year
as the Executive Director of the
Iowa Golf Association, I mostly
think about how seamlessly I
feel like it all went. I am very
thankful to the IGA Board of
Directors for believing in me and
promoting me into this position.
IGA Past Presidents, Joe Kehoe and Tom Christensen
and current IGA President Andy Burton, have been
terrific to work with and have put a great deal of belief
in me.
While 2016 was “business as usual” for me in a lot
of ways (championship administration, serving our
member clubs and golfers, etc), there was still a lot of
learning. I had the privilege of finding out about health
insurance expenses, paying payroll taxes, fending off
solicitors and all the other tasks an Executive Director is
charged with. Thankfully, I had some help.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Bill Dickens for many
reasons. He has mentored me as I’ve learned the ropes
of amateur golf association administration since I was
a USGA P.J. Boatwright Intern in 2002. Specifically
during 2016 he has helped me transition into my new
role by being an excellent sounding board and source
of information as I learn about managing our team.
Bill has also left me with a terrific staff as he, Katelynn
Hogenson and Clint Brown are three of the best in the
business. They are insigh�ul, hard working and always
have “what’s best for the IGA” in their minds when
making decisions.
Our two USGA P.J. Boatwright Interns this year, Brad
DePrez and Meg Monson, did terrific work during their
time at the IGA. Katelynn, Clint and I all started as
Boatwright interns and I have no doubt that Brad and
Meg would make excellent golf administrators, should
they wish to go down that line of work.
Thank you to the entire staff for making my first year as
Executive Director an excellent one. You guys all make
it fun to come to work every day.
I will remember 2016 for a lot of reasons and right
near the top of the list will be that it was the year
we inducted Zach Johnson into the Iowa Golf Hall
of Fame. We planned for this for a few years (Zach
needed to turn 40 to be eligible after all) and,
truthfully, we weren’t sure what to expect.
I am happy to say it went about as well as we
could have hoped. Our hosts at Drake University
were awesome to work with. Zach and his team
participated regularly in the planning of the
induction and were enthusiastic. We were very lucky
to have PGA Tour Entertainment there to film the
evening, which they would ultimately highlight in a
short video for “Inside the PGA Tour”.
During the evening Zach was tremendous. He
brought the Claret Jug and let nearly everyone in
the room hold it and take a photo with it (when
is that going to ever happen again?). He greeted
many prior to the ceremony and then stayed late
to shake hands and take pictures with anyone who
wished to do so. During his acceptance speech he
was genuinely humbled by the honor, which gives
validation to all the time and effort our Hall of Fame
committee puts into the process.
There is no doubt that I will remember the induction
of Zach Johnson as one of the highlights of my
career, which the entire IGA staff had a huge hand
in planning. Simply put, it was one of the greatest
nights in Iowa golf history.
While we made some significant changes within the
IGA organization in 2016, we are looking forward to
4
Zach Johnson, my fiance Kristie and me at Hall of Fame induction.