Letter From the Departing President, PGA of America

Greetings MI Golf Journal readers:

As my time as the PGA of America President comes to a close, I wanted to take the time to share with you some of the fondest memories from the past two years. 

There’s the major championships. It’s been an honor to award our trophies to some of the game’s best. Brooks Koepka’s third Wanamaker and Xander Schauffele’s first at the PGA Championship. Ronnie Yin and Amy Yang winning their first majors at our KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and Steve Stricker and Richard Bland winning the Alfred S. Bourne Trophy, although I’m still not sure how I was able to lift that one. Also getting to announce Keegan Bradley as Ryder Cup Captain in Time Square was a surreal experience. 

While handing out trophies and announcing a Ryder Cup Captain is fun, the coolest thing is seeing our PGA of America Golf Professionals in the spotlight at these events. We all remember the fairy tale story for Michael Block at Oak Hill and how Jason Caron springboarded his run to an exemption on to the PGA Tour Champions via his strong play at Harbor Shores in our own Benton Harbor this year. 

Speaking of our PGA of America Members in competition, I love watching my fellow PGA of America Members compete. It was my honor to captain the Women’s PGA Cup team to victory this summer at Sun River in Oregon. 

Another highlight of my tenure has been the growth of both our sport and association. Our sport is more popular than ever with increased participation in the game, a majority being from women and youth. This is a great sign of the health of golf and sets us up for continued success into the future. 

We’ve also reached a record number of PGA of America Golf Professionals. More than 30,000 men and women across the country who, like me, are fortunate enough to call golf their career. If you’re interested in a career in golf, I’d encourage you to visit pga.com/workingolf. 

During my tenure we also rebranded our Association logo for the first time since 2008 and rolled out a new brand campaign – “We Love this Game”. That really says it all. PGA of America Golf Professionals love the game of golf and, in our job, we get to help others love it more every single day. How cool is that?

This truly has been a journey of love and I appreciate you all coming on it with me. I know how much the sport of golf means to our Great Lakes State and I am so proud to have represented it at the national level as the President of the PGA of America. 

I look forward to a great Ryder Cup event at Bethpage Black in September, where the world’s best will compete for the smallest, but most impactful trophy. 

The future is so bright for our Association and game and another great year of golf is ahead of us. So, saying that, I’ll close with that message and call to action that I try to say at the end of every meeting I lead: Play more golf. Play more golf. Play more golf.

Sincerely,

John Lindert, PGA
Honorary President, PGA of America

Director of Golf, Country Club of Lansing