President's Letter (Archived)
January 2016 (Archive)
President’s Letter
Mr. James W. Parsons
James W. Parsons, of Carlisle Country Club, was elected President of the Pennsylvania Golf Association at its fall meeting. He has served as a volunteer and Executive Committee member since 2009. Parsons graduated from Slippery Rock State College where he was a member of the golf team. Following graduation, he was a youth director for the Carlisle YMCA for 10 years, vice president of Castles Lumber in Carlisle for 15 years and has spent the last 16 years as a financial analyst for Universal Media Inc. in Mechanicsburg, Pa. He also serves on the USGA Regional Affairs Committee and spends the majority of his free time as a rules official for the Pennsylvania Golf Association, the USGA and the NCAA.
Mr. Parsons expressed his thoughts in the following message to his fellow Association members:
It is truly an honor to serve as President of the Pennsylvania Golf Association. With the support of the Allegheny Health Network, our continuing mission is to provide quality events for our members to compete in and grow the game of golf. We are both fortunate and grateful to have a multitude of outstanding golf courses that have made themselves available for this year’s championships. The 100th Pennsylvania Open will be contested at The Club at Nevillewood and the 103rd Amateur returns to Moselem Springs Golf Club. St. Davids Golf Club opens its doors to host the prestigious 13th R. Jay Sigel Match Play and Chester Valley Golf Club welcomes the 23rd Middle-Amateur Championship.
Additionally, the Lancaster Country Club, recent host of the U.S. Women’s Open, will host the 57th Senior Amateur, and West Shore Country Club will host the 7th edition of the Father-Son. We also are making return visits to Lookaway Golf Club for the 10th Senior Match Play, Schuylkill Country Club for the 24th Senior Four-Ball, and Hershey Country Club for the Junior Boys’ and Girls’. A couple newcomers this year include Out Door Country Club for the 27th Four-Ball and a trip to Fox Hill Country Club for the 12th Art Wall, Jr. Memorial. The new George Dressler Memorial Championship, open to all golfers with amateur, senior, and super-senior divisions, kicks off the year at the Carlisle Country Club.
Last year was another fine year for the Pennsylvania Golf Association. Thanks to the unwavering support of our outstanding member clubs, we again experienced strong participation numbers and received rave reviews on our high quality events and venues. A special “Thank You” to our over 140 “on course” volunteers and officials as well as our outstanding staff at the Pennsylvania Golf Association for their great work in 2015.
The tradition of great golf in Pennsylvania will continue in 2016 with four of the 13 USGA championships, the U.S. Open at Oakmont, the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Rolling Green, the U.S. Men’s Mid-Amateur at Stonewall and the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur at Kahkwa, being held in our state.
To those of you who have participated in past events, we thank you for your continued support. If you are considering entering for the first time, I encourage you to please do so. I am certain you will find the experience both enjoyable and rewarding.
Looking forward to seeing you in 2016 I remain,
Sincerely yours,
Jim Parsons
President