Eight new members of The PGA of America's Board of Directors were sworn in Wednesday, Jan. 16, at The Association's 91st Annual Meeting at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.
Junior Bridgeman of Louisville, Ky., Ray Cutright of Macon, Ga., Rod Loesch of Easton, Conn., David Mocini of Harbor Springs, Mich., Derek Sprague of Malone, N.Y., Mike Thomas of Goshen, Ky., and Roger Wallace of Polston, Mont., will each serve three-year terms. Tour professional Brad Faxon of Barrington, R.I., a two-time Ryder Cup Team member, was appointed Player Director.
The PGA Board of Directors is composed of the Association's President, Vice President, Secretary, Honorary President and 17 Directors. The Directors include representatives from each of The PGA's 14 Districts, two Independent Directors and a member of the PGA Tour. New District Directors are elected by their local PGA Sections.
Junior Bridgeman, 54, a former University of Louisville and NBA standout, is one of the most respected restaurant entrepreneurs in the country. After retiring from a 10-year NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers, Bridgeman established himself in the business world.
He is the chief executive officer of Bridgeman Foods Inc., which he founded in 1988, and is the owner and president of Manna Inc., and oversees the administration and operation of 160 Wendy's restaurants in five states and 103 Chili's restaurants in seven states. He is a 1975 graduate in psychology from the University of Louisville.
Bridgeman succeeds Lt. Gen. Norm Lezy of Garden Ridge, Texas, as an independent director.
Ray Cutright, who succeeds Tony Austin of Orlando, Fla., as District 13 Director for the Georgia, North Florida and South Florida Sections, was elected to membership in 1976 and earned PGA Master Professional status in 1991. Since 1993, he has served as PGA director of golf operations at Idle Hour Golf Club in Macon, Ga.
Cutright, 56, has served as a member of the PGA Board of Control from 2000 to 2004, and was an original staff member of the PGA Professional Golf Management Program. He served as president of the Georgia PGA Section from 1996-97; and spent six years as Education Chairman in the Section.
Cutright was the 2003 national Horton Smith Award winner, and the 1992 and 1997 Georgia PGA Golf Professional of the Year. He was honored by Golf Digest in 2000, '03 and '04 as one of the Best Teachers in the state of Georgia.
Rod Loesch, a PGA member since 1981, has served since 1984 as the PGA head professional at Connecticut Golf Club in Easton, Conn. He succeeds Ted O'Rourke of Convent Station, N.J., as District 2 Director for the New Jersey, Philadelphia and Metropolitan PGA Sections.
Loesch, 53, is a 1976 graduate of Ohio State University, where he competed on the Buckeyes' golf team. He competed in the 1982 PGA Championship and competed in four PGA Professional National Championships.
Since 1993, he has been a member of the Metropolitan PGA Section Board of Directors; and served as Section president from 1999-2002. Loesch was a PGA District 2 Director in 2001; and served as a PGA Board of Control member from 2002 to 2006; a member of the 2006 PGA Code of Ethics and Assistant Professional Task Forces; and serves as a co-chairperson of the PGA Membership Committee.
David Mocini, a PGA member since 1987, has been a general manager and PGA director of golf since 2004 at True North Golf Club in Harbor Springs, Mich. He is a 1977 graduate of Hillsdale (Mich.) College and is an original faculty member of the PGA Professional Golf Management Program and a three-time Section Horton Smith Award winner. Mocini, 52, served for more than 12 years on the Michigan PGA Board of Directors and was Growth of the Game Chairman. He is a past president of the Section, a member of the PGA Education Committee (2001-04); and served from 2004 to 2005 as a member of the President's Council.
Mocini will succeed Joe Flogge of Norton, Ohio, as District 5 Director for the Michigan, Northern Ohio and Southern Ohio PGA Sections.
Derek Sprague, 40, has served since 1989 as the general manager and PGA head professional at Malone (N.Y.) Golf Club. A graduate of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., Sprague was elected to PGA membership in 1993, and has served since 1995 on the Northeastern New York PGA Board of Directors, including as Section president from 2003 to 2004. He is a two-time Section Merchandiser of the Year award winner; a three-time Section Bill Strausbaugh Award winner and was the 2005 Section Golf Professional of the Year.
In 2006, Sprague achieved Certified PGA Professional status in General Management. He will succeed Donnie Lyons as District 1 Director for the Connecticut, New England and Northeastern New York PGA Sections.
Mike Thomas, 48, a PGA Master Professional, has served the past 18 years as the PGA head professional at Harmony Landing Country Club in Goshen, Ky., and will succeed Zack Veasey of Durham, N.C., as District 10 Director for the Carolinas, Kentucky and Middle Atlantic PGA Sections.
Elected to PGA membership in 1985, Thomas has served since 1993 on the Kentucky PGA Board of Directors and was Section president from 2002 to 2003. He was the 1997 Section Golf Professional of the Year and the 1999 Section Horton Smith Award winner.
Thomas serves on the National Disabled Golfer Committee and is co-chair with fellow PGA Board member Derek Sprague on the Affinity Affiliate Committee.
Thomas has been the chair of the Section's Communications and Education Committees; and was co-chair of the Tournament Committee. From 2000 to 2005, Thomas was a member of the Kentucky Golf Association-PGA board of directors.
Roger Wallace, 47, is PGA director of golf at Polson Bay Golf Course in Polson, Mont. A graduate of Eastern Washington University, Wallace competed on the golf team and was the Pacific Northwest Golf Coaches Association Division II Player of the Year.
Wallace was elected to PGA membership in 1987, and was a member of the Pacific Northwest PGA Board of Directors from 1990 through 2002, and served as Section president from 1998 to 2000. Since 2005, Wallace has served on the Western Montana Chapter PGA Board of Directors.
He is a two-time Pacific Northwest PGA Golf Professional of the Year and a two-time Section Bill Strausbaugh Award winner. He is a member of the PGA Employment Committee, and from 1999 to 2001 served on the PGA Awards Committee. Wallace will succeed Kevin Lewis of Green Valley, Ariz., as District 14 Director for the Pacific Northwest and Southwest PGA Sections.
Brad Faxon, 46, who succeeded Joe Ogilvie as Player Director, has been a member of the PGA Tour since 1983. He competed on the 1995 and 1997 U.S. Ryder Cup Teams, and is the winner of eight Tour titles between 1991 and 2005, and 11 other career victories including the 1993 Heineken Australian Open. Since 1991, he has teamed with Tour professional Billy Andrade for the Billy Andrade/Brad Faxon Charities for Children Inc., which has donated more than $7 million to youngsters in the Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. The organization received the 1999 Golf Writers Association of America's Charlie Bartlett Award for unselfish contributions by playing professionals to society.
Faxon and Andrade also host the CVS Charity Classic, which has raised more than $10 million for charity, and is serving his third term on the PGA Tour Policy Board. Faxon was the recipient of the 2005 Payne Stewart Award for his respect for the traditions of the game, his commitment to uphold the game's heritage for charitable support and his professional presentation of himself and the sport.
Since 1916, The PGA of America's mission has been twofold; to establish and elevate the standards of the profession and to grow interest and participation in the game of golf. By establishing and elevating the standards of the golf profession through world-class education, career services, marketing and research programs, the Association enables PGA Professionals to maximize their performance in their respective career paths and showcases them as experts in the game and in the $195 billion golf industry.
By creating and delivering dramatic world-class championships and exciting and enjoyable golf promotions that are viewed as the best of their class in the golf industry, The PGA of America elevates the public's interest in the game, the desire to play more golf, and ensures accessibility to the game for everyone, everywhere. The PGA of America brand represents the very best in golf.
