Announcing the 2020 PGA of Canada National Award Winners
The topsy-turvy nature of the 2020 golf season ultimately produced one of the busiest years in the history of the game. The sport’s sudden demand required innovation, flexibility, and, perhaps most importantly, hard work and long hours by PGA of Canada professionals from coast to coast. All members of the association are worthy of accolades for their efforts, highlighted by the 2020 PGA of Canada National Award winners.
“I’ve never been so proud to be a PGA of Canada member. The resilience and commitment to safety shown by our association during the early stages of the pandemic and throughout the 2020 golf season was inspirational,” said Teejay Alderdice, PGA of Canada President. “I’d like to congratulate our 2020 PGA of Canada Award winners and finalists. We experienced a year like no other in 2020 and this group led the way in achieving a successful season.”
The 2020 PGA of Canada National Awards ceremony was conducted virtually with TSN personalities Bob Weeks and Kayla Grey, along with St. George’s Golf and Country Club General Manager Ian Leggatt, serving as hosts.
“It is unfortunate that we could not gather in Orlando at the PGA Merchandise Show to celebrate as we normally would, but the show must go on and our virtual rollout ensured our winners were recognized in front of their peers as they so richly deserve,” said Kevin Thistle, PGA of Canada CEO.
2020 PGA of Canada National Award Winners
Moe Norman Apprentice Professional of the Year – Krysta Schaus
From running tournaments to making merchandising decisions to custom fitting and teaching lessons, Krysta Schaus is an integral and versatile member of the Toronto Golf Club team. Krysta has a strong desire to grow the game among juniors and women — leading clinics at TGC for both groups — and she has been continuous in her pursuit of further education by seeking out mentors and completing various courses and seminars. The Erskine College and Gardner-Webb University alum also represents Toronto Golf Club in various competitive events.
Click here to view finalists for this award.
Pat Fletcher Retailer of the Year – Dean Ingalls
Remarkably, Dean Ingalls led the Silver Springs Golf and Country Club shop to a record sales year in 2020. The now two-time Pat Fletcher Retailer of the Year Award winner created Vision 2020, whereby staff members were put in charge of individual categories and asked to maximize sales with creative ideas. Silver Springs also sent members daily value pricing videos that were often injected with humour as shop staff modelled clothing and showcased products. Sidewalk sales, customized water bottles, and constant shop reorganization were other retailing techniques that Ingalls spearheaded.
Click here to view finalists for this award.
Tex Noble Award for Professional Development – Derrik Goodwin
Derrik Goodwin continues to show extreme devotion to his craft. The St. Charles Country Club assistant professional devours all things golf education to better himself. This is evidenced by his winning four-straight Manitoba Teacher of the Year and four-straight Manitoba Junior Leader of the Year awards. He’s also won two-straight Manitoba Class A Professional of the Year awards. Derrik is certified in numerous platforms and shares his knowledge with both his peers and students on social media platforms and on his own website.
Click here to view finalists for this award.
Stan Leonard Class A Professional of the Year – Derrik Goodwin
Derrik Goodwin continues to add to his impressive trophy case. With thorough knowledge in numerous teaching technologies, such as TrackMan, Foresight Sports, K-Vest, and Quintic, Derrik brings a wealth of knowledge to members of St. Charles Country Club and to the players on the golf teams at the University of Manitoba, where he is the director and head coach. In addition, Derrik is a vital member of the St. Charles golf staff — running leagues, tournaments, club fitting, introductory clinics, the junior program, and the Future Links Learn to Play program. He also volunteers his time to numerous initiatives, such as the PGA of Manitoba’s Future Pros program.
Click here to view finalists for this award.
Ben Kern Coach of the Year – Derek Ingram
Team Canada men’s head coach Derek Ingram took on even greater responsibilities in 2020, overseeing Golf Canada’s entire development program. He was one of the first coaches to use remote connection tools like CoachNow to work with his many students — including PGA Tour winner Corey Conners — and he shared his golf wisdom on social media with his popular Garage Series tips. Derek also operates a high-performance program at Elmhurst Golf and Country Club in his native Manitoba, where many of his pupils are ranked among the province’s top juniors. Derek is now a four-time national award winner, having been the 2003 Junior Leader of the Year and the 2003 and 2007 Coach of the Year.
Click here to view finalists for this award.
George Knudson Teacher of the Year – Gareth Raflewski
Gareth Raflewski has the largest and most successful stable of touring pros of any golf coach in Canada. Among his many students on the LPGA Tour are World Number One Jin Young Ko, Lydia Ko, Nelly Korda and Ariya and Moria Jutanugarn. On the PGA Tour, his pupils include Michael Gligic and Hudson Swafford. Based out of RiverBend Golf Community in London, Ontario, in 2020 Gareth partnered with the Slieve Russell Hotel and Golf Club in his native Ireland to open his first golf academy outside of Canada. The short-game specialist has his own line of training aids and an online subscription platform with live lessons and on-course training for all levels.
Click here to view finalists for this award.
Jack McLaughlin Junior Leader of the Year – Louis Melanson
Louis Melanson’s name is synonymous with junior golf in New Brunswick. He’s been the provincial coach for Golf New Brunswick for the past 14 years. He is the Atlantic Canada director for the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour. He serves on the New Brunswick Junior Golf Committee. And at the Louis Melanson Golf Academy at Fox Creek Golf Club there were a whopping 156 junior members in 2020 — more than 10 times the number from when Louis first took over the program. The 2017 Sports New Brunswick coach of the year is also a seven-time Atlantic Zone teacher of the year and presides over the only Sport Études program in Atlantic Canada.
Click here to view finalists for this award.
Warren Crosbie Community Leader of the Year – Muncie Booth
A 40-plus-year PGA of Canada member, Muncie Booth is the head professional at the City of Vancouver’s McCleery Golf Course and was previously the director of golf at both McCleery and Langara. That means he’s dedicated much of his career to municipal golf. In 1999 Muncie founded the Inner City Youth golf program designed to introduce golf to children of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Despite hurdles along the way, it has doubled in size and continues to teach kids the valuable life lessons golf offers. A leader in inclusive hiring, Munice was recognized by Community Living BC in 2005 with a Widening Our World award.
Click here to view finalists for this award.
Dick Munn Executive Professional of the Year – Rene MacKay
Rene MacKay has led Ken-Wo Golf Club through an impressive transformation over the years, broadening club access to women and juniors, incorporating off-season events with golf simulators, and developing a team atmosphere among staff that has not gone unnoticed by members. Ken-Wo’s director of golf operations was a key member of the Nova Scotia Return to Play task force in 2020, and was also Atlantic Canada’s top retailer in 2020. As a testament to his overall dedication, Rene led the Atlantic Zone’s Professional Recognition Program ledger in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Click here to view finalists for this award.
Murray Tucker Club Professional of the Year – Dean Ingalls
A double-award winner in 2020, Dean Ingalls is the Cub Professional of the Year as well as the Retailer of the Year. Ingalls showed tremendous leadership in the early days of the pandemic, taking shifts with the turf department and helping food and beverage with curbside pickup. Once the extreme busyness of the season set in, Dean ensured Silver Springs ran smoothly, developing programs for new golfers and leagues for seasoned members. He continued to mentor young pros and he did not let 2020 impede his charitable nature. As one example, Dean used proceeds from customized water bottle sales to buy back $9,000 worth of unsold 2019 inventory and donate the clothing to a women’s shelter.
Click here to view finalists for this award.
PGA of Canada National Awards 2020 from PGA of Canada on Vimeo.