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Jamie Conkling Honored with Prestigious IAGA Distinguished Service Award

(Broomall, PA – September 19, 2023) The International Association of Golf Administrators (IAGA) is delighted to announce that Jamie Conkling will receive the esteemed IAGA Distinguished Service Award. The award presentation will be a highlight of the IAGA Annual Conference, sponsored by Golf Genius, taking place on Tuesday, November 7, at The Westin Dallas Stonebriar Golf Resort and Spa in Frisco, Texas.

Jamie Conkling, who served as the Executive Director of the Virginia State Golf Association (VSGA) from 2006 until his retirement in January 2019, is being recognized for his remarkable contributions to the golf industry, the organizations he served, and the broader IAGA community.

Troy Andrew, Immediate Past President of the IAGA and CEO/Executive Director of Washington Golf, who led the Nominating Committee, expressed the association’s excitement, stating, “The IAGA is thrilled to acknowledge Jamie for his outstanding contributions and impact on the golf industry, the organizations he has served, and the IAGA community. Each year, our committee faces the rewarding challenge of recommending the recipient of this award from among numerous deserving candidates within the IAGA community.”

During his tenure with the VSGA, Jamie Conkling achieved significant milestones, including expanding membership options, launching programs such as eClubs and the Junior Golf Circuit, and increasing the number of competitions for men, women, and juniors. He also made outreach efforts to golf clubs and enthusiasts across the state, worked with then-VSGA President Gib Palmer to establish the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame, and contributed to the growth of the VSGA VIP Golf card, benefiting the VSGA-VIP Scholarship Foundation. The VSGA also integrated the former VSGA Women’s Division into its governance structure and added several female members to its Board of Directors. Additionally, Conkling was instrumental in finding a home for the VSGA and worked with his staff and executive committee to locate a lot and build a 6,000-square-foot headquarters, which it has proudly owned since 2015.

Gib Palmer, past VSGA President and Joe Dey Award Recipient, emphasized Conkling’s impact on the VSGA: “Perhaps Jamie’s most important and lasting legacy is the staff he built during his tenure. He did a fantastic job of recruiting and hiring the right people and then creating and fostering a culture to support all the stakeholders in Virginia Golf.”

Matt Smiley, VSGA Executive Director, added a personal touch to the accolades: “Personally, Jamie is a mentor and friend, and anyone who worked with him would likely say the same. He instilled a culture of professionalism and a mentality to not be afraid to try new things—even if you failed. He plays a part in our success as an association even to this day—five years after his retirement.”

Kevin Heaney, retired Executive Director of the Southern California Golf Association and Past President of the IAGA, praised Conkling’s influence: “I valued his insight and found myself constantly bouncing thoughts and ideas off of him to gain insightful feedback. I was not alone in that regard, as many others in the IAGA membership looked to Jamie for his input.”

Jamie Conkling’s journey in golf administration began in 1991 as an intern with the Metropolitan Golf Association (MGA) after approximately five years working on Wall Street. He later served in various roles, including Assistant Director of Rules and Competitions and Director of Rules and Competitions at the Southern California Golf Association. In 1999, Conkling joined the PGA TOUR as a Tournament Official before assuming the position of Executive Director of the VSGA in 2006.

About the IAGA Distinguished Service Award

The IAGA Distinguished Service Award recognizes individuals who have made a significant positive impact on their golf community, locally, regionally, and nationally. Awardees exemplify professionalism, demonstrating leadership, innovation, mentorship, and dedicated service to the industry. They also excel in communication and collaborative efforts for the betterment of the game.

To view past recipients of the IAGA Distinguished Service Award, click HERE.

About the IAGA

The International Association of Golf Administrators (IAGA), established in 1968, is the industry trade organization committed to advancing the game of golf and serving those who play it by representing and developing golf’s leaders. With a membership of over 80 golf associations, representing nearly 800 industry professionals and serving nearly 3 million golfers across North America, the IAGA provides educational, networking, and business resources to further its member organizations.

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SCGA – FORE Youth

The FORE Youth 2023 U.S. Open Community Legacy campaign (https://foreyouth.org/) was the primary focus of marketing efforts in and around the U.S. Open. The SCGA, in collaboration with the USGA and The Los Angeles Country Club, launched a campaign to create a community legacy for underserved and underrepresented youth in the SoCal region. PGA Tour Pro Collin Morikawa serves as the honorary chair in the hopes of increasing access to youth programs resulting in a long-lasting impact on his hometown region. The campaign was announced via a press release on March 30, 2023.

The integrated plan supporting the FORE Youth campaign focused on owned and earned media to get the word out about the campaign and shine a light on the efforts the SCGA and SCGA Junior Golf Foundation continue to make in support of junior golf in the region. Below is a brief overview of the various executions in support of the campaign. A library of all the below activity can be found on the campaign media page (foreyouth.org/media)

OWNED
FORE Magazine – Editorial features and full-page advertising placement
Digital Media – Content and advertising placements in SCGA News, FORE Her, and eRevision
Social Media – Video storytelling highlighting JCGA Junior programming and how it will be benefitted from support from this campaign

EARNED
Radio – Interviews with SCGA Junior Golf Foundation Executive Director on three SoCal sports radio stations, including the two largest in the Los Angeles market
Legislative Statements – Program announcement from LA County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell
Television – Story coverage on four local news stations and the Golf Channel
Print – Story coverage in local newspapers and national golf publications

For more information on any of the programs executed as part of this campaign, feel free to reach out to Jason Knybel (jknybel@scga.org).

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US Open – Social Best Practices from the USGA

Our friends at the USGA had a fantastic US Open a couple of weeks ago at Los Angeles Country Club, so we wanted to check in with them to share some best practices around their social media coverage for this year’s event.

Julia Pine, Senior Director of Championship Communications shared some notes from this year’s strategy:

  • We tried to prioritize quality over quantity for social posting. We posted 11% less than in 2022 but saw 150% more engagement
  • We leaned heavily on collab posting on Instagram, collabing with the PGA TOUR, specific players, DP World Tour… really whatever made sense. Engagement on collab posts heavily outpaced non-collab posts.
  • Once balls were in the air (Thurs-Sun), we decreased storytelling, and focused on the action, heavily prioritizing highlights and press conference footage
  • We increased our ASMR efforts, seeing high engagement with posts focused on natural sounds.

These tips are great ideas for IAGA member associations to implement in their championships this summer.

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Golf Ontario – Canadian Open

Golf Ontario’s Chief Marketing Officer, Nick Taylor talked with us about how he used the Canadian Open as a way to highlight the many connections between the event and Golf Ontario.

Nick and his team obtained media credentials for this year’s event to highlight the 11 Ontario natives among the 21 Canadians that were in the field. The team wrote three articles on the competitors, ensuring they mentioned the clubs they were from (their core customer group).

Nick and his team were also able to leverage a partnership with Golf Talk Canada to appear live on TSN’s TV broadcast to discuss their new member acquisition campaign and fundraising department.

See the link below for the segment on Golf Talk Canada.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NISLb0FjhaE

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Golf Space Collective and IAGA Announce Partnership 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Golf Space Collective (GSC), a leading provider of golf marketing solutions, and the International Association of Golf Administrators (IAGA) announced an official partnership today. Under the agreement, GSC will offer discounted digital marketing services to all IAGA member associations and assist the IAGA with its missions of serving its member associations.

This partnership will provide IAGA members with access to a wide range of marketing services, including digital advertising, social media management, email marketing, CRM management, content creation, and more.

“The IAGA and its member associations are at the core of what the game of golf is all about,” said Preston McClellan, Managing Partner for Golf Space Collective. “We couldn’t be more excited to get further involved.”

The International Association of Golf Administrators is a non-profit organization that represents golf administrators. The organization is dedicated to promoting the game of golf and increasing participation at all levels.

“We are thrilled to expand our relationship with the Golf Space Collective.  We have had a great experience working with GSC internally on IAGA specific initiatives and see this partnership as a win-win,” said Bill Walker, Executive Director of the IAGA. “Their expertise in golf marketing will be a valuable asset to our members, and we look forward to working with them to promote the game of golf and increase participation at all levels.”

GSC currently works with the Texas Golf Association, the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund, Southern Nevada Golf Association and has done projects with the Southern California Golf Association, Golf Ontario, and other IAGA member associations.

“Joining forces with Golf Space Collective was one of the best decisions we’ve made,” said Stacy Dennis, Executive Director of the Texas Golf Association. “Preston, Micah, and their talented team made an impact from Day One. The depth of their technical experience and innovative ideas have made all of our marketing efforts more effective. It’s been a great partnership. I recommend them to any organization looking to grow its brand and membership.”

“We’ve been working with Preston and the team at GSC for over a year now, and we love how simple the process is,” Colin McGuire, Executive Director of the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund, said. “Whether it’s design, editing, strategy, or something else, we always appreciate how easy it is to work with the team and get real, actionable results.”

About Golf Space Collective

Golf Space Collective is the industry’s first full-service digital marketing agency focused only on golf. Founded by three lifelong golfers turned marketing experts, GSC helps golf courses, golf associations, and golf-related businesses increase their visibility, reach their target audience, and generate more revenue. GSC’s services include digital advertising, social media management, and content creation.

About International Association of Golf Administrators

The International Association of Golf Administrators (IAGA) is a non-profit organization that represents golf administrators from around the world. The organization is dedicated to promoting the game of golf and increasing participation at all levels.

For more information, please contact:

Preston McClellan
Golf Space Collective
Email: preston@golfspacecollective.com

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GSGA Sees Large Increase in Online Auction Contributions with Use of TravelPledge

 

The Georgia State Golf Association recently held its third annual online auction to raise money for its Foundation. The GSGA solicited its clubs to donate rounds of golf and also auctioned several unique travel experiences.

TravelPledge Auctions provided the GSGA with proven, feature-packed auction software that is free for verified 501(c)(3) organizations. TravelPledge presented at last year’s IAGA Conference. In addition to the GSGA, the free auction software is also used by Youth on Course to run their national auction as well as Payne Stewart, AJGA, US Kids, and several other large golf organizations.

(Below is an example of what the platform looks like)

The GSGA increased its net dollars raised in 2023 to just over $80,000–approximately $40,000 was raised in 2021 and $60,000 in 2022. This additional income over the last few years was used to support the GSGA Foundation and has required a little bit of work by GSGA staff on the front end securing rounds and posting them onto the online platform. The GSGA has found that once a facility commits to supporting this effort they are in long-term and a simple email confirmation in subsequent years is all that is needed to prompt a facility’s continued support.

To maximize donations, the GSGA sold golf to runner-up matching bids for a handful of items that allowed a donated round or experience to be doubled at the end of the auction, but what really drove up bids this year was the “popcorn” bidding feature which keeps the auction going past the deadline by allowing active bidders to continue bidding until no bids are received for 10 minutes.

The GSGA promoted the auction to its membership through email, social media, and purchased social media advertising. TravelPledge sent communications to their network of bidders – a group of nearly 11,000 past bidders (from all over the US) who are also alerted when bucket list experiences are posted by nonprofits like the GSGA. This additional exposure proved to be quite valuable.

Feel free to visit the GSGA Foundation auction at gsga.travelpledgeauctions.com/Event to see the auction results and to click on items to see how they were set up.

Questions for the GSGA related to their auction can be directed to Chandler Kowalski (ckowalski@gsga.org) or for more information on TravelPledge Auctions, contact Alex McDonald (alex@travelpledge.com).
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SCGA Taps Influencer for U.S. Open Ticket Giveaway

 

When the U.S. Open is in your backyard, you have the opportunity to reach new audiences. We want to highlight one way the SCGA is doing that by partnering with a popular influencer for a U.S. Open Ticket giveaway.

Most professional events that take place in your states and regions would love access to your membership and followers. Leveraging partnerships/collaborations with both the event and local influencers is a great way to give back to your members and reach new audiences at the same time.

Click here or the image below to see the Instagram Reel.
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Indiana Golf Staff Compete in USGA Championship

 

The USGA hosted the 8th U.S. Women’s Four-Ball at The Home Course in Dupont, Washington. The championship was held from May 13th-17th in the Pacific Northwest.

It was brought to our attention by Indiana Golf that they would have two staff members participating in the event on two separate teams. Julia Potter-Bobb teamed up with Kelsey Chugg and Paxton Manns partnered with Annika Haynes. Paxton Manns, Junior Golf Director of Indiana Golf, was new to the USGA competition as it was her first event. Julia Potter-Bobb, Director of Business Operations and Membership, is no stranger to USGA events as she is a two-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Am Champion.

Indiana Golf put together a great 3-minute video featuring the players and also Executive Director, Mike David talking about their great achievement.

Subscribe to the Indiana Golf YouTube Channel and see the video here – www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHZG0oOPIKk
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GAP Magazine features a Cover with an Adaptive Golfer

 

 

We’ve all heard the saying, “Golf is for everybody” and the Golf Association of Philadelphia showed that in their most recent issue of GAP Magazine.The cover features Adaptive Golfer, Andrew Austen, and also dedicated 7 pages of the magazine to the topic. They cover everything from advancing/advocating the game to the classifications and designations of Adaptive golf.

The Instagram post by @GAofPhilly featuring the cover of the magazine had viral makeup as it amassed 230+ likes. It helped create awareness for Adaptive Golf and also gain exposure for the GAP Magazine. See @GAofPhilly on Instagram here – www.instagram.com/gaofphilly

This was a well-thought-out and timely social post by the Golf Association of Philadelphia.

See the most recent GAP Magazine here – www.gapgolfmag-digital.org/gapgolf/2023_spring/…
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Member Association Social Media Highlight: Wisconsin State Golf Association

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Rob Jansen, Executive Director of the Wisconsin State Golf Association was part of an eight-part video series in collaboration with Kyle C Walton, Links Land Photo, and Gimme Golf Studio. They joined forces to make some great video content highlighting Wisconsin’s 10 top-100 public golf courses titled Wisconsin Captured. With goals to feature the great golf courses in Wisconsin to draw tourist play and share what makes golf great in their home state. By clicking on the image or link below, you can see what has been released of the video series thus far on the WSGA Instagram account.

www.instagram.com/wsgagolf
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