105th PGA Annual Meeting

Through the Eyes of Robbie G

“A Selfie Perspective”

Tuesday, November 2nd

  • Up early leaving Alexandria (AEX) 7:40am headed to my 1st ever PGA Annual Meeting…super excited and nervous…3 hour layover in Atlanta…Robert arrives at 12:40 and the fun begins…Jeff Adkerson, Bryant Himes, Tim Basel and Jim Dorman join me…gonna be real fun now…I get to meet my first former PGA president M.G. Orender, big friends with Bill Caldwell..we face time Bill and my god I was in tears the rhetoric that was going on between these two…  2nd  former PGA president Mr. Lindsay arrives and what a joy it is just being around this special man…he is the heart of the GSPGA for sure…on to Milwaukee…2:38pm ETA….Milwaukee airport is full of Green Bay Packer and Wisconsin Badger merchandise…Uber van arrives and we are off to Hilton Milwaukee City Center…this hotel is so big and impressive…we don’t have one like this in Alexandria!…Check in rooms and Robert is ready to go…we head to PGA Registration to get our credentials and lots of gifts that each delegate gets…RB knows everyone in the room and so does Kevin Walls …next stop Wisconsin Section Hospitality where anything you would like to drink or eat is available before the Special Awards Banquet…lots of great cheeses and meats and a beer everyone raved about “Spotted Cow”…I never met a beer I didn’t like!…met my 3rd former PGA President Jim Remy…delightful man who has great stories…next my  4th PGA President Paul Levy born and raised in La….loves GSPGA and loves our members…Paul is getting in Hall of Fame …glad we are here to support him…5:15pm off to get dressed for the 2020 Special Awards dinner…6:00pm Reception in Foyer with cocktails…6:30 Special Awards seating begins…we are sitting at table with the Tennessee section led by ED Clayton Hromadka, and Board of Directors  Lamar Mills, Joey Hickman and Johnny Bridgeman…super nice guys!…12 PGA members and 1 PGA section will be honored tonight…each one had a very unique story that they told but each message circled back to the relationships and friends that they made or met along their journey…Ronny Glanton,Golf Professional of Year was my favorite…the beer cheese soup was to die for and dinner was 5 star…the production the PGA puts on for this event is straight out of Hollywood…band was awesome too…10:30pm end of awards, time to get some sleep…busy day tomorrow…

Wednesday, November 3rd

  • Too excited to sleep last night…dressed and ready to go with RB at 7am to breakfast…Tim and Bryant join us at table where we are joined by PGA Secretary Don Rea, very engaging guy who is so sharp and attentive to PGA members…Gonna be a great president…Breakfast has everything you can think of and RB tries it all…he is a legend!…The GSPGA had its own table that we sit at as a group…Adam,RB,Tim,Bryant ,Kevin Walls and me …PGA President Jim Richerson gets the annual meeting started …Had a tribute to 1985 PGA President Mickey Powell that was very touching and heartfelt….Seth Waugh CEO answered questions in Town Hall setting that was very informative…Next up was former football coach Barry Alvarez ,was a dynamic speaker as most coaches are…got a selfie with him, told him I was from Louisiana and told me he liked Coach O a bunch…Lunch time…buffet has Wisconsin flair…awesome meats and cheeses…1pm-3:30 more discussion and presentation of Herb Graffis Award to Nebraska section…my best friend Beaver is in that section so I went over to introduce myself to them and tell them about Beaver …Gil Russell  spoke very highly of my buddy Beav… Got to go with GSPGA to take our picture with the Ryder Cup as a group and individually…really cool experience… hope I smiled!…listened for first time about the proposal of changing from 2 to 3 delegates….spirited discussion…time to move to breakout rooms but before that ice cream bars are outside when you walk out…awesome selection…you think RB won the lottery!…4pm Bryant, Tim and I head to hospitality room to have a beer ….room is packed and I get to see a guy I really like on PGA Coach, Will Robins…he is amazed that I use the new app that is out and founder of app  is there too…they do a video of me right there to use on their site…really nice guy and best app in world if you give lessons….it is seamless and makes life easy…RB has sinus trouble and sits the afternoon out…headed back to room for Hall of Fame dinner where we will honor 6 PGA members….We are here to honor Paul Levy…Cocktails outside before you enter and lots of family here to support the inductees…Tim and I were left off the list but RB took care of that in about 1 minute…this man makes stuff happen… We are seated at table with New Jersey Section…Dorman had been telling me about his friend Dan who is going to be running for Secretary this upcoming year and what a great guy he is…guess who I am seated by Dan Pasternak Dorman’s buddy who he is helping with campaign..Dan is an awesome guy who is so sharp and in tune of what’s happening in the PGA…he would be a awesome President of PGA one day! …after short video of each person inductees talked about the people who got them to this point in their lives…all of these men were very sincere and thankful …dinner was awesome with chicken and fish and wonderful desserts …11pm time to get some shuteye 

Thursday, November 4th

  • Wake up and pack my bags as I have a flight out at 1:16…need to leave about noon….head down to wonderful breakfast …need a McDonalds’ Coffee 3 creams right now…not hungry too excited…2 delegates from each section gets to sit on the floor and vote on the following resolution…I go sit in back with Bryant and immediately he ushers me to front to take a seat with Tim in the box…we are on the front row right behind all the past presidents…it is one of the coolest things I have ever had a privilege of being a part of…Johnny Bridgeman is honored for his service…one hell of a nice fellow Johnny is…Tim and I are on big screen as they get a shot of delegates and I take a cool selfie of us…Short break allows Mr. Lindsay to take me on big stage to share what it was like when he was President of PGA…Tim took some great photos that I will cherish the rest of my life with Mr. Lindsay…what a truly honor it is to be around him …I am truly blessed…time to leave Milwaukee… call Uber and Fasial picks me up… really kind and humble man who is from Pakistan…off to Atlanta where I get to sit for 3.5 hours …leave at 7:30 and get to Alexandria at 8pm…Glad to see Debbie is waiting on me…happy to be home!

Summing up

  • This was my 1st annual meeting and RB 31st …that’s a long time…the GSPGA is one of the most respected and revered sections in US…it is sought out for advice and direction from all…thanks to Jim Dorman for being a advocate for not only our section but the PGA and Robert Brown is the ED who is admired and loved by everyone…we are blessed…thanks to everyone who put up with me and was part of the over 500 selfie s that I took…it was fun and I hope one day I can go back and represent the greatest section in the PGA the GSPGA

Robbie G