NJSGA Annual Golf Summit Features Impressive Speakers
Derek Sprague, president of the PGA of America, David A. Oatis, director of the Northeast Region of the USGA Green Section, and Steve Graves, president and founder of Creative Golf Marketing, are the featured speakers for the sixth annual New Jersey State Golf Association Golf Summit on Thursday, April 14, at the NJSGA Headquarters at Galloping Hill Golf Course in Kenilworth.
The Golf Summit, conducted in collaboration with the New Jersey PGA Section, the New Jersey Club Managers Association, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of N.J., and the New Jersey Golf Course Owners Association, is considered the premier event in the state for networking and discussing hot-button topics among those in the golf industry.
The Golf Summit welcomes all members, officials and staff from any private or public golf facility in New Jersey, as well as members of golf-based associations in the state.
Sprague, who was formally elected as PGA President at the 2014 PGA Annual Meeting, will address the topic: "100 Years of Serving the Game."
Oatis will speak on "Sustainability in Golf Course Management: What Does it Mean to You and Your Golf Course?"
Graves's firm, Creative Golf Marketing, is the largest and most successful membership-marketing firm in the United States. He will tackle the topic: "The Secrets to Optimum Membership Retention and Recruitment."
The Golf Summit begins at 2:30 p.m. for registration and networking, then includes a welcome from NJSGA president Dan Meehan..
Following the final presentation, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served.
The registration fee for the Golf Summit is $35, which includes the reception and all handout materials.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Steve Graves is President and Founder of Creative Golf Marketing. Founded in 1990, Creative Golf Marketing is the largest and most successful membership-marketing firm in the United States. Creative Golf Marketing has successfully designed and administered membership marketing initiatives and consultations for over 1,300 private clubs. Mr. Graves has personally rendered over one thousand (1,000) consultations and membership initiatives for private club facilities. These consultations and marketing initiatives focused primarily on increasing the Club’s revenues, marketability, efficiency and long-term financial stability. Creative Golf Marketing has been named “Membership Marketing Firm of the Year” for 14 of the last 16 years (2000 – 2012, 2015) by The BoardRoom Magazine.
David A. Oatis is the director of the Northeast Region of the USGA Green Section and has held the position since February 1990. He joined the staff early in 1988 as an agronomist in the Green Section’s Mid-Atlantic Region. A native of Indianapolis, Oatis attended California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, Calif., where he received a B.S. degree in Ornamental Horticulture with special emphasis in turfgrass management. Oatis came to the USGA Green Section from the Rio Hondo Country Club in Downey, Calif., where he had been the golf course superintendent for three years. Prior to his work at Rio Hondo, he served as assistant golf course superintendent at Mesa Verde Country Club, Costa Mesa, Calif., for five years. In addition to conducting more than 100 TAS visits annually and coordinating the activities of two regional agronomists, he has authored numerous articles on turfgrass management and has lectured extensively in both the United States and internationally.
Derek Sprague is the President of the PGA of America and the Managing Director of Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey. He was formally elected as PGA President at the 2014 PGA Annual Meeting. Previously, Sprague served as PGA Vice President and PGA Secretary. For 27 years, Sprague served as General Manager and Director of Golf at Malone (N.Y.) Golf Club. In 2016, Sprague was named Managing Director of Liberty National and is now a member of the New Jersey PGA Section. Since 1998, Sprague has held leadership roles at both the national and Section levels. He was a member of the PGA Board of Directors from 2007-10, and well as a number of key PGA Committees. Sprague began service on the Northeastern New York PGA Board of Directors in 1998, and served as Section President from 2003-2004. He was named the 2005 and 2008 Northeastern New York PGA Golf Professional of the Year. Sprague is also a four-time (2000-03) Section Bill Strausbaugh Award winner; two-time Section Merchandiser of the Year for Public Facilities (1998-99); and the 2006 Section President’s Plaque award recipient.
