Dan Pasternak of Essex Fells Receives PGA's Highest Honor

PHOTO: Dan Pasternak, left, general manager of Essex Fells C.C.,  receives PGA Golf Professional of Year Award from PGA of America president Paul Levy on Nov. 8, 2018, at PGA annual meeting in Indian Wells, Calif. 

Dan Pasternak, a PGA Member in the New Jersey PGA Section and the PGA General Manager at Essex Fells Country Club, is the 65th recipient of the PGA Golf Professional of the Year Award.

The highest annual honor given to a PGA of America Professional Pasternak heads the 2018 PGA National Awards class for qualities of leadership, strong moral character, and a substantial record of service to the PGA and the game of golf. He received the award on Nov. 8, 2018, at the PGA annual meeting in Indian Wells, Calif. 

The first-ever PGA Professional to assume the role of General Manager at the esteemed 122-year old Essex Fells Country Club, Pasternak has enjoyed a distinguished career, including 22 years as a PGA Member.

He is a selfless leader and mentor, having guided more than 20 former assistants/colleagues to PGA Head Professional status. This is part of an unrelenting passion to ensure his fellow colleagues and young professionals are equipped with the tools needed to advance in their careers. 

The first New Jersey PGA Section member named PGA Golf Professional of the Year, Pasternak has served as a PGA officer, and on virtually every committee in the Section, as well as at the national level on the PGA of America’s Board of Directors.

His passion for governance led him to chair the PGA’s Employment Committee and serve on the Workforce Task Force. This commitment to volunteerism and service is reinforced by his current role as President of the New Jersey Golf Foundation, which he helped launch in 2004, as the charitable arm of the NJPGA. Additionally, recognizing the importance of continued education, he recently became a PGA Certified Professional in General Management.

A multi-award-winning PGA Professional, Pasternak is a two-time recipient of the NJPGA Golf Professional of the Year (2007, ’11), a four-time recipient of the Section Bill Strausbaugh Award (2007, ’08, ’09, ’11) and the recipient of the 2013 PGA of America Bill Strausbaugh Award.