Become a Member

Become a Member

The PGA Professional Golf Management Program provides world-class training for aspiring golf professionals by offering skill-based training programs that provide state-of-the-art skills and knowledge. Graduates of this program will become outstanding golf professionals who provide exceptional service to their customers, employers, fellow professionals, and the game of golf.

There are numerous career options and exciting career pathways beyond the traditional Head Professional or Teaching Instructor that are available in the golf industry.

Path to PGA Membership

There are a few different pathways to pursue and achieve PGA Membership:

• In order to become a member, you will need to become a registered associate through the appropriate steps and go through the PGA PGM program or begin through the Affiliate PGA Membership option.
  
• The PGA Golf University Management Program is a 4.5- to 5-year college curriculum for aspiring PGA Professionals and is offered at 20 PGA-accredited universities nationwide

Both pathways to PGA Membership require a playing component by the individual, known as the PGA Playing Ability Test (PAT) – ultimately a 36-hole golf score that can be achieved in numerous manners. 

VIEW DETAILS & LEARN MORE for
* Working in the Golf Industry & Registering for Interest to Become a PGA Member
Click HERE

NENY PGA Section Mentoring Program

There are numerous resources available to PGA Associates during this time in their professional career, and then NENY PGA Section’s Employment Committee & Associate Committee both serve at the ready as mentors for all of our PGA Associates. Our Associates Committee Members have been paired up and assigned 5-6 registered Associates in a  Mentor/Mentee relationship.

If you are a registered Associate in the section and unsure who your mentor is or would like to be assigned a mentor – please contact our section staff at 518-438-8645.

For other resources at your fingertips as a PGA Associate, including more info on the below you can find those answers HERE.

• PGA of America Specialist Program – Lifelong Learning
• PGA PGM Acceptable Progress Policy
• Playing Ability Test Information
• How to Prepare for Seminars
• PGA Seminar Schedule
• Associated Costs of the Program

Workday Finance Account Set Up

The PGA of America has officially moved our financial transactions into a new system called Workday. This means there may be a few steps you need to take to set up your account to receive payment on goods and services or purse money. Please follow the below instructions to ensure your account is ready for payment.

Update Workday Banking Information

Exclusive membership benefits are available to you as a PGA Member and/or Associate and to your facility simply for employing you!

Learn more to take advantage of the benefit tools.

PGA of America Benefits

• Personal Operations/Discounts – such as National Car Rental or KitchenAid savings
• Business Operations/Discounts – OfficeMax, Merchant Preferred Credit Card Processing
• TruGreen, John Deer Golf
• PGA Perk Spots
• Playing Access to Courses
• Playing Eligibility in PGA of America Series & Winter Events
• Insurance Benefits – Liability & Facility
• Marketing & Creative Resources
• PGA Golf Retirement Plus Program
• Member Assistance Programs
• PGA Championship Ticket Access
• PGA Merchandise Shop
• Scholarship Opportunities

NENY PGA Section Benefits

• NENY PGA Section Credit Card Program – Personal or Business Card
• Merchant Preferred Credit Card Processing
• Mentoring
• Hosting Eligibility of Section tournaments
• Playing eligibility in section tournaments

Deferred Compensation Program

For many years the PGA of America has searched for a way to develop some kind of retirement plan for members. As we all know, there are tax rules that prevent the Association from directly giving money to members. But the basic principle is that we can reasonably compensate a member for performing services that advance our exempt purpose; specifically for growing the game of golf. Therefore, the PGA of America created a plan whereby members that participate in programs that meet specified performance objectives can earn a contribution towards a deferred compensation fund.

The aim is that over the years these investments will grow and provide a supplemental income for the member upon reaching the age of 65. Because of the power of compounding over time, clearly younger members will benefit most from the program, but everyone can participate.

In addition to all our programs and other benefits this is now a very real and accessible vehicle to accumulate wealth towards a more comfortable retirement.  We further hope that this can serve as a truly significant lure and recruiting tool to attract new talent to our great and growing industry.

Benefits include:

• Tax-deferred growth
• Ability to choose your investment allocation from a wide variety of funds
• Supplement your future retirement income
• Contributions come directly from the PGA

Points System: Members earn points towards the Plan after the completion of certain specified performance objectives/activities.

You must earn a minimum of 200 points in a given program year to be eligible to receive a contribution

• If a member does not reach that threshold, such points will be forfeited
• Additionally, points cannot be rolled over to future program years
• Reporting Points
  • Members can submit and keep track of their points online or through the Deferred Compensation App
  • Multi-pronged reporting model includes self-attestation, the attestation of another PGA Member, and to the extent available, the use of other readily available data sources.
• A list of eligible activities and their assigned point value can be found below. Note: Partial credit for some activities is available as well depending on the level of involvement

To view the Deferred Compensation program’s points descriptions, click here. Review the Deferred Compensation program’s eligible activities by career path by clicking here.