News

Historic Announcement from the Golf Associations in Arizona

Contacts:

Anj Brown – AWGA Director of Information & Outreach | Office: 602.253.5655 | Mobile: 541.905.7700 | [email protected]

Chris Montgomery – AGA Director of Communications and Branding | Office: 602.944.3035 | [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Scottsdale, Arizona – The Arizona Golf Association and the Arizona Women’s Golf Association announced today that the two non-profit organizations have signed an agreement to restructure the operations, management, and governance of the associations under a single entity beginning January 1, 2019. Under the proposed restructuring, the integrated organization will retain the name Arizona Golf Association and will proudly represent and serve all golfers and member clubs in the state of Arizona.
The consolidated structure will create one governing board for the AGA comprised of men and women. Additionally, integrating the operations of the two organizations will result in more opportunities for volunteers to give back to the game, bring communications with Arizona golfers into a central source, give member clubs a single resource to seek year-round service and assistance, and provide efficiency of administration and staffing.

The leadership of both the AGA and AWGA are excited about the restructuring of the associations and think that the integration will be beneficial to growing the game and providing the membership of both organizations a stronger and more comprehensive range of services, which include a full schedule of championships and tournaments, enhanced player development programs, social and networking events, enhanced member benefits, Handicapping, Course Rating, and state of the art technology resources.
“From the very beginning of this integration process, I felt that it was the right thing to do. In fact, I wondered why it had not been done years before,” said Mike McWilliams, President of the AGA. “This is an exciting opportunity for everyone involved in the game of golf in the State of Arizona. I look forward to seeing the enhancements to the many programs that will come out of this.”

The AWGA’s philanthropic initiatives will continue as the focus of the AWGA Foundation, which will be under the direction of current committee members and its own Board of Directors and will be backed by the staff and additional resources of the AGA.

“The integration of our organizations is great news for the golf community in Arizona. Members of the AWGA will continue to enjoy all of the services they receive currently and can look forward to the possibility of even more opportunities in the future due to our combined resources,” said Suzy O’Hara, President of the AWGA. “In addition, the AWGA Foundation will continue the work of bringing the game of golf to a diverse community so that everyone who wants to experience the benefits of the game of golf will have the opportunity to do so.”

The Arizona Golf Foundation will continue to focus on the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame, the Patriot All-American, support research on turf that improves and benefits the environment as well as the economic benefits of golf in Arizona.

“Arizona Golf has long been the leader in innovation, programs and technology among amateur golf associations internationally,” said Ed Gowan, Executive Director of the AGA. “The integrated AGA will only improve the opportunities and possibilities for the future of the Game in Arizona, benefiting all golfers including our winter visitors.”
The Arizona Golf Association, which was founded in 1923, has more than 400 clubs and 55,000 individual members. The Arizona Women’s Golf Association was founded in 1924 and currently serves more than 300 clubs and 22,000 individual members. Together, the integrated organization will be among the top sixteen percent of golf associations in terms of membership size.

“As productive as both the AWGA and the AGA have always been with our small staffs, bringing these two groups of talented and dedicated people together to create a singular focus on serving the game and our community promises great things for golf in Arizona, said Mary Pomroy, Executive Director of the AWGA. “Together, we will be able to do so much more than we did apart. We are very excited about the future of Arizona golf.”
For questions or comments about the restructuring and integration of the Arizona Golf Association and the Arizona Women’s Golf Association, please contact Anj Brown or Chris Montgomery.