Featured Golf News
Antkiewicz Named PGA Golf Professional of the Year
Jim Antkiewicz, the director of golf at the Club at Nevillewood in Presto, Pa., whose efforts in growing the game in the greater Pittsburgh area have inspired both youth and other pros, has been named the 55th recipient of the PGA Golf Professional of the Year Award, the highest annual honor bestowed by the PGA of America on a member.
A 25-year member of The PGA of America, Antkiewicz is the third member of the Tri-State PGA Section to be so honored. Antkiewicz will be recognized at the PGA of America Awards, Thursday, January 29, 2009, during the 56th PGA Merchandise Show at the Orange County Convention Center's Linda W. Chapin Auditorium in Orlando, Fla. The program, honoring all 2008 national award winners, features the following recipients:
* Martin Hall of Palm City, Fla. - PGA Teacher of the Year
* Mark Wilson of Grand Rapids, Mich. - Horton Smith Award (Professional Education)
* Clayton Cole of Cherry Hills Village, Colo. - Bill Strausbaugh Award (Employment and Community Service)
* Jimmy Headrick of Slidell, La. - PGA Junior Golf Leader
* Bob Collins of West Middlesex, Pa. - President's Plaque (Player Development)
* Philadelphia PGA Section - Herb Graffis Award (Player Development)
The 2008 PGA Merchandisers of the Year Award winners are:
* John Lyberger of Gaithersburg, Md. - Private Facilities
* Mike Woods of Folsom, Calif. - Public Facilities
* Michael Buccerone, Myrtle Beach, S.C. - Resort Facilities
"Our 2008 award winners represent the best in our Association, and have each left an impact upon the game through their endeavors at their home club or facility," said PGA of America President Brian Whitcomb. "It is through their passion to become the best that they can be that PGA Professionals are able to stand as the experts in the game and the business of golf."
Antkiewicz follows Gary Ellis of Pittsburgh Field Club and Bob Ford of Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club as the third Tri-State PGA member to receive the Association's highest annual honor. "It is a very humbling experience to be recognized as the PGA Golf Professional of the Year, and selected out of the 28,000 men and women who make up our Association," said Antkiewicz. "It is the highest recognition that I could receive.
"I knew at a very young age that I wanted a career in golf. Once I had begun to caddie at age 11, I knew the field and business I wanted to be in. It has been very gratifying to have played a part in introducing youth to the game and to help young professionals find their niche in our industry."
Elected to PGA membership in 1982, Antkiewicz, 51, has served as District 4 Director on the PGA national Board of Directors, from 2002 through 2005, as Tri-State PGA Section President from 2002-2006, and is currently a member of the PGA National Government Relations Committee, and past member of the PGA Budget and Audit Committee (2002-05) and the PGA Education Committee (1995-98).
A former caddie at Ambridge (Pa.) Country Club, where he first sneaked on to the golf course to caddie and work in the bag room at age 11 (one year under the age requirement), Antkiewicz has been a leader in both his home facility and throughout his Section. He has guided teaching programs that inspired, by his count, a dozen past assistants to become their own leaders in the golf industry. He is a 1980 graduate of Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pa., and turned professional a year earlier.
He gained his first assistant professional position at age 21, at Allegheny Country Club where he served from 1978-83 under the tutelage of two-time Senior PGA Professional of the Year Roy Vucinich (1997-98), one of the premier playing professionals in the country.
Antkiewicz moved to Highland Country Club in 1983 and remained until 1995, when he took his present position at The Club at Nevillewood. He founded the Tri-State PGA Teaching Academy in 1993, serving as its coordinator for two years. Since 2006, he has been chair of the Section Growth of the Game Committee and Long Range Planning Committee.
Antkiewicz and his wife, Renee, live in Aliquippa, Pa., and are the parents of a daughter, Leah, a junior at Bucknell University and a co-captain of the golf team; and a son, Vincent, a senior in high school and a member of his school's golf team.
