Derek Sprague isn’t just changing jobs: he’s making history.
THE General Manager of TPC Sawgrass is moving on after six years at the helm of the PGA Tour’s flagship club, and he’s back where he started, in the PGA of America.
This time he is at the top.
Sprague was announced Friday as the new CEO of the PGA professional club governing body, which also owns the Ryder Cup and the PGA Championship. The Malone, New York, native replaces Seth Waugh and is the first man to serve as CEO and president of the PGA, the latter serving in an unpaid volunteer position that serves as a liaison between the PGA’s executive leadership and the membership.
Golfweek first reported the news before the PGA released it.
“I have loved being a PGA of America club professional and serving our members and associates as a board member and officer,” Sprague said in a statement. “Now serving associates as CEO is a tremendous honor. It is my task, alongside the leadership and Board of Directors, to elevate the profession of the PGA of America’s more than 30,000 golf professionals while ensuring the health of our organization and its relationships within the industry.
Derek Sprague chaired the Ryder Cup task force
Sprague has been a member of the PGA since 1993 and is the first Class A professional to serve in the organization’s leadership role since Jim Awtrey in 2006.
After graduating from James Madison University, where he played on the golf team, Sprague returned to his hometown to work at Malone Golf Club for 26 years as director of golf and general manager.
He began serving on the PGA board in 1998 and is a past president of the Northeast New York Section and a member of the PGA Board of Directors from 2007 to 2010. He is two one-time Section Professional of the Year, four-time Section Bill Strasbaugh Award winner and two-time Merchant of the Year.
Sprague served as president of the PGA for a two-year term from 2014 to 2016, where he oversaw the growth of the sport through initiatives such as the PGA Junior League and the PGA’s role in Augusta National. Drive, Chip and Putt competition. He also chaired the Ryder Cup Working Group.
Derek Sprague also managed Liberty National
Sprague was inducted into the PGA Hall of Fame in 2019. Prior to joining TPC Sawgrass, he was general manager of Liberty National Golf Club, which hosted the Presidents Cup in 2017.
“Derek is the consummate golf professional of the PGA of America,” current PGA President Don Rea Jr. said in a statement. “Having a leader at the helm who knows every detail of the association and what it means to be a member of the PGA of America will set our association up for success well into the distant future.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Derek Sprague, Managing Director of TPC Sawgrass, Named CEO of PGA of America
