INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 22, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Derek Sprague of Malone, New York, was elected the 39th President of the PGA of America today at the Association's 98th Annual Meeting in Indianapolis. Sprague is the PGA General Manager and Director of Golf at Malone Golf Club. Elected to PGA membership in 1993, Sprague has held leadership roles at both the National and Section PGA levels since 1998. Sprague previously served as PGA Secretary from 2010-12, and as Vice President from 2012 until Oct. 24, 2014, when he was named PGA Interim President. He also previously served as the District 1 Director on the National PGA Board from 2007-10.
Succeeding Sprague as Vice President is Paul Levy of Indian Wells, California, who served the past two years as Secretary and held the roles of Secretary and Interim Vice President from Oct. 24, 2014 until today.
Suzy Whaley of Farmington, Connecticut, was elected Secretary. Sprague, Levy and Whaley will each serve two-year terms.
The Board of Directors extended the role of Honorary President Allen Wronowski of Bel Air, Maryland, for two additional years.
In addition, three new members of the PGA Board of Directors were sworn in at the PGA Annual Meeting. The new PGA Board members are Jeff Drimel of St. Michael, Minnesota; Tim Fries of Kenmore, New York; and Kyle Heyen of Arvada, Colorado. The new PGA District Directors each will serve three-year terms.
The PGA Board of Directors is composed of the Association's President, Vice President, Secretary, Honorary President and 17 Directors. The Directors include representatives from each of the PGA's 14 districts, two Independent Directors and a member of the PGA Tour. New District Directors are elected by their local PGA Sections.
Sprague began service on the Northeastern New York PGA Board of Directors in 1998 and served as Section President from 2003-04. He was named the 2005 and 2008 Northeastern New York PGA Golf Professional of the Year.
Born in Malone, Sprague followed the lead of his late father in devoting himself to his community by serving from 2003-13 as a member of the Board of Education of the Malone Central School District. Sprague is also a board member of the Greater Malone Community Fund and a member of Franklin County's Tourism Advisory Committee.
Sprague is a 1988 graduate of James Madison University, in Harrisonburg, Va., where he competed on the golf team and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Marketing. Recently, Sprague was inducted into the James Madison University School of Hospitality Hall of Fame.
PGA Vice President Paul Levy is the President of Club Operations and Development for Sunrise Company and is the Chief Executive Officer and General Manager at Toscana Country Club in Indian Wells.
Levy earned PGA membership in June 1986 and has served in a leadership capacity at both the Section and National levels since 1992. He is a dual member of the Southern Texas and Southern California PGA Sections. From 2004-08, Levy was a member of the PGA Board of Control. Levy was president of the Southern Texas PGA Section from 1998-2000, and earned the 2000 Southern Texas PGA Golf Professional of the Year Award.
From 1999-2004, Levy served as PGA General Manager and Director of Golf at Royal Oaks Country Club in Houston. He then became Senior Vice President of Club Operations for Sunrise Company, the developer of Royal Oaks Country Club. In 2004, Levy moved to Southern California to oversee the development of Toscana. Four years later, he became the President of Club Operations and Development for Sunrise. A native of New Orleans, Levy is a 1983 graduate of Louisiana State University, where he was a member of the Tigers golf team.
PGA Secretary Suzy Whaley is a certified PGA Professional, LPGA member and the Director of Instruction at Suzy Whaley Golf at the TPC River Highlands in Croswell, Connecticut. She was elected as District 1 Director on the PGA Board of Directors in November 2010, thus becoming the second woman ever to be elected to the PGA Board.
In July 2003, Whaley was the first woman to qualify for and participate in a PGA TOUR event in 58 years, following the legendary Babe Zaharias, the only other woman to have ever achieved the rare golf feat. To reach that special niche in golf history, Whaley captured the Connecticut PGA Section Championship, also a first by any PGA of America woman professional.
Her teaching accolades include being named one of the 2013 Golf Digest Top 50 Best Teachers in America. She guided her Connecticut Team to the 2014 PGA Junior League Golf Championship, where it finished fifth.
PGA Honorary President Wronowski, who served as PGA President in 2011 and 2012, is Director of Golf Development and Relations for the Folds of Honor Foundation.
For more about the PGA of America, visit PGAMediaCenter.com.
Editor's Note – Please use below link to download images of the PGA of America Officers:
http://mediaarchive.pgalinks.com/cgi/viewerlogin.pl?lbjobid=12873