THE PGA
OF AMERICA
OFFICERS
PGA SECRETARY TED BISHOP SERVED AS DISTRICT 6 DIRECTOR ON THE PGA BOARD of Directors and since 1991 has worked as general manager and PGA director of golf at The Legends of Indiana Golf Club in Franklin, Ind. He was elected PGA Secretary in November 2008.
Bishop is well versed in virtually every aspect of PGA governance. He has served on the PGA Board of Directors since 2006, and served on the PGA Board of Control from 2002–05. Bishop was a successful proponent for The PGA of America’s return to the committee system, which was restored in 1999.
Bishop chairs the PGA Membership Committee and is a past chair of the PGA Code of Ethics Task Force. He also is a member of both the PGA Budget and PGA Properties Committees. Previously, he evaluated hundreds of membership matters while sitting on the PGA Board of Control.
He became part of a limited partnership in 1991 that has since owned and managed The Legends of Indiana Golf Club and oversaw the construction of a 45-hole complex that is home to the Indiana PGA Section and Indiana Golf Association. Bishop is also president of the Indiana Golf Foundation. Bishop began his career as a PGA Professional and superintendent at the Phil Harris Golf Course in Linton, Ind., serving from 1976 –1991. He was elected to PGA membership in September 1985, and has served in a leadership capacity at either the Section or National levels since 1989. From 1997–98, Bishop served as president of the Indiana PGA Section. He was named the 1998 Indiana PGA Golf Professional of the Year. He is also a two-time (1996–97) Section Bill Strausbaugh Award recipient and the Section 1991 Horton Smith Award winner. On the course, Bishop is a four-time Indiana Open qualifier.
Bishop earned a bachelor’s degree in agronomy from Purdue University in 1976. He and his wife, Cindy, live in Franklin, Ind., and are the parents of Ashley, a membership director at The Legends of Indiana Golf Club; and Ambry LaRosa, a PGA assistant professional at St.
Andrews Golf Club in Hastings-on-Hudson, N. Y., and the head coach of the women’s golf team at St. John’s University.
Ted Bishop,
PGA
Secretary, The PGA of America The Legends of Indiana Golf Club, Franklin, Ind.
Brian
Whitcomb,
PGA
Honorary President, The PGA of America Lost Tracks Golf Club, Bend, Ore.
AFTER TWO REMARKABLE YEARS AS PRESIDENT OF THE PGA OF AMERICA, BRIAN Whitcomb brings his keen insight, skills and business knowledge from the perspective of a successful golf course business owner into his new role as PGA Honorary President.
Elected in 2006 as the 35th PGA President, Whitcomb championed the growth of the PGA Professional through innovative means of communication that utilized the best of new and old media alike. He instigated popular face-to-face Town Hall Meetings with PGA members to bring to the forefront the importance of one-on-one communication.
All the while, he elevated the PGA member by ensuring they were positioned as the recognized experts in the game and business of golf during a historic rebranding of The PGA.
Whitcomb steered the capital improvement program for Valhalla Golf Club, the host site of the dramatic 2008 Ryder Cup, as well as the restoration of all three Championship golf courses at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. In 2008, he also guided the launch of the second-ever PGAVillage in Coyote Springs, Nev., which opened a new western home for PGA Professionals.
A PGA member since 1984, Whitcomb began his career in 1978 at the Arizona Biltmore Country Club in Phoenix. In 1981, he leased Paradise Valley Park Golf Course, also in Phoenix, and built an additional nine holes of golf. In 1989, he designed and built The 500 Club in Phoenix, which he operates with Tom Sneva, the winner of the 1983 Indianapolis 500. In 1992, he designed and built Club West in Phoenix, which he sold in 1998.
Whitcomb attended Arizona State University from 1975–78, earning a bachelor’s degree in physical education and competing as a member of the university golf team. He was a finalist in the National Long Drive competition in 1985 and ’ 86.
Whitcomb and his wife, Stefanie, have two children, Ryan and Megan.