USGA Executive Committee Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

Fred Perpall in line to become first Black USGA president as governing body names Executive Committee nominees

Golf Digest Middle East — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 06:59:15 +0000

Fred Perpall, USGA Executive Committee and Chairman of the Championship Committee, as seen during the a 2021 press conference that the USGA announced a long-term relationship with Oakmont Country Club and Merion Golf Club. John Mummert

By Ryan Herrington
With Fred Perpall having served on the USGA Executive Committee in the role of President-Elect for the last year, there was no surprise when the governing body announced this week that the 47-year-old Dallas resident was nominated to become the USGA’s 67th president starting in 2023. Yet with his expected election at the USGA Annual Meeting in Napa, Calif., in February, the governing body remains on a path toward history, as Perpall would be the first Black man to hold the position in the USGA’s 128-year history.

A native of the Bahamas who played basketball and ran track at the University of Texas at Arlington and was a member of the 1994 Bahamian national basketball tea, Perpall has been nominated for a three-year term. He would replace outgoing president Stu Francis, whose term expires this year. Perpall has worked on the Executive Committee since 2019, most recently chairing the Championship Committee and helping launch the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open this past summer.

“Fred is a dynamic leader who has a tremendous passion for the game,” said USGA CEO Mike Whan in a press release. “Our entire team is incredibly excited to work with him more closely over the coming years.”

Outside of golf, Perpall is CEO of The Beck Group in Dallas, where he oversees the company’s architectural design, planning, real estate consultancy and construction businesses.

The USGA also announced on Wednesday former major champion Jeff Sluman among four new nominees to serve three-year terms on the Executive Committee beginning in 2023. Sluman, 65, was a six-time PGA Tour winner, including the 1988 PGA Championship, and has played more than 1,000 combined events on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions. He would fill a roll that Nick Price had previously served while working on the Executive Committee since 2018—offering the perspective of a tour pro during discussions.

Also nominated for the Executive Committee are Leslie Henry, Bryan Lewis and Michael McCarthy. Henry, a lawyer from Houston, is a past president of the Texas Golf Association and has competed in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur championships. Lewis, from South Haven, Mich., has been a USGA volunteer since 1998 who has worked as a rules official at 84 USGA championships, four Masters and the 2021 Walker Cup. McCarthy, executive VP and chief investment officer for Franklin Equity Group, played for the 1988 NCAA champion UCLA golf team. He’s on the board at San Francisco Golf Club and with the First Tee of San Francisco.

If elected, the new four members will assume seats vacated by retiring members Price, Francis, Thomas Barkin and Paul Brown.

Additionally Courtney Myhrum of Pittsburgh, has been nominated to serve a second term on Executive Committee.

Current USGA Executive Committee members include Myhrum; Perpall; Tony Anderson of Chicago, Ill.; Chuck Brymer of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.; Sinclair Eaddy Jr., of Baltimore, Md.; Cathy Engelbert of Berkeley Heights, N.J.; Kendra Graham of Winter Park, Fla.; Kevin Hammer of Boynton Beach, Fla.; Deborah Platt Majoras of Cincinnati, Ohio; Tony Petitti of Irvington, N.Y.; and Sharon Ritchey of Longboat Key, Fla.

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In a nod to tour pros, USGA nominates one of their own, Nick Price, to Executive Committee

Golf Digest Middle East — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 04:26:59 +0000

Scott Halleran/Getty Images
Nick Price of Zimbabwe and Captain of the International Team on the course during a practice round prior to the start of the 2017 Presidents Cup.

By Ryan Herrington
It’s rare when the name of a nominee to the USGA Executive Committee resonates beyond the world of corporate board rooms or golf’s high-profile private clubs. Which is why the inclusion of three-time major champion Nick Price on the slate the USGA is set to announce on Monday makes the list uniquely notable. And it’s also why it took a little convincing for Price to ultimately become comfortable with the idea of joining the 15-person governing board for 2018.

“I asked Mike [Davis, USGA executive director] is this going to be a PR role. And he was adamant that it was not,” Price told Golf World over the weekend. “He wants to take the USGA down a more player-friendly path.”

Price, 60, is not the first professional golfer the USGA has pressed into service, but he is certainly the most well-known. Davis first broached Price about potentially joining the Executive Committee more than a year ago, but the timing wasn’t quite right. Now that Price is done with his responsibilities as captain of the International Presidents Cup team, he’s ready to give back to the game in a different way.

Price’s biggest impact will be as a bridge to the competitive tours. A 48-time winner worldwide, including 18 PGA Tour events, the member of the World Golf Hall of Fame no longer plays on a regular basis. But he remains close to the game’s best players while being a respected voice among his peers.

Meanwhile, by having Price on the Executive Committee, the USGA addresses a concern raised—particularly in the midst of some of the various rules controversies that have arisen in recent years—that the association doesn’t take the interest or perspective of competitive tour professionals to heart.

“In the past we’ve all known there has been a certain amount of ‘Our way or the highway,’ ” Price said. “There was always this feeling with the USGA that we were fighting with them. And I don’t think that’s the feeling anymore.”

“I think it sends a message to tour level players that we’re bringing somebody under the tent with us, somebody who has lived that life,” said Jim Hyler, chairman of the USGA Nominating Committee and a former USGA president. “We want somebody involved with us that speaks your language. I think we could not have a better person to do that than Nick Price.”

Also joining Price as new nominees for the Executive Committee are Kendra Graham, a USGA staffer from 1987 to 2003 who oversaw the U.S. Women’s Open and was among the leading teachers of the Rules of Golf; Sharon Ritchey, an executive in the financial sector who also serves on the board of the LPGA Foundation; and Paul Brown, a Maryland banker who has been an official at 35 USGA championships. The nominees, along with the pick for general counsel, Richard Shortz, and the returning members of the Executive Committee, will be formally voted on at the USGA Annual Meeting on Feb. 3 in Miami.

The slate will serve under Mark Newell, the nominee to replace Diana Murphy as USGA president. A lawyer from McLean, Va., who was the rules official in the group with the Dustin Johnson on Sunday at the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont, Newell is the logical successor to Murphy as he has been intimately involved in the Rules of Golf modernization process during his previous five years on the Executive Committee, the results of which will be the streamlined rules expected to take effect in 2019.

“I know a lot about the rules, but I can’t begin to speak in specific details like Mark Newell can,” Davis said. “Because he’s literally crafted more of this new language than anybody, and that’s on both sides of the pond. … Without him, I’m not sure this would have been possible. The guy is working eight to 10 hours every day on it. So it’s very appropriate that he will be president when this thing is launched.”

Newell will help determine which areas new Executive Committee members will be focused on. In utilizing Price, Newell has the ability to reach beyond the Zimbabwe native’s sterling competitive resume. Price is also a golf course architect and has an acumen regarding equipment that makes his voice an intriguing one as the USGA continues to wrestle with the issue of technology and distance.

“He is just a great person. I’ve never met anybody in the world of golf who just doesn’t like Nick,” Davis said. “One of the things that appealed to us, he comes at it with a very international perspective. I think sometimes we get labeled because we’re the United States Golf Association, that we’re just in the U.S. But you know we’re very global.”

Before agreeing to serve, Price said he bounced the concept of working with the USGA off some friends in the industry to get their thoughts. All were in favor of him joining the group, seeing too many benefits in having a former player intimately involved in the USGA hierarchy. As for how specifically it will all play out, Price says he’s no entirely sure, but looks forward to finding out.

“This is a whole new thing for me. I’m trying to figure it out,” Price said. “I’m sure after the first couple of committee meetings, it will be a little clearer to me. … For me to give a little bit back to the game by doing this, it’s an important thing for me. I want this to be good for both sides.”

USGA Executive Committee Nominees
Mark Newell, President*
Mark Reinemann, Secretary*
Thomas Barkin, Treasurer*
J. Michael Bailey*
Stephen Beebe*
Paul Brown
J. Stuart Francis*
Kendra Graham
Robert Kain*
Martha Lang*
Gregory Morrison*
Nick Price
Sharon Ritchey
Clifford Shahbaz*
William Siart*
Richard Shortz, General Counsel
*Returning member

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