Holyk, Dean among top award winners for Desert Chapter PGA

It was a night for family Monday as the Desert Chapter PGA held its annual meeting and handed out its yearly awards.

That was especially true for Michael Holyk, named the chapter golf professional of the year in the ceremonies at Classic Club in Palm Desert. Holyk received the award with his mother and father in the audience.

“It means everything to me. Obviously it is very important to be able to represent my fellow PGA professionals in this atmosphere and to be recognized by them and to continue to do so,” said Holyk, head golf professional at Mountain View Country Club in La Quinta. “This particular year is a big time for me with my family, with my mom battling with pancreatic cancer, and just drawing strength from family in these times that we are in right now. It’s just awesome.”

It was also a family night for a winner of another of the big awards, teacher and coach of the year. Geoffrey Dean, director of player development at the private courses at PGA West in La Quinta, was joined by his wife Donna at the event and talked about having lost his mother earlier this year.

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“It’s an honor, obviously, is the first word that comes to mind,” Dean said. “I know that I make an impact with the students that I teach, and I feel like I am really good at what I do. Comparing myself to someone well, well, that’s all what it is, but it’s a great honor to be recognized by my peers. I think that’s the thing about it.”

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The night featured other awards as well as an address by Tom Addis, executive director of the PGA of Southern California. Addis congratulated the golf professionals for helping to get golf through the pandemic that started in early 2020, with golf becoming a booming sport as people looked for safe outdoor activities despite COVID-19 restrictions.

Holyk was just one of the award winners from Mountain View Monday. Richie Valenzuela of Mountain View was named assistant pro of the year.

“We have incredible support at Mountain View. We have fantastic members, a great staff, great leadership from the top of the board all the way down to the general manager, Marco Sotomayor and all the staff,” Holyk said. “Richie Valenzuela, the assistant golf professional of the year, has been fantastic.”

Awards for clubs, individuals

Chris Gilley, head golf pro at La Quinta Country Club, brought his entire staff to the meeting to accept the award for golf merchandiser of the year for private clubs. Cody Franke of Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert accepted the award for merchandiser of the year for resort courses.

The Bill Strausbaugh Award to a pro who helps mentor and guide other professionals went to Josh Garber of The Club Fix. Club fitter of the year went to Paul Grisham of The Lakes Country Club in Palm Desert, and salesman of the year was Jordan Knickerbocker of Cobra Puma Golf.

Al Geiberger Jr, earned two playing awards as player of the year and associate player of the year. Kaitlyn Ellis of Woodhaven Country Club was named women's player of the year and Brent Smith was the senior player of the year. The player of the year awards are based on play by members in chapter and section events.

The night also included election of new board members and reports on the chapter, which is one of five chapters within the SCPGA section. The Desert Chapter has 332 members, from teaching pros to head professionals.

For Dean, a solid player as well as a teacher since the mid-1990s, the satisfaction of the golf profession is rewarding.

“I feel like every day I go to work, it’s a positive experience and I see students every day improving,” Dean said. “Having a good lesson is really being able to assess what your student is all about and what they can do and what they can’t do. And really maybe setting some basic goals and having them attain them.”

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Desert Chapter PGA hands out annual awards in 12 categories