PGA golf management program
The PGA of America announced today member Billy Dillon, director of the PGA golf management program at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and the UMES men’s and women’s head golf coach, has earned PGA Master Professional status — the highest educational designation a member can obtain.
Dillon, a member of the Middle Atlantic PGA Section, joins an exclusive group of slightly more than 400 PGA members who have earned PGA Master Professional status. He achieved his designation in executive management earlier this year.
“Achieving the Master Professional designation reinforces that everything I have learned and applied over my career has been validated by my peers, colleagues and PGA leadership,” he said.
“It also means that I now serve as a role model to the PGA Golf Management students at UMES and the entire next generation of PGA members,” Dillon said. “I want my students to realize that if I can do it, they certainly can do it. This is an achievement that makes me extremely proud.”
UMES is the nation’s lone historically Black institution with a PGA-certified golf management program. Dillon joined the UMES faculty in August 2007 to launch the program.
The PGA Master Professional Program’s curriculum includes an extensive project based on the specific certification previously acquired by the PGA professional. Upon approval of the project and successful completion of a presentation, a PGA member will earn the prestigious PGA Master Professional status.
To be eligible, the PGA Master Professional Program requires a minimum of 10 years of PGA membership.
Dillon, a PGA member for 27 years, currently serves on the Middle Atlantic PGA Section Education Committee and previously achieved PGA Certified Professional status in general management.
As UMES’ PGA golf management program director, Dillon oversees the curriculum and guides the next generation of PGA members. His son, Lane, graduated from UMES a year ago and is a golf pro at St. Clair (Pa.) Country Club.
In 2020, Dillion became the school’s head men’s and women’s golf coach, after coaching the women only in 2019.
In his first year coaching, the Women’s Golf Coaches Association presented Dillon with the Mark Laesch Award for NCAA Division 1 women’s golf. The award goes to the coach / team that showed the biggest improvement in adjusted stroke average from one year to the next. The team improved its 2019-2020 adjusted stroke average by 49.5 strokes compared to the previous season.
The PGA Master Professional Program was established in 1969 to recognize PGA members who have made a significant effort to improve as golf professionals and maintain the highest degree of excellence for themselves and their operations. As part of its member education curriculum, the PGA Master Professional Program was designed to ensure PGA professionals are prepared to meet the growing demands of the marketplace.
About the PGA of America
The PGA of America is one of the world’s largest sports organizations, composed of nearly 28,000 PGA Professionals who daily work to grow interest and inclusion in the game of golf.
The PGA of America produced this announcement and it also includes information added by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
