Several months ago, George Kahrhoff insisted that his two sons, Mitchell and Trey, watch the Golf Channel.
“I said, ‘You guys need to pay attention,'” the head professional at the Country Club at Castle Pines recounted recently during a phone interview. “Of course, they were on the computer and all that. I said, ‘Are you watching?’ and they were like, ‘Yeah, yeah’. All of a sudden my name pops up on the TV, and they said, ‘Hey, that’s you.'”
Indeed, Kahrhoff and Collindale Golf Course director of golf Dale Smigelsky hit the national radar late in the summer by being named 2012 winners of PGA of America nationwide awards, both for merchandising. Kahrhoff (pictured above, at right) earned his honor in the private facility category, while Smigelsky (pictured left of Kahrhoff) won for public facilities.
Both Coloradans will receive their PGA honors on Friday (Jan. 18) in Orlando, Fla., and they’ll celebrate there next week with fellow members of the Colorado PGA. The Section has won seven PGA of America national awards in the last six years.
Smigelsky and Kahrhoff were both taken aback when they originally heard they earned national PGA honors. And that’s understandable, considering that they’ll be joining an elite group of Colorado PGA members who have received such awards. Sixteen Section members have landed national PGA honors since 1958.
“I got a call from Allen Wronowski, who was president of the PGA of America at the time,” remembers Smigelsky. “I had kind of forgotten we were up for the award, so I thought it was a joke at first, but then I recognized his voice. So many people apply that the chances (of winning) are slim. So it was a shock. I called my wife; it was exciting. Everything has happened real fast.”
Smigelsky grew up in the Orlando area — in Winter Park, Fla., to be exact — so this will be a return to his old haunts, although he hasn’t been there in the last eight or 10 years.
Like Smigelsky, Kahrhoff said his initial reaction was “disbelief and shock. You never belief it will happen. You put together your presentation and give it your best shot, and when you win it’s like, ‘wow’, almost surreal. Then you put your shoes on and do the same thing all over again (on the job). I think it will hit me more when I’m down there.”
Kahrhoff and Smigelsky try to think a little outside of the box in merchandising at their facilities, and they both credit their members/customers, as well as their staffs.
At the Country Club at Castle Pines, “we look at it as providing entertainment for the membership,” said Kahrhoff, who came to the facility in 2008. There are times when the golf shop is set up specifically for women, and when mobile golf shops are utilized. And there are demo days, ball and club fitting sessions, special purchasing opportunities for particular products, etc.
“We have a busy calendar giving membership opportunities to buy,” Kahrhoff said. “There’s always something going on. To me, (the award is) great recognition for the club, and how the membership supports golf operations. And the staff, they work so hard.”
At Collindale in Fort Collins, Smigelsky said, “what sets us apart … is we’re still full service when a lot of other places are cutting back. We’re kind of reversing the trend; while other places are getting away from full service, we’re the other way, trying to do more. We do a lot with a little here, and we’ve built a lot of credibility with our clientele. We sell customer service, and we get a lot of repeat business.”
Smigelsky, who came back to Collindale at the beginning of 2009, owns the golf shop and the Collindale Golf Academy, which helps drive business. Also located on the property is a C.B. & Potts restaurant, so there’s a lot of cross-marketing going on.
“Even though my name is on it, it’s really a team award,” Smigelsky said. “We have so many great people, all I do is really stay out of the way. What I really do best is surround myself with the best people.”
Smigelsky and Kahrhoff are two of nine PGA of America national award recipients that will be honored in Orlando this month.
Kahrhoff and Smigelsky will be the third and fourth members of the Colorado PGA to receive the national merchandising honor from the PGA of America. Keith Schneider of Castle Pines Golf Club won in 1990 in the private facility category, while Russ Miller of the Broadmoor Golf Club earned the resort-category award in 2003.
