Kevin Purcell, who has successfully led the Ontario Zone of the PGA of Canada will leave his post April 18, to pursue a new career, zone President Simon Bevan announced Monday.
“It is with great regret that our Board of Directors accepts Mr. Purcell’s resignation. While we understand the new opportunities presented to him, Kevin’s leadership impact on the Ontario Zone of the PGA of Canada has been substantial, proactive and highly beneficial to our members,” Mr. Bevan said.
“While we are very sorry to lose him we must recognize that his leadership has left us strong and stable. A recent audit of our processes and finances shows we are sound financially. Our membership is stable, our staff is well-trained and capable of providing high level services to members and we have many new opportunities to pursue,” the President said. “We can also take comfort that Kevin will retain his membership and will be available to us to share his extensive knowledge and ideas.
In addition to leading the PGA of Canada Ontario Zone for the past seven years as Executive Director, Mr. Purcell has served on the zone Board for 12 years including having served as President. He has also been active in and has held positions on the national Board of the PGA of Canada.
For his part, the decision to leave was made with some reluctance. “While it is with a great deal of regret that I will be leaving my post as Executive Director of the PGA of Canada Ontario Zone, I simply could not turn my back on this opportunity. When I came to this position more than seven years ago, I was excited about the people and the potential of this job. I still believe there is much to be done to help our members succeed and I will miss working with them on a day-to-day basis to realize that potential, ” he said.
“The good news is that in my new position, I plan to remain close to this industry and to the wonderful people in it,” he said.
Founded in 1927, the roughly 1300 men and women who belong to the PGA of Canada, Ontario Zone, are located at 350 facilities throughout the province, and have chosen the game of golf as a career, promoting the game each and every day to Ontario’s 1.2 million golfers. The organization builds programs to train and educate golf professionals to learn and adapt to the ever-changing industry. This includes various teaching workshops, accreditation programs and industry seminars, each designed to help ensure that golf professionals remain current within the golf industry and are able to provide the expertise expected of them in their day-to-day functions. PGA of Canada members in Ontario work in a number of capacities within the golf industry ranging from administrators, chief operating officers, teachers, sales representatives, expert club fitters, tournament directors, special event coordinators and tireless promoters of the game to name a few.
