Month: January 2021

Remembering Jessica Hendrickson

Jessica Hendrickson, of West Chester, PA and Port St. Lucie, FL — loving wife, adored mother and grandmother — passed away at the age of 74 on Saturday, January 23, 2021 after a short and unexpected illness.

Born in New York City, Jessica grew up in Wayne, Michigan with her parents, Miles and Janet, sister Elaine, and grandmother Jessie (“Granny”). She attended Wayne Memorial High School, then Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, where she married her first husband, Jim Hickey, and gave birth to their son, Blair.

Jessica remarried in 1979, to Dick Hendrickson, her surviving husband of 42 years. The two met when Jess decided to take golf lessons from the “tall and handsome” pro at the local golf course, thus beginning an almost five-decade partnership of playing and competing. When Dick qualified for the Senior PGA Tour in 1988, Jess was right beside him, breaking ground as one of the very first female caddies on tour. Working together as their family’s “favorite sports team,” the two competed in 367 tournaments over 11 years, racking up 47 top-ten finishes, and four runner-up titles.

An avid player herself, Jess loved competing and playing with friends, especially at PGA Village in Florida, as well as her home course at Radley Run Country Club in Pennsylvania, where she served as President of Ladies Golf, and won multiple titles including the Ladies Club Championship, Senior Club Championship and Super Senior Championship. And although not one to talk about herself, when pressed, Jess would tell you she was proud of her two holes-in-one.

For all of her accomplishments on the course, it was her dedication and devotion to family that defined Jess the most. Nothing fulfilled her more, or gave her more joy, than tending to the people she loved, whether that meant juggling the hectic schedules of a teenage son and two step-children, moving back to Michigan to nurse her ailing mother, or studying (and remembering) every medical detail of any issue Dick faced. She’d drop everything to take your call when you needed advice, would travel hours to celebrate a birthday, or gladly rearrange her day to read, sing, or bake over FaceTime with her granddaughters in California.

Those who knew Jess will remember her genuine, wholehearted compassion; her big, bright friendly smile; her self-conscious silliness; her competitiveness (golf, mahjong, trying to beat Dick at gin rummy); her faith in the lucky socks she wore while cheering for the Philadelphia Eagles; how her holiday meals and decorations were consistently magazine-worthy; and the fact her home was always immaculate, even though she’d insist it wasn’t.

Jessica is survived by her husband Dick; her son Blair Hickey, daughter-in-law Laura, and their daughters Alex and Charlotte; her stepdaughter Kristin Hendrickson Holder and her son, Joshua; her stepson Brian Hendrickson and his daughter, Sarah; as well as loving members of her extended family in Michigan and Atlanta.

For the safety of family and friends, a memorial service will be postponed until later in the year. In lieu of flowers or gifts, please consider a contribution in Jessica’s name to First Tee Greater Philadelphia, or First Tee Florida Gold Coast, local chapters of a non-profit dedicated to empowering children through the game of golf. (firstteephiladelphia.org or firstteefloridagoldcoast.org).

Ashley Grier Earns Women’s PGA Professional Player of the Year Award for 2020

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (Jan. 22, 2021) – Jason Caron of Oyster Bay, New York; Ashley Grier of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania; and Omar Uresti of Austin, Texas, persevered through the unique circumstances associated with a global pandemic to capture respective 2020 PGA Professional, Women’s PGA Professional and Senior PGA Professional Player of the Year awards.

The trio will be honored in conjunction with the PGA of America’s Annual Meeting, Nov. 2-5, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Caron, the PGA Head Professional at Mill River Club, Inc. in Oyster Bay, began his year in strong fashion, emerging from a three-player playoff to win the 2020 PGA Stroke Play Championship. Caron authored two other wins in Metropolitan PGA Section play, winning the Section’s PGA Professional Championship in September, also in a playoff, before claiming a wire-to-wire, two-stroke victory in the 96th Long Island Open in October. He was subsequently named Metropolitan PGA Section Player of the Year.

Caron, 48, collected 625.000 total points, while Rod Perry of Port Orange, Florida, was runner-up with 590.350. Scott Berliner of Lake Luzerne, New York (565.000), was third and Ryan Vermeer of Omaha, Nebraska (548.750) 一 the 2018 and ‘19 PGA Professional Player of the Year 一 finished fourth.

“I’ve been playing well for about two and a half years now, but I feel like I really broke through in 2020,” said Caron, who was a member of the PGA Tour in 2000 and ‘03 and finished T-30 in the 2002 U.S. Open. “To (earn the PGA Professional Player of the Year award) means a ton. Just to have this on my playing resume, it’s a special accomplishment. It’s an honor to represent my fellow 29,000 PGA Professionals, the Met Section and Mill River, all who have encouraged me to play this game. My hats off to them.”

A PGA Assistant Professional at Overbrook Golf Club in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Grier tallied 327.500 points to earn her award. The bookend highlights of Grier’s year came with a T-3 finish in the Women’s Stroke Play at PGA Golf Club in February and a November victory in the Philadelphia Assistants Organization Open Championship at Kimberton Golf Club in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. She was later named the Philadelphia PGA Section’s Assistant Player of the Year.

Jennifer Borocz of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida (255.000), was runner-up to Grier, 36, while Sherry Andonian of La Quinta, California (230.000), and Joanna Coe of Lutherville-Timonium, Maryland (185), finished third and fourth, respectively. In 2019, Coe won the inaugural Women’s PGA Professional Player of the Year award.

“Anyone that knows me knows how much I love the game of golf and love competing,” said Grier, a member of the victorious 2019 Women’s PGA Cup Team and a seven-year veternan of the Duramed Futures Tour. “To see all of the hard work payoff is a great achievement that I am very proud of. I couldn’t have achieved this if it wasn’t for the support I received from (Overbrook PGA Head Professional) Eric Kennedy, all of my co-workers, and the membership at Overbrook. I know they are always there to cover for me or cheer me on when I am away at an event. It’s nice to win this award and to have something to show or share in a year that wasn’t (what we all expected it to be).”

A PGA Life Member, Uresti won eight times in 2020 一 four in his home Southern Texas PGA Section, four at his home away from home at PGA Golf Club 一 to garner his first player of the year citation from the PGA of America. Uresti’s top Section triumph came by two strokes in the Senior PGA Professional Championship at the Golf Club of Houston in May. At PGA Golf Club, the 52-year-old Uresti won the Quarter Century Championship in early January, the 32nd Senior PGA Professional Championship in October, then tacked on twice in a four-day span in early December, winning Events #1 and #2 of the PGA Tournament Series.

Uresti’s 733.800 points outpaced the 622.950 accumulated by runner-up Bob Sowards of Dublin, Ohio. Mike Small of Champaign, Illinois (645.000), took third and Scott Hebert of Traverse City, Michigan (587.000), fourth.

“It’s a real honor to earn this award because of all of the talented players that have won it in the past,” said Uresti, the 2017 PGA Professional Champion. “I know Bob (Sowards) was leading the points list late in the year and was dealing with a hip injury that was obviously hindering his play. We’re close friends and it was difficult to see him held back. He’s so talented. He won last year. To put my name on that same list, well, it feels great.”

Philadelphia Assistants’ Organization Announces New Board Roles

Lower Gwynedd Township, Pa. (January 13, 2021) — The Philadelphia Assistants’ Organization (PAO), an arm of the Philadelphia PGA Section for Assistant Professionals, has announced new roles for its 2021 board, effective immediately:
  • Co-Chairs: Ron Pine, PGA, Aronimink G.C.; and John Rogers, PGA
  • Tournament Chair: Michael Congdon, PGA, Aronimink G.C.
  • Education Chair: Steve Frederick, PGA, Overbrook G.C.
  • Youth Golf / Charity / Finance Chair: Tony Shields, PGA, The ACE Club
  • Communication / Mentorship Chair: Ashley Grier, PGA, Overbrook G.C.
“On behalf of the entire PAO, Section, and our members, we would like to thank outgoing PAO Co-Chair Steve Frederick, PGA, for his service and willingness to continue to serve as the PAO Education Chair,” said current PAO Co-Chair Ron Pine, PGA. “We look forward to getting started with our new board to make the 2021 season as successful as ever.”About the Philadelphia PGA Section
The Philadelphia PGA Section, covering eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware, is one of 41 geographical managing entities of the PGA of America. This Section manages nearly 900 PGA Members and Associates who are employed at over 590 golf facilities in our region. Founded in 1921, the Section celebrates its centennial in 2021.

Contact: Matt Frey, PGA, Communications Director, Philadelphia PGA Section, mfrey@pgahq.com