Local golf pro is elected PGA Director

By Max Goodwin

Sean Hanna, the Director of Golf of Loch Lloyd Country Club, was elected to the PGA of America’s Board of Directors at the 108th PGA Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids, Mich., on November 7.

Hanna will represent the Gateway, Midwest, and South Central PGA Sections, which cover Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. He will serve a three-year term as one of 19 directors who establish policy for the PGA of America, along with the President, Vice President, and Secretary of the association.

“It’s humbling to be elected from my section to represent our district. It’s an honor that not many guys or gals get a chance to do,” Hanna said.

The PGA of America represents thousands of club and teaching professionals who work at golf courses around the country. It’s a separate organization from the PGA Tour, where the world’s best players compete. Hanna is currently President of the Midwest Section and was recognized in 2022 as the Golf Professional of the Year. He will now represent over 30,000 golfers nationwide in the PGA of America’s effort to grow interest and participation in the game of golf.

Hanna is originally from central New York and has worked on golf courses in Naples, Fla., and Atlanta. He moved to Kansas City in 2013 and now lives in Lenexa. He has been the director of golf at Loch Lloyd Country Club for ten years. His work with the PGA is an opportunity to further involve himself in the development of the sport.

A golf professional from the Kansas City area is given a seat on the Board of Directors once every nine years. The position rotates among the different sections within the district during that time. Hannah has worked his way through various positions within the Midwest section, and this will be his first job in a national office of the PGA.

“When I became a golf professional, as an assistant golf professional, I always knew that I wanted to get into local governance with the PGA,” Hanna said.

Hanna was a late bloomer in the world of golf. He first started working at a golf course in his late twenties. He loved it right away and began practicing his own golf game. He wanted to pass the PGA’s Playing Ability Test to get his PGA membership. He achieved this in 2008 and was officially a PGA Member.

At Loch Lloyd, he was given his first chance to lead the operations of a golf course, and it has been growing ever since. The course has grown in reputation since then, and now Hanna will help grow the sport overall.

In 2020, during the pandemic, golf gained popularity as people searched for outdoor entertainment. The growth has brought new golfers and increased investment in the sport. About one in seven Americans played golf, resulting in $101.7 billion in direct economic impact in 2022, an increase of 20 percent compared to 2016, according to a study by the American Golf Industry Coalition released in 2023.

“Covid was awful in so many ways, but it was great for the game of golf,” Hanna said. “When everybody was in shelter in place, golf was the one thing that people could do.

Nationally worldwide, the rounds have spiked since 2020 and continue to grow. We’re flatlining a little bit more now. But it was huge growth for almost four years, trending at levels we’ve never seen before.”

As the game grew, athletes from other sports became faces of that growth as they played more rounds of golf. One of them, Patrick Mahomes, is now a resident at Loch Lloyd. Hanna said Mahomes is out on the course occasionally, though not often with his busy schedule.

“It’s always nice to have somebody from the community that is as important as he is,” Hanna said.

Hanna says his election to the Board of Directors serves as good exposure for Loch Lloyd, but other than that it’s not going to have any major impact on golf around the area.

Because of confidentiality agreements, he can’t go into the specific decisions he will be involved in or how he views any current issues within golf, but he says he will represent the Loch Lloyd brand the best he can.

The PGA of America also chose a new president at the PGA Annual Meeting, electing President Don Rea Jr., the owner of Augusta Ranch Golf Club in Mesa, Ariz.

“It’s an honor to serve alongside such a distinguished group of mentors and leaders on the PGA of America Board of Directors,” Rea Jr. said. “These passionate PGA of America

Members love this game and volunteer their time, sharing a common goal of working tirelessly to elevate our profession to ensure golf is well positioned for future growth.”