BOYLSTON, Mass. – The New England PGA Section is excited to announce the 2023 Section Award Winners and the 2023 Hall of Fame Inductees.
The 2023 Awards are headlined by Jim Salinetti, PGA (Winchester Country Club) who was named the NEPGA Golf Professional of the Year. He was also named the 2023 Massachusetts Chapter Golf professional of the Year earlier this month.
Salinetti is the Head Golf Professional at Winchester Country Club, a position that he has held since the 2011 season. Jim comes from a playing background where he took his work ethic and love of tournament golf and applied it to become a standout Golf Professional. His knowledge of the game, it’s rules and traditions, are noticeable as he conducts his daily activities. In addition to overseeing the overall operation at Winchester, Jim is also a talented merchandiser and teacher.
“Being named the NEPGA Professional of the Year is the greatest honor of my professional career. I consider most Section awards as team victories. And I am so lucky to be a part of a tremendous Winchester CC golf staff. Together we create an incredible golf experience and I am sure this is the main reason why WE are being recognized with this great honor,” said Salinetti.
“I wouldn’t be half the PGA Professional I am today without the invaluable guidance from so many. It all started with the late Tom Sullivan. He taught me how to be a PGA Professional. Now, I do my best to interact with people the way he did. Always with a smile and ending every conversation with a ‘thank you’. So many other NEPGA Professionals have helped me along the way; Steve Napoli, Barry Westall, Chris Carpenter, and Brendan Walsh, just to name a few. And of course, I am so grateful to all those wonderful individuals who have been a part of our WCC team throughout the past 12 years,” he continued.
“I feel that in our business, if you treat others the same way you would like to be treated, you will be successful. Respect your staff. Be appreciative of their hard work. Listen to your membership, customers and students. And maybe most importantly, do whatever you can to help others accomplish their goals. Whether that is helping a student break 90 for the first time or mentoring an assistant to advance his or her career.”
Salinetti has served the Section on several occasions, first on the Membership and Communications committees from 2011-2013. He then served as the Chair of the Junior Golf committee from 2013-2017 and played a large role in the creation of the New England PGA’s Junior Tour Scholarship. He has hosted and led PGA Junior League educational events, NEPGA Junior Tour Banquets, college golf seminars, and Section Junior Golf Summits showing his dedication to growing the game.
Jim has also garnered award recognition at the Chapter and Section level in 2014, 2016, and 2020. He was the recipient of the 2014 Massachusetts Chapter Junior Golf Leader, 2015 New England Section Youth Player Development Award, 2016 Massachusetts Chapter Golf Professional of the Year, and the 2020 New England Section Bill Strausbaugh Award.
Salinetti is one of 12 individuals to earn recognition of their service and dedication to their profession as the NEPGA announced its full slate of 2023 award winners. The 2023 NEPGA award winners will be recognized at the annual Awards Dinner on Saturday, October 21, 2023, at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton, Mass.
The complete list of the 12 individuals recognized as 2023 NEPGA Award Winners includes:
Golf Professional of the Year: Jim Salinetti, PGA (Winchester CC)
Bill Strausbaugh Award: Barry Westall, PGA (Newport CC)
Professional Development Award: Steve Sheridan, PGA (Five Iron Golf)
George S Wemyss Award: Matt McDonald (Five Star Golf Cars)
Patriot Award: Abby Spector, PGA (Riverside GC)
Assistant Professional of the Year: Dustin Ribolini, PGA (The Quechee Club)
Teacher of the Year: Sean McTernan, PGA (Brae Burn CC)
Youth Player Development Award: David Moore, PGA (Squirrel Run)
Player Development Award: Kelli Kostick, PGA (Windham CC)
Merchandiser of the Year Resort: Vince Runyon, PGA (Mt. Washington Resort)
Merchandiser of the Year Public: Nick Tedeschi, PGA (Granite Links GC)
Merchandiser of the Year Private: Bryan Kienke, PGA (Cohassett GC)
The 2023 NEPGA award winners represent five of the Section’s six Chapters, including the Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire.
The 2023 Hall of Fame Class will also be recognized at the annual Awards Dinner. The four 2023 Hall of Fame inductees are:
Dave Hackney, PGA (Vesper Country Club) deceased
Frank Dully, PGA (Kernwood Country Club)
Jimmy Noris, PGA (Dedham Country & Polo Club)
Susan Bond, PGA (PGA Magazine)
“I would like extend my congratulations to all of our 2023 Award Winners and Hall of Fame inductees,” said NEPGA President, Mike Bradshaw, PGA. “These men and women have made an outstanding impact on not only their own clubs, but the NEPGA Section as a whole. We are so honored to have such a talented group of individuals in our Section, and we look forward to what the future has in store.”
Award winners are chosen through a selective process. After being nominated to the NEPGA Awards Committee and Board of Directors by a fellow PGA member, nominees complete and submit their application. The Awards Committee then reviews each application before making its recommendations to the NEPGA Board of Directors.
The NEPGA Golf Hall of Fame was established in 1996 by the NEPGA Executive Committee as a venue to pay tribute to those people whose life-time achievements and contributions to golf are such that they merit the highest possible recognition and honor from their peers and future generations of golfers.