Professionals of Impact in the Nebraska PGA
Emil Beck, PGA – The Founder of PGA Business Schools
Written by Bob Denney | Historian Emeritus – PGA of America
Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, July 31, 1907, Emil Beck would become one of the most impactful and yet unsung figures in PGA of America educational history.
Emil revealed an early interest in golf and spent a seven-year apprenticeship as club maker and assistant professional at the Lincoln Country Club leading to his 20th birthday.
Elected to PGA membership in 1924, he served four years as club professional at Eastridge CC in Lincoln, while also taking courses in Agronomy and Turf Culture at the University of Nebraska.
The Great Depression of the 1930’s cost Emil the Eastridge job but he kept busy repairing clubs and teaching for a year until he landed a job as professional of the Dundee Golf Club in Omaha, Nebraska. Five years later, he began a four-year stint at the Soo Golf Club in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
In 1940, he came to Port Huron and Black River Country Club, an association that lasted 25 years.
Working with Fred “Pop” Riggin, Port Huron’s leading golf personality, and Fred Vincent, long time sports editor of the Times Herald, Emil made Black River Country Club available to high school golf teams, free of charge. He championed the encouragement of young people, both boys and girls, to play golf under good playing conditions, with good instruction and during autumn months.
From 1951-52, as president of the Michigan PGA Section, Emil convinced other club professionals in other cities to adopt his ideas and soon golfing opportunities opened up for young golfers across the state.
Port Huron Junior College, under the coaching of first Chet Aubuchon and later Sam Kromer, soon was included in the program and produced golfers strong enough to compete at the national level.
Emil was elected to PGA membership in 1924, and in addition to holding PGA Life Membership would become a Life Member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.
He served two terms as President and five terms as Secretary-Treasurer of the Michigan PGA. He was elected the 1961 Michigan Golf Professional of the Year. He also served four years as chair of the PGA Educational Committee, and four terms as chair of the PGA Management committee.
Emil was the founder, national committee chair, and an 11-year director of the PGA Business School, which started in 1956 as the Dunedin Educational and Professional Training Program.
Emil also began an Assistants Training Program, heading a group of instructors. According to author Herb Graffis in his book, The PGA, (1975), the assistants’ fees were low, “but it was a distinctly successful beginning for the PGA’s organized educational campaign.
“The fundamental concept was that a pro handles his job according to the competence and spirit of his assistant. It wasn’t possible for the Master Professional, with all he had to do, to devote the attention he desired to the education of his employees.”
The school at Dunedin and Clearwater, Florida, hadn’t been operating long before it had as students successful professionals who admitted that the refresher would help them.”
He was recipient of the 1975 Horton Smith trophy (today’s PGA Professional Development Award) for contributions to education.
Emil and his wife left Port Huron for Florida in 1967, when they moved to Rolling Green Golf Club in Sarasota.
Emil Beck died on August 20, 1990, leaving an impact wherever he went in golf. He was a 1981 inductee into the Port Huron Sports Hall of Fame and in 2015 inducted into the Michigan PGA Hall of Fame.
About the Nebraska Section PGA
The Nebraska Section PGA is a non-for-profit organization comprised of over 340 PGA Members and PGA Associates who strive to promote the enjoyment and growth of the game of golf. The Nebraska Section PGA encompasses the entire State of Nebraska, western fifth of Iowa and a small portion of South Dakota including Dakota Dunes and Yankton. The Section office is located in Lincoln, NE and acts as a resource for local and national golf information for the golf professional and amateur player alike. Our members are often referred to as “Club Professionals”, not to be mistaken as PGA Tour Professionals.
Each Nebraska Section PGA Professional serves as an expert in the ever-changing business of golf. They are the leading expert players and teachers, skilled business managers, community leaders, and superior merchandisers who have dedicated their careers to the local delivery of these services.