East Coast Pride
So it’s no surprise that when Dallas Desjardins was named the 2011 Murray Tucker Golf Professional of the Year, the outpouring from his fellow PGA Professionals from the Atlantic Zone was phenomenal.
“You wouldn’t believe all the phone calls and congratulatory emails I’ve been getting from everyone out here in the eastern provinces,” Desjardins says. “As you can well imagine, it’s a very tight knit zone.”
Born in Saskatoon, Desjardins spent his early years on a farm in the Prairies, far from the seaside golf courses in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.
It was in high school when he caught the golf bug, strolling the fairways with his father who was a single digit player.
During his grade 11 year, his interest in the possibilities about pursuing golf as career was heightened.
“Back in my grade 11 year, my math teacher came to me with a pamphlet for Holland College’s golf program,” Desjardins says. “So, that really peaked interest in taking my love for the game to the next level.”
Upon completion of grade 12, he picked up anchor and headed east to Charlottetown, enrolling in the Golf Club Management program at Holland College. He would graduate from the program in 1999 (and ironically, spent his internship in’98 at Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge Golf Club working for 2010 Golf Professional of the Year, Alan Carter), but admits he never had intentions on actually being a golf professional.
“I took the first two years at Holland College and I never thought about becoming a professional because I was more interested in becoming a golf course architect,” he says. “So I came back to Saskatoon and worked on the grounds crew at Riverside Country Club and learned a lot about agronomy.”
“But I soon figured out it was a tough profession to earn a living, so I headed back to Holland College and finished up the third year of the program.”
In 2002, not only did Desjardins graduate from Holland College with a diploma in Golf Business Management, he passed his playability test as well.
His first inside golf job saw Desjardins land in Cavendish, P.E.I., and or five years he was truly a jack-of-all-trades at the Eagles Glenn Golf Course. Desjardins started out learning pro shop operations, teaching and designing brochures and marketing lesson packages.
Knowing he wanted to manage a entire facility one day, Desjardins started working for the banquet department of the Delta Prince Edward to gain experience in food and beverage.
When opportunity came knocking in the spring of 2007, Desjardins headed to New Brunswick and began working for Alan Howie at Fredericton Golf Club.
“I can’t emphasize this enough, but Alan Howie opened a ton of doors for me,” Desjardins says. “He let me take on tasks like inventory, payroll and purchasing all in the first year.”
“By my second year I was pretty much doing everything—all thanks to a great boss who let me take the reins and run with them.”
That same year he wrote his Class ‘A’ exam and received word that Summerside Golf Club back in P.E.I. was looking for a general manager.
“I wasn’t sure about applying for the Summerside position, but Allan said I should definitely give it a shot.”
February 2009 was a particularly good month for Desjardins—he landed the GM job at Summerside and learned he had won the 2008 Tex Noble Award which is given annually to the person who earns the highest mark on the Canadian PGA Class ‘A’ accreditation exam, the final threshold in earning the CPGA Class ‘A’ Professional designation.
Entering his third year at Summerside, Desjardins has made a substantial mark on not only his golf club, but on golf in the Martimes as well.
His junior program now has close to 140 members (more than 100 more than when he started) and initiated a beginner ladies program, which has seen almost 75 ladies through since its inception.
“The ownership group here at Summerside was eager to try new things to increase play at the club,” Desjardins says. “And over the past couple years I think we’ve done some great things to get people playing.”
Desjardins also sponsors a local school as part of Golf Canada's National Golf in Schools program and uses the same equipment for an after school program at the local Boys and Girls Club where more 60 kids participate every winter.
Furthermore, he’s also helped build the Boys and Girls Club Tournament into a major event on the island with 44 teams participating and raising over $40,000 per year.
Away from the golf course, Desjardins runs the Maritime Tour with his role as PGA of Canada Atlantic Captain after a short stint as education chair. He’s also the chair of NAGA PEI, which is currently battling an unfair tax issue on the island akin to the federal lobby efforts in Ottawa.
When you look at everything Desjardins is doing for golf at Summerside Golf Club and for golf in the Maritime provinces, it’s easy to see why he was named the 2011 Murray Tucker Golf Professional of the Year, which is of course one of the highest honours the Association can bestow on a working club professional whose total contributions to the game best exemplify the complete PGA of Canada Professional.
It’s also pretty easy to see why his fellow Atlantic Zone members have rallied around him as well.
“This award is really for all the PGA of Canada professionals out here in the Maritimes who are doing great things at their clubs,” Desjardins says, adding, “like I said, we really are a small, tight-knit group who all get behind each other.”