By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
Since attaining PGA membership in 2014, Zach Abels has been the Rocky Mountain PGA Section Youth Player Development Award winner twice, the Player Development Award winner twice, Teacher of the Year twice, and the 2023 Section Golf Professional of the Year. He earned his first Golf Range Association of America (GRAA) Growth of the Game Teaching Professional Award in 2025 and has been a member of the PGA of America’s Player Development Junior Committee (2022) and the PGA Coach Programs Committee (2025).
“I am fortunate to be the head pro at the first golf course I ever played,” Abels tells us. “It’s been a full circle journey, and now I’m back home. My involvement with two PGA national committees and extensive ADM education have been game-changers in my career.”
Zach Abels is the PGA of America Head Golf Professional at Canyon Springs Golf Course in Twin Falls, Idaho. He started playing golf right there in Twin Falls when he was eight years old. His early days in golf were supported by his mom getting him to the golf course and the input of PGA of America Head Golf Professional, Mike Hamblin, the multi-award-winning pro at Blue Lakes Country Club in Twin Falls. His grandparents would also share in getting him to the golf course and his stepfather helped drive his passion for the game.
“I remember playing three-hole competitions as a kid that were always followed by a hot dog and a soda,” Abels recalls. “I played against Troy Merritt back then and have been privileged to aid in his PGA Tour career as a caddie on several occasions. My whole experience with golf has been pretty unbelievable from a community standpoint. Having a best friend on the PGA Tour has been a huge asset in my own progression through the industry.”
Abels also credits his success to surrounding himself with very positive people, and is still in awe of the fact that he has made golf a career and has attained such accolades and accomplishments in the game.
“My stepdad promised a trip to Pebble Beach if I worked hard and got my handicap down to 10 by the time I was 15 years old,” says Abels. “I believe I got it all the way down to scratch at that early age.”
Abels says playing Pebble Beach the week after Tiger won the U.S. Open was inspirational and motivational. This opportunity jump-started his life in golf. He practiced all the time and called himself a range rat. Those role models — mom, grandpa, his stepdad and Hamblin — all encouraged him to practice the things that nobody else practiced.
“I hit wedge shots all the time…all different yardages,” Abels says. “I always loved that and carried it over to the coaching of my golfers and mentorship of the young professionals who have worked under me at Canyon Springs. That trip to Pebble Beach and the people around me motivated me to do the things that might not have always been fun.”
Abels back in his college days
Abels played golf in high school and had success before heading to Montana State University – Billings. He worked at Blue Lakes for Matt Stottern during the summers and then went south to The Silverleaf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, for the winter. It was Stottern who registered Abels for his PGA Playing Ability Test (PAT) and schooled him on the process of becoming a PGA of America Golf Professional. He passed on his first try and had a Nike staff bag, a driver and a new set of irons waiting for him back home.
Abels signed on at Canyon Springs in 2011 and became a PGA of America Member on his birthday in 2014. After climbing the ladder at Canyon Springs, Abels became the PGA of America Head Golf Professional, leading the golf operations team and helping his students get better at golf every day.
“Canyon Springs is as public as it gets,” Abels describes, “which is a bit different than how I started. Canyon Springs is where I hit the first golf shots of my life, so it’s only fitting that my career would blossom at the same place as my passion for the game itself.”
The job that Abels viewed as a building block, a step up the ladder a decade and a half ago, has led to a substantial junior golf program, Section awards, national governance and a stellar golf career. As his programming flourished, the McCollum family, facility owners, have always been supportive of his efforts to grow the game and the business at Canyon Springs. He has created a welcoming and supportive environment, inviting junior program graduates to return and mentor the younger kids in the program. He says there are kids of all ages around his facility all the time, as well as a huge ladies’ league, a large men’s league and even dogs on the course that make everyone smile regardless of how they’re playing that day. Inclusivity and fun are the name of the game as far as Abels is concerned. He says the lengths of the dress code at Canyon Springs dictate that men at least have to wear sleeves on their shirts. After all, you have to draw the line somewhere!
Abels commented on the fact that although junior golf builds a foundation for the future, he and his GM, Brandon Otte, also a PGA of America Golf Professional, see the value in that programming today. The kids eat, buy balls and bring mom and dad to the course, further building that community. Abels appreciates the support he’s received from Otte throughout their time together at Canyon Springs.
“Our junior program has introduced many adult players and sold a lot of family season passes,” Abels states. “Our junior program has produced more adult golfers than we give ourselves credit for.”
Abels says he missed attending the PGA Show only one time since he’s been in the business and cites the impact that networking has on a golf professional’s career, and his in particular.
“I’m not there to order for the golf shop. For me, it’s 99 percent networking and engaging with others in our Association through my national committee connections,” he explains.
With the PGA Show fresh in his mind, I asked Abels about trends in our industry. How he keeps up with them on a national level, as well as how they pertain to his customers back home.
“With the cost of golf sometimes presenting a barrier to entry, my family and I formed the Magic Valley Junior Golf Foundation as an outlet to provide opportunities to learn and play for many young golfers in our area. Through fundraising efforts, we have been able to keep golf available year-round, provide college scholarships and introduce kids to some of the best teaching technology in the game, giving them a leg up on golf in high school or college, as well as a potential career someday.”
He says availability and opportunity are the pillars of growing the game, a trend in golf that is always at the forefront of what we do as PGA of America Golf Professionals.
“My mom, stepdad and I formed the foundation in 2014 as a way of giving back to the game and our community,” Abels shares. “The foundation is based at Canyon Springs and has helped keep instruction and play affordable and accessible for kids of all ages.”
As a result, Abels’ PGA Junior League program has a special area of the range at Canyon Springs dedicated to them. He has 60 golfers between his 13U and 17U in-house leagues.
Abels has leveraged the support he received at home as a kid, at his facilities when just starting out and at Canyon Springs from his course’s ownership, to become a true mentor and leader, not just in Twin Falls but in our industry at large. It will be exciting to see what comes next. What’s his next chapter? We’ll share that here as one of our newest GRAA Growth of the Game Teaching Professionals shares it with us.
For more information about Canyon Springs Golf Course, log on to their website today, and go to Facebook to learn more about the MV Junior Golf Foundation.
