By Molly Cooper, PGA
When I was a young junior golfer, I loved competitive golf. My dad got my sister and me playing at an early age. We started traveling all over the state, later the country, playing competitive golf before we left middle school.
By the age of 15, I was ranked nationally and was ranked third in the country a year later. We moved to Arizona to play high school golf at Xavier Prep (ranked first in the country) so I could play golf year-round. I then played collegiate golf for Arizona State University, which was my dream from the age of 11.
After graduating, I earned a full-time card at the LPGA Futures School to play professionally, but realized partway through my first season that I didn’t want to play for a living. I started working for the Arizona Women’s Golf Association before returning home in the spring of 2004 to start working as the Tournament Assistant for the Pacific Northwest PGA Section. I fell in love with tournament operations and got promoted to Director of Tournament Operations five months after I started with the PNW PGA.
I earned my PGA Membership in two years while falling more in love with tournament ops and serving our amazing membership. We have about 500 PGA of America Golf Professionals and approximately 300 amateurs who play in our events annually. Approximately 15 years ago, I added to my job responsibilities by overseeing our Membership program, which consists of 1,300 PNW PGA Professionals.
Working for a Section office is incredible! We get to serve our professionals as they earn their PGA Membership, as they excel in their disciplines and win Special Awards for being the best in the Section in their respective areas, like Teaching, Youth Development, Rules of Golf, Player Development, etc. Each professional is on a different journey in the PGA, and my team and I get to help them along the way.
Our Section runs an amazing Education Department. When COVID hit in 2020, we got creative and developed a free Stay Involved Webinar online series to keep everyone connected with different education opportunities. Our series has grown as we run approximately 30-35 sessions during our off-season (October-late February). We currently have 28 sessions scheduled for the upcoming winter 2025-2026 season in a wide variety of topics. We also revitalized our two-day Mentoring Conference two years ago which sells out every November and has an extraordinary lineup every year.
Our tournament program is impressive. With about 20 events scheduled each year, they usually fill up quickly and have waiting lists established within hours of the tournament entry opening. Some of our events raise funds for incredible local charities that we are proud to support.
Five years ago, I created a Section-wide PNW PGA 100-Hole Marathon where you can play sometime in the spring, on the day and course you want to, raising funds and recognition for whatever charity you are most passionate about. We have a site in the Western Washington Chapter that hosts a group of 28 players every year. In the five years of the Section-wide Marathon, we have raised $390,000 for about 60 different charities.
I love working for the Pacific Northwest! I get to meet incredible sponsors, professionals, golf course superintendents and amateurs on the road while running events. We get to help other PGA of America Golf Professionals while they are on their journey within the PGA. I have worked in the same office for almost 22 years because I found a home and a passion that I love, with a spectacular team and wonderful individuals whom I get to see week after week on the road. The hours are long in the golf business. I travel approximately 100-120 days annually, but when you love what you do, it is fulfilling!
Molly Cooper is the Senior Director, Tournament & Member Services at the Pacific NW PGA Section, a role she has held proudly since 2004. Molly attained PGA Membership in 2008 and has since earned PGA Certified Professional honors in Player Development, General Management and Golf Operations.
