PGA Professional Dan Harrington of Des Moines, Wash. has been named the new head golf professional at The Home Course, located in DuPont, Wash. He began his new position on January 1, 2015.
Harrington has 11 years’ experience as a PGA head golf professional, first as the head pro at Fairwood Golf & Country Club in Renton, Wash. and then as the PGA head golf professional at Meadow Park GC in Tacoma, Wash. He was instrumental at Meadow Park, a 27-hole publicly-owned facility, in creating player development programs, youth programs, and introducing Foot Golf as an activity at the course.
“We are really excited to have Dan Harrington as our new PGA Head Golf Professional at The Home Course,” said Troy Andrew, CEO of The Home Course. “Other than Dan’s many years of experience and several accolades, he is a proven leader, forward thinker, and is highly respected in the golf community. His expertise will greatly assist us in all that we want to accomplish at The Home Course.” Andrew is also the CEO and executive director of the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA) and the Washington State Golf Association (WSGA), which cooperatively owns and operates The Home Course.
During his tenure at Meadow Park, Harrington began to establish his reputation as a leader in the golf industry. He was selected as the Western Washington Chapter PGA Junior Golf Leader Award recipient in 2005, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014; and in 2011 was selected as the Section’s Junior Golf Leader Award recipient for the entire Pacific Northwest. He was also the golf coach at Clover Park High School in Lakewood, Wash. for eight years.
Harrington is currently the Western Washington Chapter PGA president, and is one of the industry’s forerunners in growing the game.
“I think I’m a proven leader in junior programs,” Harrington said. “I’m able to hang my hat on being able to bring young people to the game, kids who had no previous exposure to it.”
Harrington sees his short term goal in his new role at The Home is to prepare the course for the buzz surrounding the 2015 U.S. Open. “A lot of people will be coming to town, and a lot of them will be playing golf while they’re here. The Home Course is such a fantastic place, and located so close to Chambers Bay, it will be a great opportunity to show everyone what it is and what’s going on here.”
Also one of Harrington’s first tasks will be to hire an assistant golf professional. “I’m looking forward to being able to start a new chapter in the history of The Home Course,” he said.
Harrington graduated from Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. in 1991 with a degree in business communications. He played on the golf team all four years while attending the university.
As head professional, Harrington replaces Ron Hagen, who is retiring. Hagen, a longtime fixture in the region’s golf industry and a member of the Pacific Northwest Section PGA Hall of Fame, has been at The Home Course since its opening in June 2007, and guided the new course through its start-up phases. Hagen will stay connected with The Home Course in a temporary part-time consulting position, dividing his time between Arizona and his home in DuPont, Wash.
Each year, The Home Course serves as the venue for some WSGA and PNGA championships and USGA national championship local and sectional qualifiers. It was the companion course for the 2010 U.S. Amateur Championship at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash., and was the site of the 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship. The course has also hosted the 2010 Sahalee Players Championship, and in 2013 it hosted the NCAA Division II Men’s West/South Central Regional. The Home Course was designed by Mike Asmundson.
The course is open to the public, and has developed a reputation for its championship-quality conditions at affordable green fees.
The Home Course will eventually house the offices of the WSGA, PNGA and USGA activities in the Northwest, as well as other allied golf associations. It will be a home for junior golf programs, environmental stewardship and turfgrass research.