Ryan Kesten - 2016 Resume

Ryan Robert Kesten

31 Mason Street, Somerville, MA 02144
Phone (508) 776-4705 E-Mail [email protected]

OBJECTIVE: To be a strong leader and club ambassador at a premier golf facility as the
head golf professional, utilizing business, communication, and exceptional management
skills.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Vesper Country Club, Tyngsboro, MA Jan 1st, 2014 – Present

Vesper Country club is a private 18 hole facility located in the Merrimack Valley with nine

holes located on an island in the Merrimack River and nine on the mainland. The

membership plays approximately 26,000 rounds of golf by a membership of 400.

1st Assistant Golf Professional
• Responsible for the hiring, management, budget and scheduling of all ten
outside operations staff personnel, along with scheduling the entire staff of PGA
professionals, apprentices and intern.
• Marketing and Membership committee board member for two seasons.
• Created three, six week long womens clinic programs with over 100 participants
in total throughout the 18 weeks.
• Increased the number of teaching hours at the club from 40 hours to 130 hours
of instruction in three seasons.
• Tournament director for all mens, womens, and corporate events, this includes
recruitment of players via personal conversations and weekly club emails to the
membership.
• Revamped the entire golf portion of the website to be more user friendly and
provide better information with regard to the golf department and our offerings.
By engaging them with a more visually stimulating experience they are more apt
to use it throughout the season to signup for events and see recent event photos.
• Utilized Golf Genius software to enhance the member’s experience with live
scoring.
• Golf shop manager, responsible for all invoices, special orders, inventory levels,
and open to buy plans.
• Innovated and implemented tournament video montages for all major golf
events, and other club events, using an IPAD and my movie app. Here are a
couple of the events, 2016 Spring Classic, Women's Cities Tournament, Vesper
Swim Meet Championships.
• Attended weekly meetings with the general manager and superintendent to
learn how we can better communicate and serve the membership.
• Assisted in developing a pace of play management program for the first time in
club history.
• Increased participation in all ladies & mens clinics from 30 to 100 individuals
by offering fun and attractive programming.

• Experienced club fitter using Trackman and Flightscope devices for both fitting
and instruction.

• Maintained excellent working relationships with all sales representatives to be
able to better serve the membership.

• Designed a six-week junior program for age groups 6-8, 9-10, 10-12, 13-14
integrating golf specific drills, motor skills and hand eye coordination drills to
better develop an athlete.

• Introduced appointment plus to Vesper as a way for members to book lesson
online and manage staff.

The Hartford Golf Club, West Hartford, CT 2009- 2013

The Harford Golf Club is a private 27-hole facility located in West Hartford, CT with a

approximately 23,000 rounds of golf played by a membership of 1,079.

1st Assistant Golf Professional
• Responsible for the managing and scheduling a golf staff of 19 that includes
four PGA Professionals, two PGA apprentices and 13 seasonal employees.
• Innovated and implemented custom video presentation for all major golf
tournaments, outing and club events using photography, video and music with
IMovie and IDVD software. Here are a few of the events, Hartford Golf Club -
Fireworks, Men's Three Day Member Guest
• Pioneered the design and creation of custom artwork of the golf club.
• Improved interactions with member committees and facility staff to implement
a more professional and efficient golf operation.
• Dedicated a daily communication with clubhouse staff to improve outstanding
customer service to all members and guests.
• Oversaw the running and operation of over 90 events for all the mens and
ladies tournaments, which included the recruitment of members and guests on
a daily basis through personal conversations, email and telephone
communication.
• Lead the ladies nine hole association as professional captain for 2013 by
organizing and conducting tournaments and maintaining the budget.
• Maintained communication with all three departments at the club on a daily
basis regarding the golf department’s involvement and needs from the food and
beverage and grounds departments.
• Revised the open to buy plan with head golf professional each season, which
increased golf shop sales from $390,000 to $550,000 from 2010 - 2013 through
proper vendor selection and above and beyond customer service.
• Worked closely with the head golf professional in monitoring the golf operation
budget on a weekly basis.
• Oversaw the daily operation and teaching of ten weeks of junior golf schools
and seven weeks of golf clinics.
• Instructed over 140 hours of private individual and group lessons for all ages
and abilities per year, using video and other training ads to assist my students in
learning proper fundamentals.
• Encouraged tournament participation in local events by inviting members to
play in section pro-am’s and representing the club in individual events.
• Certified Titleist and Taylormade club fitter with the knowledge and experience
in using Trackman for fitting and instruction.
• Revamped the organization and productivity of the club repair services.

• Preformed daily proactive golf course ranger duties to facilitate a consistent
pace of play, by managing groups playing styles and preference of speed to
properly stage a golf course for play.

• Assisted in the creation of monthly club bulletin by providing golf specific
articles and pictures from club events.

• Trained, educated, and mentored new employees as part of their professional
development, while maintaining a fair and consistent work environment for all

staff members.

• Responsible for interviewing and evaluation of possible future employees for
the golf department.

• Maintained good working relationships with our sales representatives.
• Attended both regional merchandise shows and the PGA Merchandise show in

Orlando to establish buying plans and stay current on industry trends.

• Coordinated with corporate event organizers to help administer their events
from inception to completion, ranging from 24 – 220 players.

• U.S. Kids certified instructor.

The Wanderers Club Wellington, Wellington, FL Winters 2007-2011

The Wanderers Club is a first class private facility west of West Palm Beach. Peter
Jacobsen and Jim Hardy redesigned the golf course in 2007.

1st Assistant Golf Professional
• Established the club as a one of the premier private facilities in the West Palm
Beach area through above and beyond customer service and acting as an
ambassador for the club while attending events outside of the club.
• Created comprehensive operation and procedure policies during the inaugural
season for the use in training future employees.
• Lead professional for the two largest tournaments at the club, which included
the organization and recruitment of members, assigning duties to professional
staff, and communication with all departments regarding their involvement.
• Implemented team-building activities for all employees in the golf department
to keep high moral and a positive work environment.
• Responsible for inventory controls and coding of invoices toward the budget.
• Trained new professionals on the proper way to use TPP software for running a
tournament.
• Developed and planned a season long golf clinic schedule for both men and
women beginner golfers.
• Oversaw the daily operation of the outside services department, providing them
with important information to exceed member and guests expectations.

The Weston Golf Club, Weston, MA Summers 2006-2008

The Weston Golf Club is a private 18-hole facility located west of Boston with

approximately 19,000 rounds played by a golfing membership of over 350.

1st Assistant Golf Professional

• Organized 41 mens and 27 ladies tournaments at the club, while assisting in the
preparation and running of over 60 other club and outing events.

• Responsible for reporting payroll on a weekly basis and scheduling a staff of
eight golf employees.

• Ladies eighteen hole professional captain for two seasons to assist in their
planning of current and future events, purchasing prizes, and recruitment of
players.

• Maintained the golf shop inventory using Pro-Shop Keeper and monitored all
invoices.

• Trained seasonal employees as a part of their professional development.
• Taught weekly spring, summer, and fall junior golf clinics of twenty or more

students per sessions, along with private and group lessons for all ages.

• Assisted with daily golf shop sales for members and large corporate events with
yearly sales exceeding $500,000.

• Introduced slide show movies for tournament to increase the level of service
and expectation for every major golf event.

Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club, Palm Harbor, FL Winter 2006

Innisbrook Resort is the host of the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship. The property has

four championship style golf courses and first class amenities in all of their 620 hotel

rooms.

Assistant Golf Professional
• Assisted member and guests upon their arrival to the club and walked all guests through their
daily schedule for all resort activities and locations.
• Prepped the facility in the morning for the day’s play by setting up and staging all guests bags
prior to arrival an shuttling all players to and from the range prior to their rounds.
• Performed golf shop duties of sales and guest booking on all golf courses.

Brae Burn Country Club, West Newton, MA Summer 2005

Brae Burn Country Club is a 27-hole facility located outside of Boston. The club was

founded in 1897 and designed by Donald Ross.

Assistant Golf Professional (Internship)

TPC of Tampa Bay, Lutz, FL Summer 2003

TPC of Tampa Bay is an 18-Hole daily fee facility that opened in 1991. It is also the host

site of the Champions Tour’s Pro-Am since 1992.

Outside Operations (Internship)

Olde Barnstable Golf Course, Marstons Mills, MA 1999-2004

Olde Barnstable Fairgrounds Golf Course opened in 1992 and is a municipal owned

facility.

Golf Shop (Internship-2004)
Outside Operations (Internship 1999- 2002)

PLAYING ABILITY

• Wins
o 2014 Assistant Association 1st Annual Ryder Cup - Champion
o 2013 Connecticut Bermuda Pro – Am Championship Champion
o 2008 NEPGA Assistants Pro-Pro Match Play; Concord CC

• NEPGA, CTPGA & Assistants Tournaments
o Tied 13th Place 2010 CTPGA Assistants Championship; Lake of Isles

GC

o Tied 10th Place 2013 CTPGA Del Kinney Pro-Pro Championship,

Longmeadow CC
o Tied 42nd Place 2009 CT State Open
o 2nd Place 2008 NEPGA Assistants Stroke Play; Brae Burn CC
o 12th Place 2008 NEPGA Pro-Pro Stroke Play; Mount Pleasant CC
o 6th Place 2007 NEPGA Assistants Tour Championship; Kernwood CC

EDUCATION Methodist University Fayetteville, NC
2001-2005

B.S., Business Administration with a concentration in:
Professional Golf Management

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
PGA of America Class “A” Member
NEPGA Assistants Association – Vice President 2015-2016
NEPGA Assistants Association – Treasurer 2014-15
CTPGA Assistants Association – Secretary - 2013

REFERENCES

Stephen Doyle Brian Higgins
Head Professional General Manager
Vesper Country Club The Hartford Golf Club
185 Pawtucket Blvd 134 Norwood Road
Tyngsboro, MA West Hartford, CT
978-459-3070 860-523-0153
[email protected] [email protected]

Tom Thornton David Allen
Vesper Country Club The Hartford Golf Club
978-454-9814 860-978-1179
[email protected]
  [email protected]

 
Cheryl
 Popp
  Justin Thompson
Women’s
 Committee
  Director of Golf
Vesper
 Country
 Club
  The Wanderers Club
978-­‐846-­‐3863
  1900 Aero Club Drive
[email protected]
  Wellington, FL
561-795-3510
Joseph Connerton [email protected]
Head Professional
The Hartford Golf Club Adam Hemeon
134 Norwood Road Head Professional
West Hartford, CT The Weston Golf Club
860-523-0153 275 Meadowbrook Road
[email protected] Weston, MA
781-894-9019
[email protected]