Domenzain honored as 2015 AJGA General Manager of the Year
Vince Domenzain, General Manager at Centennial Golf Club, has been named the General Manager of the Year by the American Junior Golf Association. This award honors the general manager who displays unwavering support of the AJGA and junior golf by creating a memorable tournament experience for players, families, staff and volunteers.
Each year, the AJGA presents awards to the tournaments with the best individual hospitality, Junior-Am fundraising tournament, charitable giving and volunteer base. Awards are also given to the events with the highest media and social media participation. Finally, the AJGA recognizes the year’s most outstanding golf professional, superintendent and general manager, as well as the most improved event, best new event, best Junior All-Star tournament, best Invitational and overall tournament of the year. Tournament awards for the 2015 season will be presented on-site at 2016 tournaments.
“To be recognized by the AJGA is a great honor,” Domenzain said. “The staff and I always look forward to hosting this event every year because we want to do what we can for the advancement of junior golf and to be recognized for those efforts makes it even more satisfying.”
Domenzain and his staff at Centennial Golf Club have hosted the AJGA since 2010, and they approach each event with the goal to improve the experience from the year before.
One of Domenzain’s first ideas was to create a new function that coincides with Players Registration called a Parents Reception. Domenzain and his staff have worked with local food and beverage distributors to provide a unique experience for the parents while the players register and meet.
“We have created several unique events that really add to the enjoyment of the AJGA tournament,” Domenzain said. “We created the reception to provide the parents with a chance to experience some of our local fare along with listening to some local music. The parents appreciate the local hospitality and look forward to this event every year.”
Domenzain and his work within the Medford community help provide players with a great experience. One of the highlights of the tournament is the unique social activity Putt-a-Pear. The fun competition utilizes one of the Medford’s most sought-after commodities – pears.
“The Medford area is known for its local pears with it being the home of fruit supplier Harry and David,” Domenzain said. “The juniors are challenged with an event that ends with trying to putt a pear into a large cup, and the players and parents really get into the atmosphere of the competition. Everyone really enjoys it.”
Domenzain dedicates time throughout the year interacting with the local golf community in an effort to raise funds for the tournament and the AJGA’s Achieving Competitive Exellence (ACE) Grant and helping to form teams for the Junior-Am Fundraising Tournament played each year prior to the event.
It is a difficult job, but according to Domenzain, one that pays off in watching the best national junior golfers play Centennial Golf Club.
“The combination of the finest tournament event coordination by the AJGA staff and the high quality golf that is played is such a pleasure to witness,” Domenzain said. “To witness the players perform at such a high level and then to see them elevate their games in major junior events, USGA events, college and beyond is a very gratifying result.”
The AJGA Junior at Centennial will return to the 2016 schedule July 25-28.