BRASELTON, GA — This edition of the AJGA Trailblazers Spotlight Series highlights Beth Dockter, who served the American Junior Golf Association in a variety of ways for 25 years and now currently serves as the Director of Regional Advancement South Central for the University of Rochester.
Dockter “grew up at the AJGA” and attributes much of her professional and personal development to her time at the AJGA.
“I mean, you name it, the AJGA will teach it all in some shape, form or fashion, Yes, the AJGA runs golf tournaments, but I think that’s the vehicle used to develop the staff.”
Golf had always been a part of Dockter’s life, from competing in AJGA tournaments in high school to committing to the University of Kansas’s women’s golf program. So, as Dockter neared the end of her college career, participating in the AJGA’s summer traveling internship was a natural next step.
Dockter was hired full-time as a Tournament Director following her internship and after a year, she moved to the finance department. Eight weeks later, Dockter was promoted to the Vice President of Player Services.
Becoming the Vice President of Player Services less than two years after graduating college was “a little scary and intimidating,” but Dockter rose to the occasion. She stayed in the position for almost seven years, and during this time, along with the leadership team helped create and implement the “Performance Based Entry” (PBE) system in 2003 that is still used today.
Before PBE, Dockter described the process of filling tournament fields as “brutal,” and usually included her sorting through hundreds of paper resumes in the mail room. Dockter and a few AJGA staff members created the PBE system, which enables members to earn their way into AJGA tournaments based on performances at the national, regional and state levels.
“Being able to be a part of kicking off Performance Based Entry was really exciting,” Dockter said.
Dockter’s next endeavor was becoming one of the very first Regional Directors at the AJGA. After a few years in this role, Dockter’s life began to look different after she got married and had children. Dockter joined the Foundation, and looking back, she said this was her favorite department she worked in at the AJGA.
Dockter hoped to decrease her hours to that of a part-time employee to better navigate a new set of responsibilities at home. Executive Director Stephen Hamblin granted this request under one condition: she had to come up with a revenue generating program.
Again, Dockter faced this challenge head-on, and from this Leadership Links was born. Introduced in 2009, Leadership Links is a program within the AJGA in which junior golfers raise money for a charity of their choosing as well as the Liberty National ACE Grant.
“Leadership Links was my baby. After six months of coming up with a lot of different ideas, we landed on Leadership Links. That’s probably one of the things I’m most proud of at the AJGA was getting that up and running and watching it grow."
Dockter said the biggest hurdle was “getting people to buy into the vision.” But through persistence and hard work, Dockter made the program a success. Since its inception in 2009, more than 4,650 juniors have volunteered for over 50,000 hours and raised more than $7.2 million for charity.
Dockter also created the AJGA “Wellness Program,” a company-sponsored program intended to keep the AJGA staff mentally and physically healthy. The program has now evolved to facilitate office-wide smoothie bars, yoga sessions and resources that encourage personal and professional growth within the surrounding communities.
“The AJGA is a special place to be able to do that. If you have ideas, I always tell people just go and run with them and put them down on paper and see what you can make of it."
Dockter said Hamblin’s leadership throughout her 25-year tenure at the AJGA shaped her experience at the organization. Through each of her big ideas, from PBE to Leadership Links to the Wellness Program, Hamblin was a part of the brainstorming and implementation process.
“Stephen was a great mentor,” Dockter said. “I’m so proud to have worked with Stephen. I will always be proud of being one of his mentees.”
The AJGA and Dockter’s relationship was mutually beneficial. The introduction of new, creative ideas and Dockter’s optimistic leadership style elevated the AJGA to new heights. In turn, Dockter gained important professional and interpersonal skills to carry forward with her in everything she does.
“I’m happy that I had a small part in helping make the AJGA what it is today and to be a part of such an amazing organization,” Dockter said.
