PGA OF AMERICA EXTENDS CONTRACT OF CEO PETE BEVACQUA THROUGH 2024
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (Nov. 3, 2017) – The PGA of America today announced the extension of CEO Pete Bevacqua’s contract through December 2024. Bevacqua has served as CEO since November 2012, and his current contract was set to expire at the end of 2021. The PGA Board of Directors approved the extension at the 101st PGA Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas.
Bevacqua guides the decisions and overall strategy of one of the world’s largest sports organizations, serving the Association’s nearly 29,000 PGA Professionals. Under his leadership, the PGA designed and implemented a long-term strategic plan, focused on the Association’s mission to serve the PGA Member and grow the game.
The plan outlines the PGA’s strategic vision and eight core Member-focused and business-related initiatives. It also defines the PGA’s constant pursuit of excellence and commitment to innovation and collaboration, the teamwork and talent exhibited in its culture, and a devotion to diversity and inclusion throughout the Association’s programs and practices.
Earlier this year, Bevacqua steered the announcement that the PGA Championship will be conducted annually in May for the first time in 70 years, beginning in 2019. The new May date positions the PGA Championship for continued growth, by providing a strong landing spot on the golf calendar, access to world-class venues in new regions of the country and a consistent major championships rhythm that golf fans can embrace from April to July.
“With tremendous leadership and professionalism, Pete Bevacqua has furthered the PGA’s mission and guided our vision for the future,” said PGA President Paul Levy. “Pete is highly respected throughout the golf industry and the business world. The PGA of America is proud to call him our CEO, as he is devoted to our Members and ensuring that the game of golf extends its reach to everyone.”
This dedication is illustrated by the recent creation of the Association’s first-ever Chief Membership Officer position to oversee the core PGA Member-focused areas of the organization, including PGA Education, Employment, Member Services and Section Business Operations. Bevacqua’s focus also includes enhanced Career Services for PGA Members, highlighted by a significant expansion to 18 Career Counselors nationwide.
In addition, Bevacqua has spearheaded the growth of PGA REACH, the charitable foundation of the PGA of America, and its three key pillars of Youth, Military and Diversity & Inclusion. This includes the successful expansion of PGA Jr. League Golf, which grew this year to a record 42,000 boys and girls; the outreach of PGA HOPE (Helping Our Patriots Everywhere) to enhance the physical, mental, social and emotional well-being of veterans with disabilities; and the development of PGA WORKS to promote workforce diversity in golf.
“I am honored to have received this extension, and am incredibly grateful to our Officers, our Board, our PGA Members around the country and my fellow staff members,” said Bevacqua. “I very much look forward to working well into the future to serve our Members and to grow the game.”
Under Bevacqua’s leadership, the most recent editions of the PGA of America’s premier events – the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Golf Club and the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National Golf Club – set new standards for attendance, corporate hospitality and revenue, while delivering memorable fan experiences.
During his term, Bevacqua has spearheaded the addition and renewal of official patron sponsors and partners—such as OMEGA, KPMG, KitchenAid, National Car Rental and Chase—while working with Ryder Cup Europe to establish Standard Life Investments as the Ryder Cup’s first Worldwide Partner. Bevacqua also negotiated a transformational, 15-year media rights extension through 2030 with NBC Sports Group for the Ryder Cup, KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship and PGA Professional Championship.
Bevacqua orchestrated a partnership between the PGA, LPGA and KPMG to launch the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in 2015, the first women’s major championship in PGA of America history. A leadership summit was also established to encourage women to use golf in furthering their careers. Bevacqua also facilitated relationships with state and local governments to bring the PGA Championship to historic public facilities at New York’s Bethpage Black (2019) and San Francisco’s TPC Harding Park (2020).
Previously, Bevacqua served as Global Head of Golf at Creative Artists Agency (CAA Sports). He was also Chief Business Officer for the United States Golf Association (USGA); and served as the USGA’s first Managing Director of the U.S. Open Championship.
A former World Golf Foundation Board of Directors’ Chairperson, Bevacqua is a PGA World Alliance leadership team member. He is the current Chairperson of the International Golf Federation, a group that was instrumental in golf’s historic return to the Olympics. In 2017, Jack Nicklaus announced that Bevacqua was elected as a special advisor to the Captains Club for The Memorial Tournament. Additionally, he is a RISE board member, an alliance of sports organizations that promote racial equality. A former Sports Business Journal “Forty Under 40” honoree, Bevacqua also received the March of Dimes Sports Leadership Award in 2016.
A native of Bedford, New York, Bevacqua graduated from the University of Notre Dame magna cum laude (1993), with a B.A. in English. He earned a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center, where he graduated cum laude (1997). He began his career as a legal associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP in New York City.
