Sherlock & Panek Named 2022 Iowa PGA Co-Golf Professional's of the Year-
Riverside, Iowa – Matt Sherlock the PGA General Manager, Owner and Head PGA Golf Professional of MK Golf Shops Inc. and John Panek, PGA General Manager at Davenport Country Club have been named the 2022 Iowa PGA Co-Golf Professionals of the Year. The Golf Professional of the Year Award is the highest honor paid to an Iowa PGA Golf Professional. The honoree is chosen based on leadership abilities that stand above the rest, contributions made to their facility’s success, and excelling as an overall golf professional at the Iowa PGA Section level. This is the first time in the history of the Iowa PGA that there has been a tie for this award.
​When asked on what this means to win this award Sherlock responded with, "It is a great honor to be recognized as Co-golf Professional of the year in the Iowa PGA Section for 2022. To be honored by my peers, and the awards committee is really special. To share this award with Iowa PGA legend John Panek is humbling. Congratulations John! This award means so much to me, my family, and our facilities and we are greatful of this recognition. My career in the golf business continues to evolve and grow and we are excited for what the future holds. None of my success would be possible without the amazing support system that has surrounded me for my entire life. I want to thank my staff, mentors, and my family especially my two kids, Jack and Presley, and my wife Kandis who have lived a life of golf since day one.”
Sherlock and his wife Kandis manage MK Golf Shops, Inc. that leases Edmundson & Harvest Point Golf Courses in Oskaloosa and holds a management contract with the City of Pella to manage and operate Bos Landen Golf Course in Pella, Iowa. All three courses are public golf facilities. They operate and manage 45 holes of regulation golf, two name brand retail golf shops including club repair, two driving ranges, two full-service beverage bars, two full-service concession businesses and one indoor golf simulator. Their golf shop business was also nominated for Public Merchandiser of the year in 2022. They have successfully and proudly been in business for 11 years. Their staff of nearly 50 people consists of seven full time employees, a Head Superintendent with full grounds crew, golf shop staff, cart attendants, driving range attendants, four PGA professionals, one PGA associate, one retired Golf Course Superintendent and his wife Kandis, as co-owner and financial manager of the company. When we started this business, they had a staff of four people! All these great people are the reason their business works. To do what they do successfully every day they need a quality and reliable staff that is thoroughly trained and loyal. They have that in their business.
Sherlock is proud to say that Jeff Smith, PGA, BG Campbell, PGA, Mike Lathrop, PGA have all contributed to their business daily. Jeff Smith manages and leads the grounds crew at their Harvest Point property, BG Campbell is on their grounds crew at Edmundson GC. If you ever get the chance to have an experienced PGA Professional enjoy retirement while helping maintain your golf course, take it. Hogan Rockhold, 2022 Assistant Golf Professional of the Year nominee, is Sherlock’s right-hand person, Assistant Golf Professional, and primary golf instructor. Hogan is instrumental in their business and is going to be a leader in the Iowa PGA in the future.
Sherlock has been in the golf business his entire working life and a Class A PGA member for 11 years. Sherlock has worked at Edmundson and Harvest Point Golf Courses since he was 12 years old for respected Iowa PGA Professional, past District 8 Director, Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member and Past Iowa PGA Section President Jeff Smith, PGA. Jeff has been, and always will be, his mentor and a very close friend. Sherlock chuckles to himself that Jeff is now an employee of their company after all these years!
Sherlock is in the golf business because Jeff and his wife Lori offered him, and eventually his wife, a pathway for success. He is currently in his 28th consecutive golf season on these properties. It has been a great ride and experience. MK Golf Shops expanded to Bos Landen in 2020 and are completing their 3rd season managing this property. Between the 3 golf courses they host around 80 events per year ranging in size from 40-150 people each and they also host five golf leagues per week. Their business was always the goal, but it has progressed faster, and bigger, than they ever dreamed. They have had eleven consecutive years of generating a profit and growing our business larger, year after year. We are blessed.
Sherlock has also served the Iowa PGA Section and Iowa PGA Foundation. He was elected to the Iowa PGA Board of Directors nine years ago. After one term he was encouraged to run for the elected position of Iowa PGA Board Secretary. He won this very close election and started his time as an officer on the Iowa Section Board of Directors. He served a term as President from 2019-21 and is currently the Honorary President of the current Board of Directors. Sherlock has been involved in Section governance in some way for almost his entire Class A career and has participated and traveled as a delegate or delegate support to seven Annual meetings with four more to go. He has represented the Iowa PGA at four district meetings, dozens of Section events, Iowa PGA Foundation and strategic planning meetings during his term.
His largest challenges during his term as a section officer were the hiring of two Executive Directors in less than twelve months, expanding the section intern positions, hiring more full-time section staff members and creating a strategic plan for the future of the Iowa PGA.
A major challenge he faced was figuring out how to function as a Board and Section during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic which tragically took the life of his dad, John Sherlock, on November 20, 2020. His motivation though this tough time was to help guide the section sensibly but still respect the seriousness and magnitude of this pandemic. He saw firsthand the impact to both his family and his business.
In 2017 he was named the Iowa High School Golf Coaches Association Golf Professional of the year for contributions made to high school golf. He worked with eleven different high school and college golf teams at their facilities as he feels it is their duty to grow the game for future generations. MK Golf Shops has supported the Iowa PGA through hosting the Iowa PGA Junior and Pee Wee tours and Drive, Chip & Putt qualifiers every year. They also offer complimentary golf and cart privileges to all GIVE program veterans and their guests and have done this since the inception of the GIVE program in 2007.
In 2021, Sherlock was extremely honored to receive the first ever Deacon Palmer Award from the Iowa PGA. This award is for a PGA Professional that has overcame personal and/or physical hardship and still positively contributed to the game of golf. He doesn’t dwell on the past health challenges of his life, but he doesn’t forget them either. Again, he is, and still is, blessed to be surrounded by amazing people that have supported him though some of the hardest but also most rewarding days of his life.
Jeff Smith, PGA, “Matt also has been very active in the governance of the Iowa Section serving as board member, all chairs of the Executive Committee, serving as President from 2019-2021. Those were two very challenging years serving our section as the COVID pandemic nearly shut down golf In Iowa. Matt was instrumental in working with his officers and the Iowa State House and Governor In convincing them that golf was a sport/activity/business that could operate within many safety guidelines and be a healthy outlet for people to safely enjoy. Many PGA Professionals struggled through this pandemic and Matt lead our Iowa Section and those in need with dignity and compassion. Matt also experienced two very personal challenges in going through back surgery and, sadly, losing his father due to COVID. Matt continues to stay active in our section stepping up to remain on the Iowa Section PGA Board of Directors as Past President for two additional years.”
Erin Strieck, President- Iowa PGA & Iowa Golf Foundation, Director of Golf at Pinnacle Country Club, “Matt is a true professional, even in the face of adversity. He is a person of true integrity and treats everyone from a golf professional to the guests of his golf courses with great respect. These attributes in my opinion make it easy for me to go on and on about Matt and make him the perfect recipient of the Iowa Section Golf Professional of the Year.”
Sherlock has won the Deacon Palmer of the Year in 2021.
On behalf of the Iowa PGA Members, Associates and Iowa PGA staff we congratulate Matt Sherlock as the 2022 Iowa PGA Co-Golf Professional of the Year.
John Panek of Davenport Country Club, PGA General Manager has been named the 2022 Iowa PGA Co-Golf Professional of the Year. Panek is responsible for managing complete operations of one of the premiere private clubs in the state of Iowa. He has increased membership by over 10% in the past year and assisted the club through a management transition by becoming Interim General Manager for a short time. He has now taken on a new role at the club as PGA General Manager and has created a new culture where teamwork was the key to their success.
When asked on what this means to win this award Panek responded with, “It is an honor to be named the 2022 Co-Iowa PGA Professional of the Year. To be recognized by your peers for this award is truly humbling. This award, most certainly, isn’t possible without the incredible support of my family. I have been blessed for so many years to work for the best membership and work with the finest team of employees at Davenport Country Club.”
He continually supports the golf shop in merchandising endeavors with sales expected over $400,000 in 2022 and has created a new bonus plan where objectives and goals were the driving force behind change for the betterment of the employees and the club. Through outstanding teamwork with the membership and golf course superintendent, they are now the #1 course in the state of Iowa and the #73 classic golf course in the United States according to Golfweek Magazine.
Panek has served on the Pleasant Valley Educational Foundation Board which awards over 100 scholarships annually to Pleasant Valley High School graduates. Tournament successes has included competing in five PGA Professional National Championships; 2007 Iowa PGA Match Play Champion; participated multiple years on the Iowa Cup Team; and won numerous Iowa PGA Section events over the years. He’s chaperoned multiple member travel opportunities both domestically and internationally giving members a chance to interact and build lasting relationships with other DCC members.
He has served on the Iowa PGA Board of Directors for three terms and elected as the Iowa PGA Tournament Chairman for two terms. Many of the tournament programs that are still in use today were developed during that tenure. Panek has taught at the Iowa PGA Junior Academy numerous times and consistently and continually supports the Iowa PGA by attending section tournaments. He has assisted the Iowa PGA by gaining additional sponsorship dollars for the tournament program and supports the Iowa PGA Foundation often bringing several teams from Davenport Country Club to the Foundation Pro-Am event.
He currently leads a team of 115 employees to provide the very best services and experiences at a private club and leads the development of a long-range plan with several committees and the Board of Governors. He has recently assisted in the presentation of the first phase of a master plan: a $6 million project, to the membership. He has made the pool operation a strength in 2022, which was a weakness in year’s past and hired a new Pool Manager to oversee all aspects of the pool operation, leading to better service and experiences for members and their guests. Panek has provided new educational experiences for the F&B employees.
He has the privilege of leading a team of one PGA professional and three registered PGA associates at Davenport Country Club. They all inspire each other to do what is the very best for Davenport Country Club. For the past six seasons they have had many PGA associates at the club and for each of those years, they been fortunate to have hired female associates to their team. This has made an extremely positive impact on their membership, especially for their ladies and youth programs.
Panek encouraged former assistant golf professionals to apply for other PGA Head Golf Professional positions. One is now the Head Golf Professional at Short Hills Country Club and another now works as the Director of Operations for Troon Golf. Several other former assistant golf professionals have gone on to be wildly successful in other careers adding to their individual accomplishments.
Panek has personally provided instruction to some of the very best young golfers at Davenport Country Club, including Marshal Lamb (UNI), Erron Vandemore (Dayton), Jack Kennedy (Drake), Erika Holmberg (Drake), Nathan Tillman (Western Illinois) and Ethan Blomme (16 year old Junior Golfer).
Todd Fowler, PGA Teaching Professional at Golf Galaxy – Davenport, “Mr. Panek has done an absolutely phenomenal job at DCC over the last several years. Starting as Head Professional and working up to Director of Golf and now as the General Manager, he has been instrumental in providing the club services, supported course redesign, and developed golf programming that is second to none through instruction and activities. His staffing strategy is incredible for top notch service, club fitting, player development and retail. He has also spear-headed the use of Davenport CC as a facility played for important Iowa golf events like IPGA Professional Championship, State Am, US Am Qualifying and many outings and events to help important philanthropic causes like Boy Scouts and the Genesis Hospitals. Davenport CC just received a high ranking from Golfweek Magazine Best Courses, and this would not have been possible without John. He is active in traveling with members to play golf and has always been a strong competitor in Iowa PGA competition. It is my privileged to nominate John Panek for IPGA Golf Professional of the Year.”
Panek has won the Assistant Golf Professional of the Year in 2002 and Private Merchandiser of the Year in 2011.
On behalf of the Iowa PGA Members, Associates and Iowa PGA staff we congratulate John Panek as the 2022 Iowa PGA Co-Golf Professional of the Year.
The Iowa PGA Section also selected eleven other Award Winners. All will be honored at the All-Star Pro Golf Special Awards Luncheon to be hosted by Riverside Casino & Golf Resort on Tuesday, November 15, 2022. The 2022 Iowa PGA Junior Tour Player of the Year winners will also be invited and honored.
2022 Iowa PGA Awards
Assistant Professional of the Year
- Davis Sutton, Cedar Rapids Country Club
Teacher of the Year
- Mark Atchison, Des Moines Golf & Country Club
Bill Strausbaugh
- Mike Downing, Iowa PGA Section
Professional Development Award
- JR Millar, Lake Bracken Country Club
Youth Player Development Award
- Sarah Bidney, Wakonda Club
Deacon Palmer Award (New in 2021)
- Mark Egly, Des Moines Driving Range
Player Development Award
- Brian Johnson, Elmcrest Country Club
Private Merchandiser of the Year
- Brian Delaney, Davenport Country Club
Public Merchandiser of the Year
- Bryan Luedtke, Bunker Links Golf Course
Sales Representative of the Year
- Jim Owens, Callaway Golf
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