PGA Professional Mark Beran Recognized as MAPGA Bill Strausbaugh Award Winner

(Stafford, VA) - Mark Beran, the Head PGA Professional at Woodholme Country Club in Pikesville, Md., has been selected as recipient of the Middle Atlantic PGA's 2013 Bill Strausbaugh Award. This award bestows special recognition on a PGA Professional who has outstanding integrity and has shown commitment to mentoring fellow PGA Professionals in improving their employment situations, as well as involvement in community and charitable activities.

Mark Beran

The award is named in honor of the late "Coach" Bill Strausbaugh, former Head PGA Professional at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and member of the MAPGA Hall of Fame Class of 1989. Beran will be recognized in front of his peers at the MAPGA Hall of Fame and Awards banquet March 9 at the Gaithersburg Marriott Washingtonian Center in Gaithersburg, Md.

Beran spent much of his younger life in Warrington, Penn. where he and his identical twin brother, Michael, started playing golf regularly at the age of 13. Warrington Country Club was Beran's first employer in the golf industry. He was a golf shop associate and forecaddie during the day and a dishwasher at night. Beran's parents, Emil and Alice, were quoted as saying that Mark "lived at that club."

Beran translated this passion for golf into an education and a promising career by attending Ferris State University to major in Professional Golf Management. Following graduation, he immediately started his golf professional career at Brick Landing Plantation in Ocean Isle Beach, NC. After Brick Landing, Beran spent some time in Rye, NY at Westchester Country Club and then moved to the Middle Atlantic Section in 1991 to begin an assistant professional position at Baltimore Country Club. His first Head Professional/General Manager position came in 1995 at Minisceongo Golf Club in Pomona, NY.

While at Minisceongo, Beran started on a path to not only make himself successful, but to also help others become successful in their own right. After ten seasons in Pamona, Beran returned to the Middle Atlantic Section by accepting the Head Professional position at Woodholme Country Club in Pikesville, Md. In this new role, he has led his staff and guided future PGA Professionals to achieve their goals. Rudy Virga, a longtime friend and former first assistant of Beran's, is now the PGA Director of Operations for Empire Golf Management which is just one of many examples of how Beran's mentoring has helped others succeed in golf and other professions.

In addition to leading and mentoring his staff, Beran has made a commitment to the Middle Atlantic Section. He currently serves on the Board of Directors and is the Vice President of the Northern Chapter. With his successful history in employment services, he also chairs the MAPGA's Employment and Club Relations Committee. A prime example of his commitment to employment was when he visited a stand-alone driving range, talked to the owner and found him a PGA Professional who would help increase his business. Beran has also championed efforts to enhance communications regarding all the employment tools available to PGA Members.

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