Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, United States: Maulana Dotch has become the first African-American woman PGA Member to serve as a General Manager of a golf facility.

A native of Irving, Texas, Dotch, 40, earned her PGA Membership in 2010. At the time, she was the second African-American woman to become a PGA Member, following in the footsteps of her inspiration, golf trail-blazer and PGA Hall of Fame Member Renee Powell.

Dotch spent the past 12 years at Cedar Crest Golf Course in Dallas and served as PGA Head Professional since 2014.

In 2018, Dotch was selected for PGA LEAD, the association’s leadership development programme created to identify, mentor and progress PGA Members from diverse backgrounds into volunteer leadership positions in the association.

“The PGA of America is proud of Maulana Dotch for earning this prestigious leadership position in golf management, while achieving another impressive milestone in her successful career,” said Jim Richerson, President of the PGA of America, an Executive Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.

“As a ground-breaking PGA Member, Maulana serves as a role model for women and girls and a source of inspiration for all who aspire to become PGA Members, as well as pursue careers throughout the golf industry,” added Richerson.

A member of both the Bethune-Cookman University Athletics Hall of Fame and the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame, Dotch is committed to sharing her experiences to promote inclusion and diversity in the game, while inspiring the next generation of golfers from diverse backgrounds to embrace opportunities in the golf industry.

“Becoming General Manager at Hermann Park Golf Course (Houston) is the culmination of many years of hard work and dedication in learning all facets of the golf business and adopting best practices and leadership principles from PGA Professionals throughout the industry,” said Dotch.

She added: “The mentorship I’ve received from Renee Powell, as well as so many other great leaders at the PGA and throughout the industry, has helped my career immensely.

“Based on my career journey, I’m honoured to continually give back and provide as much advice and guidance as possible to my fellow PGA Members, as well as girls and boys from diverse backgrounds looking to pursue a career in golf.”

Alongside her brothers, Dotch learned the game from her father, Emanuel Dotch, on a high school field in Irving. There were no clubs to be found for the left-handed Dotch, so her dad cut down his right-handed clubs, and she learned to play from her unnatural side.

Dotch eventually became an accomplished player, first competing on the men’s golf team at Irving High School and then earning a golf scholarship to Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida.

While at Bethune-Cookman, her team won the PGA Minority Collegiate Championship (now known as the PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship), an event considered to be the most culturally significant championship in collegiate golf, in each of her four seasons.

She also captured the Individual Women’s Division Championship during her senior year.