Michigan Golf Journal May 2019

tĞƐƚ ŝƐ Ă ĨŽƵƌƚŚͲŐĞŶĞƌĂƟŽŶ ^ĂƵůƚ ^ƚĞ͘ DĂƌŝĞ ŶĂƟǀĞ ǁŚŽ ĚŝĚŶ͛ƚ ƉůĂŶ ŽŶ ŐĞƫŶŐ into event management. ŌĞƌ ƐŚĞ ŐŽƚ ŚĞƌ D from Michigan State, she was handling economic ĨŽƌĞĐĂƐƟŶŐ ĂŶĚ ƉƌŽĚƵĐƚ management for a company ŝŶ 'ƌĂŶĚ ZĂƉŝĚƐ͘ ŌĞƌ ũŽŝŶŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ :ƵŶŝŽƌ Chamber of Commerce in 1989, she volunteered at what was then-known as the Farmers American Classic, ŽŶ ǁŚĂƚ ŝƐ ŶŽǁ W' dKhZ Champions. West worked in corporate hospitality and media and served on the ĞdžĞĐƵƟǀĞ ĐŽŵŵŝƩĞĞ͘ The behind-the-scenes ǁŽƌŬ ŽĨ ƉƵƫŶŐ ŽŶ Ă ŐŽůĨ tournament was intriguing. And the end result of money raised for charity made it seem that “life was more meaningful,” she says. ŵĞĞƟŶŐ ǁŝƚŚ ,ŽůůŝƐ Cavner during the 1992 tournament eventually changed the course of her life. Cavner had been working for the USGA as ĚŝƌĞĐƚŽƌ ŽĨ ŽƉĞƌĂƟŽŶƐ ĨŽƌ the 1990 and ’91 U.S. Opens. But he had just been hired to launch the inaugural Burnet Senior Classic in Minneapolis and needed an assistant tournament director. “We spent several hours together here and there during tournament week,” West says. “He called me ƚŚĞ DŽŶĚĂLJ ĂŌĞƌ ĂŶĚ ƐĂŝĚ͕ ‘Do you want to make this a career?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely’ and my husband and I picked up and moved to Minnesota.” Pro Links Sports was born. The company soon was ŵĂŶĂŐŝŶŐ ƐĞǀĞƌĂů ĚŝīĞƌĞŶƚ events, and West helped ŚŝƌĞ ĂŶĚ ŽǀĞƌƐĞĞ ƚŚĞ ƐƚĂīƐ͘ tŚĞŶ WĞƚĞƌ DĞůĞ ůĞŌ ƚŚĞ BankBoston Classic to join ƚŚĞ W' dKhZ͕ tĞƐƚ ƚŽŽŬ ŚŝƐ ƉŽƐŝƟŽŶ ĂƐ ƚŽƵƌŶĂŵĞŶƚ director and remained in that role for the next 10 years. The event eventually lost its corporate sponsor, and West faced a decision: Move her family to stay in the golf business or take another job. She opted to ũŽŝŶ ƚŚĞ ZĞĚ ^Ždž &ŽƵŶĚĂƟŽŶ ĂŶĚ DĂƐƐĂĐŚƵƐĞƩƐ 'ĞŶĞƌĂů Hospital as signature director of development for its Home Base program focused on healing the invisible wounds of post-9/11 veterans and their families. Six years later, Pro Links took over the management of the Valspar Championship. Once again Cavner came calling. “Listen, there’s going to be a change in management here,” he said. “You need to come back into golf.” ^Ž͕ ƐŚĞ ĚŝĚ ʹ ďƵƚ ƐƟůů ĮŶĚƐ ƟŵĞ ƚŽ ƌĞƚƵƌŶ ŚŽŵĞ ƚŽ Michigan once or twice a year. Photo Credit: Charlie Anderson Michigan Golf Journal i der Working the PGA Tour