PGA TOUR and AllenComm Win Four Gold Training Awards

The PGA TOUR along with custom corporate training leader AllenComm recently won four gold training awards for a series of training courses called ShotLink Volunteer Training. The courses aim to improve the accuracy, efficiency, speed, and competency of 10,000 -12,000 volunteers annually. Deployed over a year ago, the courses that make up ShotLink Volunteer Training are part of an enhanced learner journey that is already delivering measurable results and has won some of the highest honors available in the training industry this year.

ShotLink Volunteer Training garnered four awards from two learning and development award groups including two gold Omni Awards and two gold Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Learning Awards. Categories for the gold awards include Sports in the Omni Awards, and Best Advance in Custom Content and Best Advance in Competencies and Skill Development in the Brandon Hall Group, Inc. (BHG) Excellence Awards.

“Our goal for this course is to provide best-in-class training for our volunteers that are vital to the success of all PGA TOUR events,” said Stephanie Chvala, Project Coordinator, Golf Technology, PGA TOUR. “Earning four gold training awards is exciting because it validates our efforts to improve the ShotLink volunteer experience.”

Before implementation of the new curriculum, ShotLink Volunteer Training consisted of a one-hour instructor-led session a few days before each tournament and an optional on-course open practice time the day prior to a tournament. As technology on the course continued to advance and the usage of ShotLink scoring and statistical data feeds became more widespread, the TOUR recognized the need for more robust and consistent training for ShotLink volunteers.

“This course meets the volunteers’ needs because it takes a little more than an hour to complete on a browser, on a device they are familiar with,” said Steve Evans, SVP Golf Technology, PGA TOUR. “We live in a digital age, and having access to online training and a reasonable time frame to complete the training makes sense. We want a thorough and comprehensive program, so when our volunteers get on the golf course, they are prepared to do their jobs.”

The Omni Awards have a rigorous judging process and recognition is awarded to the most outstanding applicant that engages, empowers and enlightens. The BHG Excellence Awards are given to courses that meet the following criteria: fit the need, design of the program, functionality, innovation and overall measurable benefits.

Since rolling out over a year ago, the ShotLink Volunteer Training curriculum has received positive reviews from PGA TOUR volunteers and ShotLink operations staff and has led to a measurable improvement in the accuracy and timeliness of data collection. In a survey of volunteers who took the Walking Scorers Training, one of the modules in the ShotLink Volunteer Training curriculum, 92% of returning volunteers and 66% of new volunteers reported that the online course was helpful in their preparation to be a successful volunteer.

“We’re very proud of the recognition the ShotLink Volunteer Training has received,” said Ron Zamir, CEO, AllenComm. “We are honored to work with the PGA TOUR and help them scale specific competencies and skills that their volunteers need to do their job accurately.”

About ShotLink powered by CDW

ShotLink powered by CDW is a revolutionary technology from the PGA TOUR that captures and reports real-time vital information on every shot, by every player, real-time, during tournament competition. Every shot is translated into thousands of statistics, changing the way all of us watch and interact with, the PGA TOUR, bringing fans closer than ever to the action. Players can utilize ShotLink data to learn more about their own game. ShotLink is used to quantify player performance and explains how a player achieves his success on the course. ShotLink data also is used to enhance graphics and statistics in television broadcasts, expand information and statistics for use by the working media via Tournament Tracker, and power PGATOUR.COM and cell phone apps, thus creating an ongoing historical archive of statistical information.

About AllenComm

AllenComm is a leading custom corporate training provider. For over 35 years, AllenComm has partnered with Fortune 100 companies to create and scale unique and innovative learning solutions that make an impact. A combination of deep instructional design experience, innovative learning technologies, and agency-level creative teams, coupled with a design and development system enables AllenComm to understand clients and their learners’ needs and objectives and wins more than 40 awards year after year for their impactful training solutions. Go to to learn more.

About PGA TOUR

By showcasing golf’s greatest players, the PGA TOUR engages, inspires and positively impacts our fans, partners, and communities worldwide.

The PGA TOUR, headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, co-sanctions more than 130 tournaments on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, Korn Ferry Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada, and PGA TOUR Series-China. Members on the PGA TOUR represent the world’s best players, hailing from 29 countries (93 members are from outside the United States). Worldwide, PGA TOUR tournaments are broadcast to 226 countries and territories in 23 languages. Virtually all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations to maximize charitable giving. In 2018, tournaments across all Tours generated a record $190 million for local and national charitable organizations, bringing the all-time total to $2.84 billion.

Fans can follow the PGA TOUR on PGATOUR.COM, the No. 1 site in golf, on the PGA TOUR app and on social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.