City's Golf Pro Wins Award From PGA

Bradford Creek Golf Pro Mike Cato has been selected as the Carolinas PGA’s Junior Golf Leader.  The award is given annually to the PGA professional who has proven their commitment to Junior golf programs and whose initiatives have made an impact on junior golfers.

Cato was chosen from a group of fellow PGA Professionals who had been nominated by their peers.  He was selected for this award because he readily contributes to Section junior events and PGA Junior Golf programs, is accepted by junior golfers as a person of outstanding character, and provides opportunities and experiences for juniors to learn and play golf.

Mike’s contributions to junior golf at Bradford Creek Golf Club have expanded to include the entire region of Eastern Carolina.  From the 15 different junior programs offered at Bradford Creek Golf Club catering to all skill and age levels, to his elected service as President of the Eastern North Carolina Junior Golf Association for the past eight years, Cato has his finger on the pulse of junior golf. 

He attributes a lot of his interest in junior golf as a PGA professional to his own experiences as a junior golfer at Bradford Creek.  Now that his career has come full-circle, he knows that without his experiences as a child, he may not have come to find the niche in his career.

“I participated in one of the first junior programs at Bradford Creek,” he said, “and now as a PGA professional teaching the program, I can see how influential it was for me.”

With over 200 juniors participating in junior programs at his club and over 5,000 juniors participating in junior golf programs in Eastern Carolina over the past 20 years, he sees a definite value in creating an environment conducive to personal attention and competitive playing opportunities.  To that end he organized and created the Coastal Plains Junior Amateur, the third largest junior golf tournament in the Carolinas.  He is also working to expand junior golf in the Greenville area to include inner-city kids which he says is his next big goal.

“Winning this award and being recognized by my peers is definitely an honor but it also reminds me that I have the opportunity to do so much more.”

Cato will be presented with the award and recognized at the Carolinas PGA Section’s annual Big Week Special Awards and Honors Ceremony on February 15, 2009 in Myrtle Beach, SC.

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