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Suzy Whaley

USGA Executive Committee

Suzy Whaley, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., is in her first year of a three-year term on the USGA Executive Committee.

The PGA Master Professional currently is the President of Golf Nation, a pioneering online and connected TV OTT (Over the Top) channel that seamlessly blends golf lifestyle with premium video content on a shop-able streaming platform. Renowned for her innovative leadership and commitment to growing the game, Whaley is also one of Golf Magazine's "Top 100 Teachers in America" and a respected commentator and television analyst dedicated to expanding golf's global reach. 

Whaley made history in 2018 as the first woman elected President of the PGA of America. During her tenure, she guided the Association through the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, launching the $8 million Golf Emergency Relief Fund to support golf industry personnel and spearheading the Back2Golf initiative alongside the CDC (Center for Disease Control) to ensure the safe return to play, resulting in record growth in rounds played.

A decorated professional and teacher, Whaley was honored with the 2023 Walter Hagen Ambassador of the Game Award and the 2019 Metropolitan Golf Association's Distinguished Service Award. Her instructional accolades include:

  • Golf Digest Top 50 Instructor
  • LPGA Top 50 Instructor
  • Two-time Connecticut PGA Teacher of the Year
  • Ten-time Golf Digest State Teacher of the Year
  • U.S. Kids Golf Master Kids Teacher


She has coaches more than 300 junior golfers to the collegiate level and led teams at five PGA Junior League Championhip finals.

In addition to her leadership at Golf Nation, Whaley serves as an ESPN and ESPN+ commentator and analyst with past contributions to SiriusXM for the PGA Championship, Masters Tournament and the Augusta National Women's Amateur. She also previously ran her own coaching business, Suzy Whaley Golf, and was a key instructor at Jim Flick Golf Schools before becoming the head professional at Blue Fox Run, in Avon, Conn.

As a dual member of the PGA of America and the LPGA, Whaley played on the LPGA Tour in 1990 and 1993. In 2003, she became the first woman since Babe Zaharias (1945) to qualify for a PGA Tour event, playing in the Greater Hartford Open (now Travelers Championship). She earned that honor by becoming the first PGA of America woman professional to win the Connecticut PGA Championship. 

Her competitive accolades include:

  • Three-time Commencticut Women's Open champion
  • National LPGA TC&P champion
  • Connecticut PGA Section champion
  • Connecticut PGA Club Professional champion
  • Two-time LPGA Northeast TC&P Section champion
  • Competitor in U.S Senior Women's Open, LPGA Senior Women's Championship and PGA Professional Championships (2002, 2005).


Whaley is a member of five halls of fame: Connecticut Section PGA Hall of Fame (2025), PGA of America Hall of Fame (2023), Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame (2022), Connecticut Golf Sports Hall of Fame and Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame.

She currently serves on the Annika Foundation Board, is an advisor for Sportsbox AI and is the honorary chair for the PGA Reach Capital Campaign.. Additionally, Whaley was the recipient of the 2017 Betsy Rawls Award from the American Junior Golf Association for contributions to women's golf. She received the 2015 Sports Business Journal Game Changer Award and the 2015 Margo Dydek Award from the WNBA's Connecticut Sun for her inspiring role as a mentor and leader.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina with an economics degree, Whaley and her husband, Bill, who recently retired from the PGA Tour, now reside in south Florida. Their adult daughters, Jennifer and Kelly, also competed at the Division I level, the latter at North Carolina. 

In 2026, Whaley will serve on the Handicap ad U.S. National Development Program (USNDP) committees as well as on the USGA Foundation Board.