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SERVING THE GAME

Perpall, Hammer, Two New Members Headline 2025 Executive Committee Nominations

By Beth Major

| Nov 25, 2024 | Liberty Corner, N.J.

Fred Perpall to serve final year as USGA president; Kevin Hammer nominated as president-elect. Dianne Dixon and Jim Gorrie nominated to join committee.

The USGA Nominating Committee has released its 2025 Executive Committee slate, which is again led by Fred Perpall of Dallas, Texas, who will be serving his final year as USGA president. Kevin Hammer of Boynton Beach, Fla., who will serve his second three-year term on the Executive Committee, has been nominated as president-elect.

In addition, Dianne Dixon of Saint Johns, Fla., and Jim Gorrie of Birmingham, Ala., have each been nominated to serve a three-year term on the USGA Executive Committee, a volunteer group of 15 people that provides strategic and financial oversight as the Association’s policymaking and governance board.

In addition to Hammer, Sinclair Eaddy, Jr. of Baltimore, Md., has been nominated to serve a second three-year term on the USGA Executive Committee.

The election of Executive Committee members will take place at the USGA Annual Meeting on Saturday, March 1, 2025, in Pinehurst, N.C.  

A Bahamian native who now calls Dallas home, Perpall is in his sixth year as a member of the USGA Executive Committee. He is the chief executive officer of The Beck Group, where he leads the international firm's design and construction businesses. A registered architect, Perpall is a member of the prestigious American Institute of Architects College of Fellows and serves on the boards of FedEx and Starwood Property Trust.

Perpall, a past chairman of the Dallas Citizens Council, was a member of the Board of Trustees who helped build Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, which has hosted the AT&T Byron Nelson. The public/private partnership that led to the club's creation is an inspiration to its community, serving as host to Southern Methodist University's golf program and numerous charitable tournaments and events, as well as the Dallas chapter of First Tee.

Perpall earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Texas at Arlington. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program.

Hammer, a Southeast Florida native who is in his third year as a member of the Executive Committee, has been nominated as president-elect, a position created in 2019 to provide committee leadership succession and continuity.

A former first-team American Junior Golf Association All-American, Hammer played collegiately at the University of Florida and has qualified for multiple USGA championships. He spent 10 years as a member of the Florida State Golf Association Executive Committee, including two years as president in 2020-21. He currently chairs the USGA’s Championship Committee and serves on the International Team Selection and Investment committees.

Hammer nominated as president-elect.

Hammer spent 10 years as a member of the Florida State Golf Association Executive Committee, including two years as president in 2020-21. (USGA/Jeff Haynes)

Professionally, Hammer has been with Merrill Lynch for more than 25 years. He currently serves as the managing director of the firm’s Rubin, Hammer, Eaton & Conrad Wealth Management Group, which manages investments for individuals, families, foundations and professional athletes.

“I’m thrilled that Kevin has been nominated to serve as the USGA’s 68th president,” said Perpall. “He brings a passion for and understanding of the game and the USGA that will serve the organization and our mission extremely well.”

Current USGA Executive Committee members include Perpall, Hammer, Eaddy, Andrew Biggadike of Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J.; David Dorton of Atlanta, Ga.; Virginia C. Drosos of Dallas, Texas; Cathy Engelbert of Berkeley Heights, N.J..; Leslie Henry of Houston, Texas; David Leitch of Earlysville, Va.; Bryan Lewis of South Haven, Mich.; Michael McCarthy of San Francisco, Calif.; Courtney Myhrum of Pittsburgh, Pa.; and Andy North of Madison, Wis.

Per the association’s bylaws, Dixon and Gorrie will each serve a three-year term beginning in 2025, with the potential to be elected for a second and final three-year term in 2028.

Dixon currently serves as engagement lead/manager for Spaulding Ridge, which provides business technology solutions for a wide range of industries. She previously spent many years with First Tee, starting as executive director for the Greater Houston chapter, which she developed in 2003 and has served more than 90,000 children since its inception. Dixon later went on to work at First Tee’s home office in a variety of roles and has been recognized with the First Tee National School Program Involvement Award and the World Golf Foundation Chairman’s Award for her contributions to the program.

In addition, Dixon served as a Boatwright intern for the USGA’s Central Region, manager of Amateur Services for the South Texas Amateur Golf Association, director of youth programs for the Houston Golf Association and as a board member for the Women’s Texas Golf Association. She has managed more than 700 adult and junior golf tournaments and oversaw all First Tee charitable activities associated with the PGA Tour’s Houston Open for 12 years.

Dixon, who has served as a USGA committee member since 2004, was a two-time Academic All-America golfer for the University of New Mexico and Northern Arizona University and went on to earn her MBA from the University of Houston. She has served as a Rules Official at multiple USGA championships, including the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open, as well as at PGA Tour Qualifying School.

Gorrie is CEO of Brasfield & Gorrie, one of the nation’s largest privately held construction firms, which was founded by his father in 1964 and currently employs more than 4,000 people. Gorrie directs the firm’s construction projects and construction management services across 13 regional offices and 15 market sectors.

Active in his home state and community, Gorrie has been recognized by the United Way’s Tocqueville Society (2013), received the Associated Builders and Contractor’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2014) and the Salvation Army’s William Booth Award (2017), and was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor (2022).

Gorrie, a 1984 graduate of Auburn University, served as vice chairman of the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur and 2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championships at his home club, the Country Club of Birmingham, and chaired the 2016 USGA Men’s State Team Championship at the club.

If elected, Dixon and Gorrie will assume seats vacated by retiring members Tony Anderson of Chicago, Ill., and Deborah Platt Majoras of McLean, Va., both of whom have served on the Executive Committee since 2019.