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Judy Allem to Receive Gold Club Award

Judy Allem, a past president of the Utah Golf Association, will be this year’s recipient of the UGA’s highest honor, the UGA Gold Club Award. The presentation of the award will be the feature of the UGA Annual Meeting to be held Wednesday, January 20, at Hidden Valley Country Club.

UGA Executive Director Bill Walker said, “Judy continues to be an avid supporter of golf in Utah. From her USGA responsibilities with the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship and support of women’s golf to her work as a course rater and rules official, Judy has and continues to have a positive impact on the Utah golf community.”

Judy served nine years on the UGA Board of Directors and one term as its president in 2012. During those nine years, she learned all aspects of the golf association and was actively involved with rules and course rating. She credits Clea Rasmussen for introducing her to the UGA and mentoring her in all the UGA activities.

Judy was born and raised in the Sugarhouse area and graduated from Highland High School. She and her husband, Mike Allem, have been longtime members at Hidden Valley Country Club.

She worked in the banking business for 25 plus years, beginning at Continental Bank and Trust and concluding at Brighton Bank. She attended community college and took numerous classes from the American Institute of Banking to enhance her banking knowledge. She advanced as far as the ‘glass ceiling’ would allow.

During those years, she gave birth to her son, Josh, and became a breast cancer survivor. Josh also loved golf and worked hard at becoming a successful PGA professional. He is now an executive with Arnold Palmer’s Century Golf Management and lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife and two sons. He supervises a chain of Palmer courses and is Judy’s ‘pride and joy.’

Judy has volunteered tirelessly in support of breast cancer charities and was chair of the Breast Cancer Coalition and a volunteer for the American Cancer Society.

Her parents were avid golfers and regularly played at Mountain Dell well into their eighties. Judy and her mother were both active in the Mountain Dell Women’s Golf Association, and Judy was president of the group for two years.

She served on the UGA Board from 2004 to 2012, including being on the executive committee seven of those years as secretary, vice president, and president.

She became a USGA committee member in 2005, serving on the USGA Girls’ Junior Committee from that time until the present. She has been the official in charge of sectional qualifying for the USGA Girls’ Junior Championship for ten years and worked as a rules official at four USGA Girls’ Junior Championships. She also was a rules official for the 2012 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Soldier Hollow.

She captained three Girls’ Junior Americas Cup teams and two USGA Women’s State Teams and is currently a volunteer rules official and a member of the UGA Course Rating Team.

“Judy is highly deserving of our most important award,” said UGA President Steve Brinton. “She has been invaluable to the UGA in numerous administrative areas of the game and is a great promoter of the game for young women,” he said.