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Judy Allem Elected President of UGA for 2012; Eyes USGA Championship As Top Priority

Judy Allem has been elected President of the Utah Golf Association for the 2012 golf season. This will be her ninth and final year on the UGA board. She has been a member of Hidden Valley Country Club for the past 14 years, but her roots are in women’s public golf where she was associated with the Mountain Dell Women’s Golf Association for many years.
She is well prepared to be the UGA president. Prior to serving as president she has served on the UGA Executive Committee as secretary and vice president. She becomes only the second woman to hold the UGA’s highest position. Linda Olsen was the first woman to be elected president of the UGA in 2007. Judy is happily married to Mike Allem and has one son, Josh Smith, who is a regional vice-president for Arnold Palmer Golf Management in Orlando, Florida. Josh began his professional career at Wingpointe Golf Course in SLC.
Allem has taken Utah teams to two Junior Americas Cup competitions and two USGA Women’s State Team championships. She has attended four USGA Rules Schools and has worked rules at UGA events since first joining the board eight years ago. She worked as a rules official on the Future Collegians World Tour for two years, and has been the chairman of the US Girls’ Junior Qualifying in Utah for the past five years. She has also participated as a rules official in three US Girls’ Junior Championships.
“Our biggest challenge and responsibility this year will be helping with Utah’s first USGA national championship at Soldier Hollow,” Allem said. “We need to make the USGA Men’s Public Links Championship a huge success and that will require the help and support of the entire UGA membership,” she added. “We need both monetary and onsite volunteer support. It is a big undertaking.”
Jim Harland, a member of the UGA Board and recently retired from the Utah State Parks Department, is the local chairman of the USGA championship event.
Other officers of the board this coming year are vice president Dave Dorton, secretary Karen White, and treasurer John Taylor.
Other members of the board are past president Bill Probst, Jim Kane, Jim Harland, Kim Anderson, Reese Nielsen, Steve Brinton, and recently elected Kurt Bernhisel, and Denise Vilven. It is a young board as six members of the board are still in their first terms.
Finishing their final years on the board this past year were Al Simkins and Reed McGregor. Allem, Dorton, and Probst will complete their terms of service at the end of this year.
Bill Walker will begin his second year as the Executive Director of the UGA and will direct the UGA staff that includes Mike Branca, Lisa Imamura, Jeremy Bates, Shauna Newren, and intern Chris Richards.