Fairway Tales: Dawn Darter’s Career as a PGA Professional Has Come Full Circle

It came down to golf or softball.

Head PGA Professional at The Greens at North Hills in Sherwood, Arkansas, Dawn Darter obviously chose golf. Catcher wasn’t her destiny, but having a golf club in her hands certainly was. The sixth fairway of The Greens at North Hills was her backyard after all. Her brother was a stellar player. And her dad pushed her to give the sport a try.

In more ways than one, golf was meant to be.

There isn’t much that Dawn Darter isn’t involved in at her club today. But if you ask her about her golf club’s junior golf programming, it’s obvious it’s a passion and an area she takes great pride in. There’s a reason behind that.

As a kid, her experiences as a junior golfer changed her for the better.

“I’m passionate about junior golf because I had such a great opportunity growing up on this golf course,” Darter said. “I just want every kid to have a chance at what I have.”

Dawn Darter has been a PGA Professional since 1984, holding various jobs at clubs in Nevada and Arkansas. She also competed in three U.S. Women’s Opens in three different decades as a working golf professional. Life on the road wasn’t for her, and she never secured her LPGA card, but her passion for the sport has never wavered.

Dawn Darter always wanted to be a PGA Professional because of the PGA Professionals she grew up around in Arkansas. By staying grounded, and putting her best foot forward every day, she hopes to impact others in the same ways she once was.