PGA Member Billy Dillon Earns PGA Master Professional Designation

The PGA of America has announced that Billy Dillon, PGA, Director of the PGA Golf Management Program at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) and men’s and women’s head golf coach, has earned PGA Master Professional status — the highest educational designation a PGA Member can obtain.

Dillon, a member of the Middle Atlantic PGA Section, joins a special group of more than 400 PGA Members who have earned PGA Master Professional status. He achieved his designation in Executive Management.

The PGA Master Professional Program is available to any PGA Professional who has achieved advanced certification through the PGA Certified Professional Program. The curriculum includes an extensive project based on the specific certification previously acquired by the PGA Professional. Upon approval of the project and successful completion of a presentation, a PGA Member will earn the prestigious PGA Master Professional status. To be eligible, the PGA Master Professional Program requires a minimum of 10 years of PGA Membership.

“Achieving the Master Professional designation reinforces that everything I have learned and applied over my career has been validated by my peers, colleagues and PGA leadership,” said Dillon. “It also means that I now serve as a role model to the PGA Golf Management students at UMES and the entire next generation of PGA Members. I want my students to realize that if I can do it, they certainly can do it. This is an achievement that makes me extremely proud.”

Dillon, a PGA Member for 27 years, currently serves on the Middle Atlantic PGA Section Education Committee and previously achieved PGA Certified Professional status in General Management. 

As the PGA Golf Management Program Director at UMES, Dillon oversees the curriculum and guides the next generation of PGA Members. In 2020, Dillion became both the school’s head men’s and women’s golf coach, after coaching the women only in 2019. 

In his first year coaching at UMES, he was recognized by the Women's Golf Coaches Association with the Mark Laesch Award for D1 Women's Golf, given to the coach/team that showed the biggest improvement in adjusted stroke average from one year to the next. The team improved its 2019-2020 adjusted stroke average by 49.5 strokes compared to the previous season.

The PGA Master Professional Program was established in 1969 to recognize PGA Members who have made a significant effort to improve as golf professionals and maintain the highest degree of excellence for themselves and their operations. As part of its Member education curriculum, the PGA Master Professional Program was designed to ensure PGA Professionals are prepared to meet the growing demands of the marketplace.