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The Twenty Tens

The Twenty Tens

A Digital World

The world went digital in the twenty tens with the proliferation of smart phones, social media, and electronic devices.  The WGAWP caught up and over the decade introduced more and more electronic and digital tools.

At the turn of the decade the WGAWP was paper and mail dependent.  Both membership and event registration used paper forms with mail-in entries.  In 2011, the WGAWP began its first website with basic information available for reference.  In 2012, the registration for "A" Open Days was moved to an email system where both the request and the confirmation were handled by email to the Open Day Chair.

In 2013, the WGAWP made the big leap with a full function new website that provided for online membership renewal and online registration for tournaments and Open Days as well as comprehensive access to general and membership information.  Electronic distance measuring devices were allowed during tournament play.  In 2013, the WGAWP began a partnership with West Penn Golf Association and this relationship was formalized in 2016 with an agreement that provided the WGAWP with office space and use of WPGA facilities and services for tournament management.  In 2017, both WPGA and WGAWP converted their tournament management and registration software to Golf Genius which now provides for online scoring and an electronic scoreboard. 

In 2010 membership dues were $90.00.  In 2013, with the move to digital processing and the elimination of the Executive Secretary, dues were reduced to $85.00 where they remained through the decade.  The operational cost savings also allowed for expansion and upgrades of tournament prizes.

Through the twenty-tens, the WGAWP continued to modify the tournament portfolio.  In 2014 the Buck Cup, as a team event, and the VP Challenge, modeled like the Curtis Cup, were introduced.  In 2015, the Volunteer Invitational Player (VIP) tournament was introduced to replace the Delegate and Executive Board Invitational Events.  Also, that year the President's/Secretary's Trophy was abandoned after several years of low interest.  In 2017, two new team events were introduced, a mixed event, the Mixed Team - Better Ball of Men and Better Ball of Women, and the One and One (One Gross and One Net).  In 2018, a major change to the Championship was introduced.  The Championship would no longer be played as a match play tournament over 5 days, but as a 3-day stroke play tournament for the championship flight and a 2/3-day Stableford event for the other flights.

In 2010 there were six divisions with six teams each participating in the Team Competition.  By 2014 the participation dropped to 5 divisions and it remained at that level through 2019.  The Team Championship was competitive at the beginning of the decade with four different teams winning:  Fox Chapel, Allegheny, Oakmont, and Diamond Run.  Then Sewickley Height dominated at mid-decade winning four consecutive Team Championships from 2014-2017.  At the end of the decade Oakmont won again and then Ligonier captured their first Team Championship in 2019.

In 2016 the “You Betcha" Scholarship began in partnership between the WGAWP and the family of the late Dr. Ann Buck, a Past President of the WGAWP, as a way to provide participants in WGAWP Junior events with financial assistance for college.  Annually at least two $2,000 scholarships are awarded to girls who participated in the WGAWP Junior Program and demonstrated leadership and academic accomplishments.

By the end of the 2010's the WGAWP had transitioned substantially to the new digital world while still maintaining the traditions of the past decades.

Clubs joining in the 2010's:

  • Pinecrest
  • Southpointe
  • Williams

 

 

In today's dollars:

 

  • The $90 membership dues in 2010 is equivalent to $120.64 in today's dollars.

Player of the Decade - Kristen Obush

The decades started with Carol Semple Thompson in command of the Championship with wins in 2010 and 2012 and Runner-ups in 2013 and 2014.  But two relatively new players began to challenge the long-dominant player, Kristen Obush, who joined in 2009, and Danielle Proctor, who joined in 2005.  

Danielle's list of accomplishments in the 2010's is impressive.  She won the Bobby Cruickshank in 2013 and 2014; was Runner-Up for the WGAWP Championship in 2017; won the Tag Hill in 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018, and was WGAWP Player-of the-Year in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2017.

Kristen's accomplishments in this decade are even more impressive.  She won the WGAWP Championship five times in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2018 and was Runner-Up twice in 2010 and 2015. She won the Bobby Cruickshank twice in 2011 and 2017; won the Tag Hill in 2010 and was the WGAWP Player-of-the-Year in 2011.  Kristen also won the PA State Amateur Championship in 2018.  Kristen's record for winning Championships  surpasses those of her competitors and gives her the edge over other accomplished players awarding her the title of Player-of-the-Decade for the 2010's.

Around Western PA


The Point ~ Fall 2013

  • February 5, 2010 – “Snowmageddon” was not the biggest blizzard but it halted travel and business for days dumping 2 feet of snow in the region. By the end of February Pittsburgh had recorded 48.7 inches of snow. It’s snowiest month ever.
  • July 8-11, 2010 - The 65th U.S. Women's Open is held at Oakmont Country Club. Paula Creamer won her first major championship.
  • August 1, 2010 – Construction was completed on the Consol Energy Center, later to be called the PPG Paints Arena, the new home of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
  • January 1, 2011 – The 2011 Winter Classic Hockey game was held at Heinz Field. The Pittsburgh Penguins played the Washington Capitals. Pittsburgh native Jackie Evancho performed the Star Spangled Banner.
  • February 6, 2011 – The Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-25, in Super Bowl XLV.
  • March 2011 - Pittsburgh got more national props in 2010 by being named the Most Livable City in America by The Economist and the No. 1 city in America for people seeking to relocate by CNBC.
  • September 26, 2011 – The Pittsburgh Civic Arena is demolished.
  • December 2011 - According to the Pittsburgh Film Office, over 124 major motion pictures have been filmed, in whole or in part, in Pittsburgh, including The Mothman Prophecies, Wonder Boys, Dogma, Hoffa, The Silence of the Lambs, Sudden Death, Flashdance, Southpaw, Striking Distance, Mrs. Soffel, Jack Reacher, Inspector Gadget, The Next Three Days, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and Fences. Pittsburgh became "Gotham City" in 2011 during filming of The Dark Knight Rises.
  • September 13, 2013 – The world’s largest rubber duck comes to Pittsburgh, drawing huge crowds.
  • June 16-19, 2016 - The 116th U.S. Open is held at Oakmont Country Club. Dustin Johnson won his first major championship.
  • June 12, 2016 – The Pittsburgh Penguins win their fourth Stanley Cup.
  • September 25, 2016 – Arnold Palmer, by acclamation the most important golfer in the game’s history, died at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center of complications from heart problems at the age of 87. He had been admitted to the hospital on Thursday and was scheduled to undergo a surgical procedure for his heart on Monday morning.
  • June 11, 2017 – The Pittsburgh Penguins win their fifth Stanley Cup.
  • July 16, 2017 – Legendary Pittsburgh film maker, George Romero (Night of the Living Dead) dies at the age of 77.
  • October 27, 2018 – The deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the United States takes place at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill during Shabbat morning services.

Around The World

 

  • In 2010 the Healthcare Reform Bill / Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passes in Congress.
  • In 2010 a magnitude 7 earthquake hits Haiti and devastates the country.
  • In 2011 Osama Bin Laden was found and killed by US Navy Seals in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
  • In 2011 Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot along with twelve others.
  • In 2011 Prince William, Prince Charles’s eldest son with Princess Diana, married Catherine Middleton.
  • In 2012 “Marvel’s The Avengers” premieres in Hollywood, California.
  • In 2012 US President Barack Obama is re-elected for his second term.
  • In 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut Adam Lanza killed 20 first graders and six school employees before turning a gun on himself.
  • In 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings shook the United States. 
  • In 2013 Edward Snowden leaks information about the NSA's secret internet and cell-phone data gathering program. 
  • In 2014 the Ebola Epidemic becomes a Global Health Crisis.
  • In 2014 comedy loses legends Robin Williams and Joan Rivers.
  • In 2015 a train derailment in Philadelphia killed eight and injured more than 200 Amtrak passengers in May after the Northeast Regional train sped around a curve and went off the track.
  • In 2016 the Chicago Cubs ended the longest drought in baseball by defeating the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in the 10th inning of Game 7 to win the World Series.
  • In 2016 Donald Trump becomes the 45th president of the United States.
  • In 2016 Britons voted roughly 52 to 48 percent in favor of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, a.k.a. Brexit.
  • In 2017 the #MeToo movement exploded iafter a New York Times article exposed accusations of  sexual harassment and assault against influential Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
  • In 2018 Hurricane Michael became the first Category 5 hurricane to hit the contiguous United States since 1992, causing more than 50 deaths and $25 billion in damages on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
  • In 2019, on December 18, the US House of Representatives voted to pass both articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, who became the third U.S. president to be impeached.

Membership Thoughts and Reactions

Feel free to share your comments and thoughts about the WGAWP Tour of the decades.  You can post additional bit of history that you would like to add.