Local golf professional Jay Dufty has been honored with the Professional Golf Association’s (PGA) highest regional distinction.
Dufty, the golf director at the Washington Golf & Country Club in North Arlington, was named PGA Golf Professional of the Year by the Middle Atlantic section of the PGA (MAPGA) last week.
The award is given based on criteria such as overall performance, professional image, commitment to the MAPGA, leadership qualities, promotion of golf, and the ability to inspire fellow professionals, per a press release.
A PGA member for over 25 years, Dufty was one of 13 golf professionals from Virginia, Maryland and Delaware to receive an award. He resides in Sterling.
It was Dufty’s father, a college wrestling coach at the University of Minnesota-Morris and a passionate golfer, who sparked his son’s interest in golf at a young age. While in high school, he worked under and was mentored by Larry Murphy, the head PGA professional at the time, per the release.
Encouraged by Murphy, Dufty joined the PGA Golf Management Program at New Mexico State University. Post-graduation, he accepted an assistant role at Blueberry Pines Golf Club in Menahga, Minnesota, and in 1997, became the club’s head professional, achieving PGA membership a year later.
Before his current role at Washington Golf & Country Club, Dufty managed various high-end golf facilities for two decades, including 15 years with the Tournament Players Club (TPC) Network and a 12-year stint as the Head PGA Professional at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in Potomac, Maryland.
Dufty has been honored with several awards, including the Bob Metz First Tee of Montgomery County Award in 2013, the MAPGA President’s Award in 2014, the TPC Network Head Professional of the Year in 2014, the MAPGA Private Club Merchandiser of the Year in 2018 and the MAPGA Bill Strausbaugh Award in 2020.
He also serves on multiple MAPGA boards and First Tee of Montgomery County.