Merritt wins regional honor

Blane Merritt is being recognized regionally by his peers with a top award.

Director of golf at MSU for the past five years, Merritt is the Professional Golfers' Association Gulf States Section's merchandiser of the year in the public course category.

With headquarters in New Orleans, the PGA's Gulf States Section is comprised of PGA professionals from Louisiana and Mississippi.

A speaker on customer relations at national PGA seminars, Merritt heads both the par-72 university course and its golf shop. The 1987 MSU graduate in professional golf management also serves as adviser to current PGM majors.

Nominated by fellow professionals for the merchandising honor, candidates are judged on inventory management, display techniques and merchandise selections at their operations.

"This award is important because it is given by my peers," said Merritt, a Natchez native who has won similar honors on two previous occasions.

He received national merchandising awards while head pro in 1990 of the Arnold Palmer Golf Management MetroWest Golf Club in Orlando, Fla., and, two years later, while at the Sarasota-based PGA Tour's Tournament Players Club. Both awards were presented by Golf Shop Operations Magazine, a national golf-focused publication.

Designed by Brian Ault, the course also serves as a teaching laboratory for the PGM and the golf and sports turf management academic programs.

Golfweek magazine, an Orlando, Fla.-based publication, recently ranked it among the Top 10 university and college courses in the Eastern United States. Another, Golf Digest, has included MSU in its "Places to Play" listings three times over the past eight years.