Suzy Whaley was elected the first female president of the PGA of America at the association's annual meeting in Indian Wells, California, on Friday.
Whaley, 51, the director of instruction at Suzy Whaley Golf in Cromwell, Connecticut, became a PGA of America member in 2001 and transitioned into teaching after a brief career on the LPGA Tour.
She also serves as the PGA director of instruction at the Country Club of Mirasol in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
In 2002, she won the Connecticut PGA Championship, which earned her an exemption into the 2003 Greater Hartford Open (now the Travelers Championship), where she shot 75-78 to miss the cut. She became the first woman to qualify for a PGA Tour event since Babe Zaharias in 1945.
The PGA of America consists of 29,000 golf professionals. Whaley was first elected to a two-year term as secretary and has spent the past two years as vice president of the association, which also runs the PGA Championship, the U.S.-based Ryder Cups, the KPMG PGA Championship and several other events.
The PGA recently hired Seth Waugh to be its CEO after Pete Bevacqua left the organization to take a job with NBC Sports.