Brand Receives Marilynn Smith Service Award

Barnard receives LPGA Professionals Marilynn Smith Service award

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., October 13, 2014 – The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Professionals Membership is pleased to announce that Marvol Barnard of Green Valley, Ariz., has been chosen as the 2014 recipient of the Marilynn Smith Service Award.

Smith was one of the thirteen women who founded the LPGA in 1950. She won her first tournament in 1952 at the Fort Wayne Open and would go on to win a total of 21 events on the LPGA Tour, including two major championships.

Marvol Barnard is a golf educator in her 14^th year of teaching, coaching and motivating golfers at Haven Golf Course in Green Valley, Arizona.  She is a Class A member of both the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and the Professional Golfers Association of America (PGA). 

“It is an absolute thrill to be the recipient of the 2014 Central Section Marilynn Smith Service Award,” said Barnard.  “Marilynn's energy, philanthropy and service are legendary in the golf industry, and so to win this award in her name is very humbling.”  

Barnard joined the LPGA in 2002, and has held many positions within the organization since joining.  She served as a Member Advisor, Central Section Secretary, and was the creator and editor of the LPGA national newsletter, The Global Connection.  Barnard currently serves as the Central Section President.  As the Executive Committee liaison for the Member Growth Committee, she has spearheaded the drive to bring LPGA Professionals numbers to over 1600 members for the first time in the association’s history.

Barnard’s honors include 2010 Central Section Teacher of the Year, Golf Digest’s Top 50 Women Instructors, 2012; and in 2013, Barnard was named the LPGA Nancy Lopez Golf Achievement award winner, one of the LPGA’s highest honors. 

Barnard serves on golf industry advisory boards, and has been featured several times in the online PGA Magazine “Best Practices” for her innovative programs that bring women into the game of golf.  Also active in philanthropic activities in her community, Barnard utilizes golf as a vehicle for fund raising and growth opportunities for companies and individuals.

“I am so grateful to know Marilynn on a personal level, and especially to have this amazing woman in our Central Section,” said Barnard.  “I am extremely honored to have received this award!”