Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2015 - 14

(the golfing life
)
From Adman
to Chairman
Patrick Hunt has
steadily risen to general
chair of the 2016 Ryder
Cup-and has loved
every bit of it.
By Joseph Oberle
P
resident and CEO of Hunt
Adkins advertising,
Patrick
Hunt wasn't always an adman.
After graduating from the University
of Minnesota in 1981, Hunt moved to
Ogden, Utah, to be a " ski bum. " Now he
is the general chairman of the 2016 Ryder
Cup at Hazeltine, the biggest golf event in
the world. It's a lofty position, and it's not
something Hunt takes for granted.
" You grow up watching golf on television
and seeing the Masters, Ryder Cup,
PGA Championships and U.S. Opens,
and all these mythical figures, " Hunt says.
" And then here I am, somehow swept into
this environment where I am able to witness
the inside workings of what is the
greatest game-it has truly been a gift. "
Hunt's passion for golf-along with his
vocational skills-prepared him for his
responsibilities of general chair, which includes
representing Hazeltine's interest in
its partnership with the PGA of America,
and overseeing sales and marketing, community
outreach and the volunteer staff.
While in Ogden, he ran a community
newspaper for the local area (and later
sold it), but it was at nearby Snowbird
resort that he met Pat Fallon of Fallon
McElligott advertising, and decided to return
to Minnesota to work for the agency.
" I was about the 40th employee, and
we had just won The Wall Street Journal
account, " Hunt says. " It was the start of
their recognition as one of, it not the most
creative agency in the world. "
12
MINNESOTAGOLFER Summer 2015
Patrick Hunt
" It wasn't something that I intended to do.
I just kind of got swept up into it. "
Hunt spent a few years at another
agency before founding his own-now
partnered with vice president and chief
creative officer Doug Adkins.
Hunt's father taught him to play golf
while growing up in his native Wisconsin,
but the sport really took hold when he
joined Hazeltine, looking for a challenge.
" Irv Fish was a principle at Fallon
and a Hazeltine member, and he sponsored
me, " Hunt recalls. " But just like
why I picked Snowbird, I wanted to be
challenged every day. I picked a ski area
for the ski area, not for the other things
around it. I looked at Hazeltine the same
way-I just want to be challenged every
day. "
Hunt was at Hazeltine only a couple of
years before the late Bill Travis, general
chair of the 2002 PGA Championship,
tapped him for the executive committee
to run the sales and marketing effort. He
did the same for the 2009 PGA Championship,
which included corporate hospitality
sales, public relations and marketing.
Hunt was then recommended and
approved for the Ryder Cup general chair
position. He says it is a huge job, but " a
labor of love. "
" It's an honor, I can't deny that, " Hunt
says. " It's been a fantastic experience. I've
got a fantastic team around me that extends
beyond just the executive committee
into the membership at large. "
Hunt, who is 55 and a former MGA
marketing chair, says the role of general
chair was never something he sought, but
certainly a privilege that he relishes.
" It wasn't something that I intended to
do or tried to make happen, " he says. " I
just kind of got swept up into it. And to
see my family and friends and everybody
experience [being a part of it] is just as
rewarding. "
www.mngolf.org
PHOTO BY PAUL MARKERT
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2015
