Eric Eshleman, director of golf at the Country Club of Birmingham, was elected Vice President of the PGA of America on Friday at the association’s 110th annual meeting in Las Vegas.
Delegates elected Nathan Charnes, general manager of WingHaven Country Club in O’Fallon, Missouri, as the association’s 45th president. Jared Barnes, head golf professional at Cedar Ridge Golf Course in Cedar City, Utah, was elected secretary.
The PGA of America represents more than 30,000 golf professionals, and its officers serve two-year terms.
Eshleman has served as secretary since November 2024. The vice presidency has traditionally been the final step before the presidency. Charnes and his predecessor, Don Rea, each held the post before being elected president.
Rea was suspended by the board in May for the remainder of his term after months of criticism over his handling of fan behavior at the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. Charnes was named acting president and Eshleman acting vice president at that time.
RELATED: How Alabama golf grew from scraped-out sand greens to a world-class destination
Eshleman has been a PGA of America member for nearly 30 years.
He was named director of golf at the Country Club of Birmingham in 2006 after five years as the club’s director of instruction, and he has taught PGA Tour players Graeme McDowell, Patton Kizzire and Paul Dunne, as well as former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
He received the PGA of America’s Golf Professional of the Year Award in 2019, the highest annual honor the association gives a member. He served as District 3 director from 2021 to 2024, representing the Alabama-NW Florida, Gulf States and Tennessee sections, and before that held two-year terms as secretary, vice president, president and honorary president of the Alabama-NW Florida PGA Section.
The Country Club of Birmingham congratulated Eshleman on Friday.
“CCB is so proud to celebrate our very own Director of Golf, Eric Eshleman, as he takes on the role of Vice President of the PGA of America, following his service as Secretary,” the club said. “A well-deserved honor for an outstanding leader, golfer and friend.”
Charnes said the association’s members “are the heart and soul of the game.”
Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.
