Golf with Women

Arthur Little was in the venture capital business for thirty years, with twenty-five years at Narragansett Capital Corporation and five years at Little Investment Company. He was president of the National Association of Small Business Investment Companies and served on the board of the National Venture Capital Association.

He is affiliate member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and has taken and passed fourteen of the GCSAA’s educational programs.

He was the coach of the Sacopee Valley High School golf team from 2000 to 2005.

Jann Leeming was in the venture capital business for fifteen years at Narragansett Capital and the Venture Capital Fund of New England. For ten years, she owned and ran About Women, Inc. a firm that provided research and consulting to Fortune 1000 companies to assist them in understanding women’s buying motivations and purchase behaviors.

Little and Leeming were presenters at the 2004 National Golf Course Owners of America convention on the subject of tee positioning. In 1996, they purchased Province Lake Golf out of bankruptcy. They owned the course for ten seasons and sold it in 2005. At the time they purchased it, the course was run down and had a terrible reputation. It is also located in a very rural area on the Maine/New Hampshire border. With the pure profit motive as their motivation and guide, their job was to rebuild and rejuvenate the course, its buildings and infrastructure with the goal of attracting more golfers to play the course.

Jon Last is founder and President of Sports and Leisure Research Group, a White Plains, NY based full service marketing research consultancy that supports leading brands in sports marketing, travel, media and leisure categories.

Last’s previous experience includes more than seven years as Vice President of Corporate Marketing, Research and Brand Development for Conde Nast’s Golf Digest Companies division, and eight years at the PGA of America, where he oversaw all marketing research, consumer marketing and retailing activities surrounding the PGA Championship, Ryder Cup Matches and PGA Golf Expositions.

A frequent speaker at national industry conferences and a recognized expert in the golf, travel and media research space, Jon Last currently serves on the national boards of directors for Marketing Research Institute International (MRII), The Executive Women’s Golf Association (EWGA), Council for Marketing and Opinion Research (CMOR) and is immediate past president of the Marketing Research Association (MRA). He received MRA’s national Award of Excellence in 2004.  Last holds an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and is a magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University.

Karen Moraghan is a seasoned expert in hospitality and golf marketing strategy, a long-time producer of national sporting events, and is considered one of the golf industry’s leading media relations and marketing specialists.

Widely known and respected by industry leaders, the media and golf executives, Karen’s media relations strategies have enhanced profits and visibility for her clients and propelled Hunter Public Relations • Special Events (HPR) to the forefront of the worlds of hospitality and golf.  Karen possesses an expertise in positioning and opening properties — including ten hotels and nearly 50 golf courses since starting her career.

Over the past 20 years, HPR has designed and implemented some of the nation’s most momentous special events, including the Reunion of U.S. Open Champions at the 100th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and the following day staged the memorable and emotional Payne Stewart Memorial Service on the 18th green of Pebble Beach Golf Links.  For the USGA’s Centennial Celebration, six major events were executed, including star-studded galas in New York and Los Angeles, the launch of a book and film series, a traveling exhibit, a national media campaign, and the creation of a speaker’s bureau and member outreach program.

Prior to forming Hunter Public Relations • Special Events in 1990, Karen was vice president of marketing for Pebble Beach Company, where she spearheaded global marketing campaigns for The Lodge at Pebble Beach, Pebble Beach Golf Links, The Inn and Links at Spanish Bay, Spyglass Hill and Del Monte Golf Courses, and scenic 17-Mile Drive.  She started her career with Sheraton Hotels in the southwest region public relations office, based in Los Angeles.

Karen is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers, serves on the boards of the Upper Raritan Watershed Association, the Executive Women’s Golf Association and the University of California, San Diego Alumni Association. She is a national committee member for Special Olympics Golf and a member of the Diversity Task Force of Golf 20/20, an industry-wide initiative designed to grow the game.