Albert Murdoch: The Arizona native and long-time member of the Southwest Section of the PGA was elected on Tuesday as the orgnization’s president during its annual meeting at the Sheraton Wildhorse Pass Resort. Murdoch’s term of office will run for the next two years.

“This is an exciting time in my life -- a wonderful compliment -- and I’m really looking forward to it,’’ said Murdoch, who currently is the director of golf for Las Palomas Golf Club in Puerto Penasco, Mexico (a.k.a. Rocky Point).

The election of Murdoch also marks a first of sorts,

as he will be the group’s first member/leader outside the U.S. “I guess we’re making a little history there,’’ said Murdoch, who recently moved from Payson to Mexico. “And that’s a good thing, because the golf scene south of the border is beginning to really take shape.’’

Murdoch is a native Arizonan who was born in Cottonwood, grew up in Camp Verde and played on the golf team while he attended Yavapai College in Prescott. Although he said his aspirations were to play the PGA Tour, his career path eventually turned to teaching and being a club pro.

“I was lucky in that I grew up around a great bunch of guys who were involved in the Arizona golf industry,’’ said the 51-year-old Murdoch. “One of my mentors was the late John Bowman at Lake Montezuma, but there were others, like Hub Goyen, Jim Marshall, Bobby Phillips, Ed Francese, and the Barkow brothers -- Joe and Jack -- who all played an important role in my life.’’

Murdoch began his golf career by teaching at Camelback Golf Club while he was working as a club rep for Slazenger Golf. He later taught at Club West before becoming the first director of golf at Apache Stronghold near Globe. In February, he signed on with Abigail Properties of Phoenix, which is currently developing the Las Palomas golf course and community that will open in Rocky Point some time later this year.

“I’ll still have plenty of time to take care of my duties with the Section,’’ Murdoch said. “We’ve got some very exciting things happening on that front, too.’’

Among his goals, Murdoch said, are continuing to develop the relationship between the SWPGA and the Arizona Interscholastic Association.

“We want to help the high school golf programs and the coaches in any way that we can,’’ he said. “And in that regard, we have made a large commitment to the AIA in the coming years.’’

Last year, the SWPGA provided rules officials, starters and scorers for all of the high school tournaments from Class 1-A through Class 5-A. High school coaches also were also offered clinics through the SWPGA on subjects ranging from rules to how to run a practice.

“We also will continue our efforts with Southwest Junior Tour and the Arizona Special Olympics,’’ Murdoch said. “We feel that kids are the key to the future of golf, and we want to be a big part of that.’’

Other SWPGA appointees: Brett Upper, the director of golf at Arizona Country Club, was elected as the new vice president, and Mike Wright, the director of golf at Cottonwood Country Club in Sun Lakes, was chosen as its new secretary. New board members include Don Rey, director of golf at Eagle Mountain in Fountain Hills; David Stead, the general manager at Alta Mesa Country Club in Mesa; Curt Hudek, the director of Arizona State’s professional golf management program; and Joel Schafer, director of golf at SunRidge Canyon in Fountain Hills.

NOTEWORTHY

AJGA winners: Bronson Burgoon of The Woodlands, Texas, beat Jamie Lovemark of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif, in a playoff to win the boys’ division of last weekend’s Thunderbird International Junior at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale. In the girls division, Morgan Pressel of Boca Raton, Fla., prevailed by one shot over Azahara Munoz of Spain. Top finishers among the five players from Scottsdale in the American Junior Golf Association event included Philip Francis (tie for fourth) and Drew Kittleson (sixth), and Amanda Blumenherst (tie for fourth) and Esther Choe (ninth).

Women only: Augusta Ranch Golf Club in Mesa will offer free golf lessons and other releated special events as part of Women’s Golf Week beginning this Saturday at 10:30 p.m. Other dates include June 6 (5 p.m. clinic), June 9 (5 p.m. wine & nine event) and June 11 (clinic and play with the pros). Golf clubs will be available for newcomers. For information, call (480) 354-1234 or visit www.womensgolfweek.com.