This story first appeared in the Fall 2024 edition of Northern Ohio Golfer Magazine, the official print publication of the Northern Ohio Golf Association. NOGA members who provide a mailing address in GHIN receive a copy mailed to their home twice per year. Not yet a NOGA member? Join for 2025 now!
If she isn’t playing golf, watching golf, reading about golf, or talking about golf, Dawn Swit is thinking about playing golf, watching golf, reading about golf, or talking about golf.
That’s the way it has been for the last several years, maybe even longer.
Maybe it was when she picked up a club for the first time shortly after earning her master’s degree from Ashland University, where she initially went as a basketball recruit.
Or maybe it was when she felt that first solid contact, heard the sweet ‘click’ of metal meeting surlyn, and watched with joy as the ball soared exactly as she intended.
Or maybe it was when she made that first 40-foot, left-to-right downhiller that resulted in a par or (please, oh please) a birdie.
The details of when, how, or where it happened are not important. What is important is that it happened, and Dawn Swit — like many of us — instantly fell visor-over-spikes in love with the game.
“I love golf,” she said recently. “It’s a central part of my life.”
It’s no longer just the physicality of golf, the act of getting out and playing. Her love of the game has expanded to include the intellectual side: the sometimes-complicated rules, the inner workings of organizations on the local, national, and international levels, and the never-ending argument of having to play the ball where it lies, even if it’s in some nitwit’s fairway divot.
All of the above have led Swit to the position she is in today with the Northern Ohio Golf Association and the position she will ascend to in the coming years.
Today, Swit is the second vice president on the NOGA Executive Board, the first woman to assume that position.
In 2029, she will become the first woman in 119 years to become President of NOGA.
“Being the first woman in a leadership role on the NOGA Board is a huge honor for me,” she said. “I love being on the board. When I attended my first meeting, I said, ‘I am with my people.’ I hung on every word that was said. I found it exciting to be there. We go through all these topics that might seem mundane to most people, things like running tournaments and how we might make the game better. Hearing about how the USGA works with all the other AGAs, and what Robb is doing with NOGA to further the game of golf. That is really exciting for me to be a part of the game at this level, from a different perspective.”
That Swit is a woman is of no consequence – and never has been – to NOGA Chief Executive Officer Robb Schulze.
“Gender has never been a discussion,” said Schulze. “We simply want the best people for the job, and we have always felt Dawn fit that role. She is engaged with the board and in the game. She asks questions and really gets involved. That’s what we want from any of our members. She is intelligent, an excellent player, a rules official, and understands all aspects. She is the entire package.”
Swit, 51, became a USGA Certified Expert Rules Official earlier this year. It is a status not easily obtained. The test contains 100 questions. Candidates must correctly answer 90 or more to progress from Advanced to Expert.
Not only is Swit a member of the NOGA Board, but she also has a similar role with the Cleveland Animal Protective League and the First Tee of Cleveland.
She has competed in high-level amateur events, winning the 2023 Cleveland Women’s Golf Association Championship and qualifying for and playing in the 2024 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship.
Swit took time from the course and the NOGA boardroom to answer a few questions about – what else? – the game of golf.
Q: What made you so interested in the inner workings of an organization like NOGA?
A: “An existing board member asked if I would be interested in a board position, and I definitely was. So, it felt like becoming a board member was a natural extension, as it gave me the opportunity to participate in the game from a different perspective. So, it seemed like a natural fit.”
Q: Robb Schulze describes the NOGA Board as a “strategy board.” Do you have certain things in mind that you would like to see changed?
A: “Change because it’s broken? No. There is nothing that I would change because it’s not working well. I think Robb, the board, and the organization always look for things we could do differently to make it better. A better experience for the players. How do we get more people interested in playing in tournaments? Should we run more tournaments? Are we geographically reaching everyone we want to reach? I think we should always look for things to do differently or better to expand the game of golf.”
Q: Do you enjoy being in charge?
A: “I like working with smart, motivated people who have similar interests to mine. NOGA officers are a collaborative and they are there to support Robb and the NOGA mission. I enjoy being in a collaborative group of that nature.”
Q: What one golf rule would you like to see changed?
A: “The common answer is when a ball lands in a fairway divot. If you hit a perfect drive and your ball lands in a fresh fairway divot it seems unfair and unnecessarily punitive that you must play the ball as it lies.”
Q: What is the best thing about amateur golf?
A: “Without question, the World Handicap System. Everyone can compete against everyone. There is no other sport where you can compete against an expert and compete on the same playing field. It is fantastic.”
Q: What is your handicap?
A: “I’m between a 2 and a 3. I fluctuate. I try not to look at it every day. Some people look at it every day. But to me, it’s like stepping on a scale every day to see what you weigh. I kinda know where I am. Probably a 2.5 right now, but I bounce around.”
Q: What is the best women’s amateur tournament you have ever played in?
A: “It has to be the Cleveland Women’s Golf Association Championship. It’s a 100-year-old organization, but it’s still so well attended. Over the years, women have shown up as strangers and have become friends. It’s a full field with great players at all levels. It is intensely competitive but there is a camaraderie. It is the culmination of our season, and we celebrate all the champions in all the different flights. I think people love that week.”
Q: What is your favorite course in Northeast Ohio?
A: My husband and I are members at Chagrin Valley, and I am a member at Mayfield-Sand Ridge. I love them both. But I would say my favorite course is Mayfield. The history of Mayfield is amazing. I love the history of Mayfield and I love the challenge it presents. There are a bunch of blind shots. It is very getable but also very challenging. Also, you are in the middle of a city but see no houses. It’s really pretty special.”
Q: What is your favorite course in the country?
A: “The Ocean Course at Kiawah.”
Q: How about internationally?
A: Kingsbarns Golf Links, Scotland. It’s fantastic. It’s near St. Andrews.
Q: What’s in your bag?
A: “I play Ping irons and wedges, a Callaway driver, woods and hybrids and a TaylorMade Spider putter, the Callaway Chrome Soft ball, the TruTrack. It’s the one that looks like a soccer ball, and I play that ball for a number of reasons. I never have to worry about identifying my ball. Is that my white ball, or yours? It’s mine because it has a different design. It’s just one less thing to worry about on the golf course.”
Q: Steel or graphite?
A: Graphite.
Q: What else?
A: “An old Bushnell Rangefinder without slope, a small brush for cleaning grooves, two Sharpies, a snack bar, light rain jacket, bag tags from big events that I’ve played and an occasional, forgotten, slimy black banana that I find smooshed at the bottom. I painted the Rangefinder an obnoxious bright pink and green and put my name on it. It’s so ugly and old I hope it would be returned to me if I lost it. I also like that it doesn’t have the slope feature. That way I don’t have to turn it off in tournament play.”
Q: We hear you fancy an assortment of head covers.
A: “My woods and hybrids all have head covers. I look at head covers as I look at jewelry. They are accessories to make your bag look good. I have a variety of covers from the different places I have played or visited, and I swap them out occasionally to keep it fun.”
Q: Speaking of making your bag look good, how about yours?
A: “I have a Sun Mountain with colors of Masters green, white and pink. I like it so much I bought a second one as a backup for when this one gets worn out.”
Q: What was your best round ever?
A: “That’s an easy one. I was 2-over in the second round of the U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Fox Chapel this past summer. I was in the top 20 of a field of mostly professionals. So, for me I was playing so well and I had a bunch of family and friends there following. It was magical. Does that sound cheesy?”
Nothing cheesy about it.
