Teeing up a career in golf
As part of a sport and recreation management Business of Golf practicum, 12 University of Iowa students spent a day learning the ins and outs of running Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City, including helping out the grounds crew.
More than 26 million Americans played golf on a course in 2023, according to the National Golf Foundation. That’s 2 million more than in 2018. And that doesn’t count the people who took part in ever-expanding off-course opportunities, such as simulators or at venues like Topgolf.
With this resurgence in popularity also comes a growing demand for jobs in the golf industry, in areas such as facility operations, retail, supplies and manufacturing, events, associations, and tourism.
Sport-management related textbooks, however, tend to whiff when it comes to golf, says Jeremy Parrish, an assistant professor of instruction in the University of Iowa’s sport and recreation management program.
“There are many facets of the golf industry that can lead to opportunities that students just don’t know about until you get a little deeper in the rough, if you’ll excuse my pun,” Parrish says. “But there’s just not a lot of great resources to say, ‘This is how this works, and here are how all these different industry pieces are connected.’”
To better help open students’ eyes to the opportunities within the world of golf, Parrish created a new summer practicum, The Business of Golf.
The 12 students who were chosen for the unique field experience met and networked with a broad range of people who work in the field, from the PGA to local golf courses and venues. They went behind-the-scenes at Finkbine Golf Course, X-Golf (an indoor simulator), and Pinseekers (a golf entertainment venue), and they volunteered at two local golf events for Special Olympics Iowa and the Iowa women’s basketball team.
The practicum culminated with the students working at the John Deere Classic, an annual PGA Tour event held in Silvis, Illinois. They helped officials set up for the event and worked in various capacities at the tournament.
Peter Zucker, manager of tournament services for the John Deere Classic, got a BA in enterprise leadership and a minor in sport and recreation management from Iowa in 2020. When Parrish reached out to his former student about helping with the new practicum, Zucker said yes immediately.
“It sounded exactly like something I would have been interested in when I was a student,” Zucker says. “Hands-on experience is something that can’t really be taught in the classroom. You can bring in a guest speaker or talk about what it’s like, but it doesn’t match seeing it firsthand. Being able to see how many volunteers and how many vendors it takes to put on an event, seeing that and helping out provides a different perspective.
“I thought it would be a great experience, and I was excited to help try to facilitate that for this group of Iowa students at the John Deere Classic.”
“You can only learn so much and practice so much in class. Getting hands-on experience and working with the people who actually do this for a living is so important. There were a few long days, but you didn’t feel like you were stuck in a classroom!”
Mason Richman’s father is a PGA professional, so Mason knows more about the world of golf than the average student. However, the sport and recreation management graduate student from Leawood, Kansas, says there was still much to learn.
“Having a dad who worked in it, I’ve seen a lot. I caddied, I picked up balls, I worked in the range shop,” says Richman, who graduated from Iowa with a BS in sport and recreation management in December 2023. “But to get to see it on a more professional level was pretty cool. I have a much better appreciation of the sweat and hard work that goes into these tournaments and events.”
Richman also appreciated the networking opportunities that the practicum provided.
“It’s one of the biggest things that helps you get your foot in the door,” Richman says. “Meeting and talking with people in the field allows you to ask how they got to where they’re at. It gives you a path to follow and things to work on. The networking in this practicum was really good.”
The Business of Golf summer practicum came about in part due to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Jeremy Parrish, assistant professor of instruction in the University of Iowa’s sport and recreation management program, has taken students the past several summers to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The unique practicum allowed students to learn from and network with a broad range of people involved with the Olympic Movement, including the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the National Governing Bodies Council. They also lived alongside the country’s elite athletes and coaches at the training center for a week.
Parrish says he expects the Team USA practicum to resume next year when Olympics officials aren’t swamped supporting their athletes at the Games.
Sarah Hoffman agrees.
“There are so many different things you can do within golf, and we got to meet a bunch of people who do them,” says the fourth-year student from Johnston, Iowa, working toward a major in communication studies, minor in sport and recreation management, and certificate in event management. “In fact, one of my classmates who knows he wants to work in golf reached out to one of the speakers and he is already giving him a lot of advice and talking him through what he can do to get a job. That is just so helpful.”
Hoffman also appreciated the hands-on approach of the practicum.
“You can only learn so much and practice so much in class,” Hoffman says. “Getting hands-on experience and working with the people who actually do this for a living is so important. There were a few long days, but you didn’t feel like you were stuck in a classroom!”
Before the John Deere Classic, Zucker gave the students prompts to think about while working and come up with proposals for potential changes.
“Along with giving them a taste of how much goes into running a PGA Tour event, I wanted to hear what they thought we could do to improve the John Deere Classic going forward,” Zucker says.
Zucker says he was impressed with the students’ work at the Classic.
“I was especially surprised with how efficient they were getting things done. I expected the tasks they were assigned to take a lot longer,” Zucker says. “They were definitely prepared and ready to work.”
Neither Hoffman nor Richman saw themselves working in golf before the summer practicum, but both say it’s now on the table.
“I had always thought I’d work in football or maybe hockey, but this class has definitely opened my eyes to what’s possible in golf,” Hoffman says.
Sports and recreation don’t happen sitting at a desk. The University of Iowa sport and recreation management program takes students outside the classroom and into the front offices, event facilities, marketing agencies, and broadcasting booths that make athletics and fitness come alive.
As for Richman, he says he always saw himself coaching football, but he’s keeping his options open.
“It’s good to try new things. The worst that can happen is you say, ‘OK, this isn’t for me,’” Richman says. “But then you know that before you graduate and get into the workforce. It’s good to keep an open mind to all the different things you can do.”
Parrish says the sport and recreation management faculty are passionate about creating field experience opportunities like The Business of Golf practicum for students.
“These experiences set our students apart when they go into interviews,” Parrish says. “They can go in with confidence and speak with pride about the work they have done. They can say, ‘I worked at this event,’ or ‘I presented an idea that was actually implemented.’”
Parrish goes on to say that “these unique experiential learning opportunities offered at Iowa help set our program apart from many other sport and recreation management programs across the country.”
One of the PGA of America recruiters who spoke with the students told them that there are more than 2 million jobs associated with golf. Parrish says he thinks that made students sit up and think that this was something they could really pursue.
Along with the variety and number of career options, Parrish says there’s one more advantage to working in the field of golf: “Many nice golf courses and events take place in desirable parts of the country and the world, so that’s a nice bonus!”
