2015 Golf Turf Program Internships

January 12, 2015 in 2-year, Internships, Teaching

The 6-month advanced internship program with the Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program is probably one of the most important aspects of the 18-month educational program. Students in the 2-year program are required to complete this advanced internship some time between mid-March and mid-September. The extended nature of the program means that students generally arrive before and leave after most interns. This head start gives them a huge advantage when it comes to getting to know the course and gaining the trust (and therefore added responsibility) of their employer.

Over the last few years, I have written a few articles about internships and position titles and even the shift in power that the students are now taking advantage of when it comes to an internship. Feel free to read these and let me know if I’m on point or missed the mark.

One misconception about internships is that students only want to go to either 1) Top 100 Golf Courses or 2) a course hosting a PGA or USGA event AND that these clubs basically just create glorified bunker-rakers out of the students. While the first part may be partially true (there’s definitely a draw to big name courses and events), the second part is usually far from it.

The reason I know this is because I visit each and every student mid way through their internship to assess their progress, but also to check out the internship being offered. While I have found some internships (to be frank) to be a worthless experience for the student, 90%+ of them offer an excellent experience. Some of the big name courses that offer excellent opportunities and experiences that come to mind include Merion, Baltusrol and Medinah. There are many more as well.

Another misconception is that I only send students to these big named courses and send them back to the same course each year. I’ve run some numbers and can pretty much state that this is false. Let’s look at some interesting stats since I took over the program in 2009.

Number of courses that have had an intern EVERY year?

0…Merion had a streak, but didn’t land any 2-year interns this year.

Number of times 2 students went to the same course in the same year?

4…Laurel Valley (2009), Medinah (2010), Oakmont (2014), Ballybunnion (2015)

Number of different courses hosting interns (2008-2014)?

84…

Number of Top 100 courses hosting interns in 2014?

7 courses hosting 8 interns (Ballybunion has two). Top 100 Rankings

Number of courses hosting one of my students for the first time this season (2015)?

10 (out of 20 total interns)

 

Check out the map below to see where my 20 students will be interning in 2015. It’s going to be one heck of an internship travel schedule for me. Keep an eye out for a series of tweets between late May and early July!