For many of us it’s a dream – a career in the sport we love.
So if you’ve ever yearned to get on the ladder into the golf industry, or your children are considering a career in golf, then a new PGA campaign can point you in the right direction.
#PGADraft2020 shines a light on the range of career options available to anyone considering making golf their profession, as well as those who may never have given it a thought before.
It’s brought to life using the PGA’s greatest asset, its members, to explore their career paths and the training programme that set them on their way.
Those who click on to the campaign website will hear from household names, including Robert Rock, David Leadbetter, and Denis Pugh, about how they got their first foot in the door and how they made the most of it.
And they’ll also be able to learn about YouTube stars, international retailers, head professionals, and even golf club owners, among many others – all of whom have one thing in common, the three letters PGA after their name.
There are more than 8,000 PGA members enjoying rewarding careers in golf and employed in over 80 countries across the world as coaches, administrators, retailers, and golf club managers.
The PGA offers three routes to qualification: a Foundation Degree in Professional Golf and Applied Golf Management Studies, both in association with the University of Birmingham, and the Diploma in Higher Education in Professional Golf in association with the University of the Highlands and Islands.
The next intake for all three courses is in October and applications are open now.
To find out more about the #PGADraft2020 campaign, and its aims, we caught up with PGA chief executive Robert Maxfield…
Where did you get the idea of #PGADraft2020 from and what does it mean?
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We are responding to requests from our Members for more trainees to fill gaps in the workforce. We want to get the message out that the PGA offers brilliant, modern and relevant educational services that help our Members work in just about all areas of golf.
The Draft is a recruitment campaign in essence but it’s much more than that. We hope to stimulate potential trainees with some of the excitement of a career of golf. Above all else, we just think that anyone who enjoys a career in golf is very lucky – and I’m a case in point.
How did you bring the campaign to life?
Our greatest asset as an organisation is our membership. We wanted to take the chance to let them tell their stories and share them with a new audience.
It’s easy for us to know about the many success stories in our membership but sometimes you can forget that the outside world might not know about the exciting and rewarding careers that our Members enjoy.
Who do you want to appeal to?
Talented, aspirational lovers of golf. They have to be good players – there’s a maximum handicap of 6.4 for men and 8.4 for women – and our courses are delivered in association with highly respected academic institutions like the University of Birmingham and the University of the Highlands and Islands.
What do your trainees go on to do beyond becoming club professionals?
That’s certainly the most common career path but, as the #PGADraft2020 campaign makes clear, PGA Members go on to introduce golf to new territories, build clubs for the best players in the world, coach the best players in the world, become the best players in the world themselves and even own their own golf clubs. Our Members have a diverse bunch of skills and expertise and we’re very proud of them.
The PGA has a long history, it’s an institution in golf. This campaign is perhaps less establishment than we’ve come to expect from you?
We’re hugely proud of over a century of being at the heart of golf. But we’d like to think we’re also a rapidly modernising organisation and we’re proud of the educational opportunities we provide. The #PGADraft2020 was a chance to take what we offer to an audience of teenagers and 20-somethings and share our passion with them.
Is it a difficult time to recruit, in the midst of a global pandemic?
Golf was the first sport to be relaxed after the lockdown with high demand now evident within golf clubs.
The expertise we have in online learning is also reassuring and a unique selling point for The PGA Training Programme as, unlike traditional university programmes, we are very well placed to deliver the programme with only minor modifications necessary to some elements.
To find out more about becoming a PGA professional, visit the PGA’s Draft website.
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