Pro Golf Career College

[SticksStones]

Hi all first time poster. I'm 26 years old married with 3 kids. Just recently decided to dive into the School side of golf and have no clue what to expect. Anyone on here attended a Golf Career school and if so did it pay off for you? I'm really excited and nervous but know it will be a good a experience. Any input would be great I start this August.

[BrushCaddy]

Welcome to the site.  I've seen advertisements for golf schools on TV and I'm curious what they are all about.  Do you mind saying what school you're attending?  Just curious...

[SticksStones]

Pro Golf Career Collage in Temecula, CA.

[Jayhawk golfer]

I used to live in Temecula, and heard nothing but good things about the school their.  Not really any info, but just good words.

[clubchamp]

The golf industry is very tough to crack and depending on what you want to do could be even harder. However it's not far off from anything else in the fact that you will probably start out in a low level position but if you make the right contacts you will find yourself in a good spot eventually.

[LongballGer]

I went to the golf academy of america.

Here is what you can expect:

+ The staff is very friendly

+ Great opportunity to work on your game (got cameras that you can use, you get free range balls etc...)

+ Relaxed atmosphere

+ There is a tournament once a week

+ you get to play some nice courses

+ you´re in for a great time because you´ll have a lot of free time

- lots of rich, snobby kids

- Everything is extremely basic and easy.

- Staff only knows everything on a very basic level (teach the wrong ball flight laws, got some of the most basic golf rules wrong etc...)

- The degree is looked somewhat down upon when you try to apply for jobs.

- They claim to have a 90% placement rate, but in reality only 3 people got a job out of 35 that were in my class.

[SticksStones]

Thanks for the responses. I'll give it a go and see what happens. If anything it should help my game a ton.

[Doctorfro]

I'd say if you know exactly what you want to do then it makes the focus easier.  This fall, my son will be attending one of the 20 universities in the country that offers PGM.  He was interested in it but was not sure the direction he wanted to go.  Since the program is very rigorous, he has chosen not to pursue that curriculum/degree.  Didn't want to put it all that time unless he knew he wanted to be a club pro, instructor, etc.  So knowing up front makes the chosen path well, not necessarily easier, but more productive...focused.

[Texian]

Originally Posted by Doctorfro

I'd say if you know exactly what you want to do then it makes the focus easier.  This fall, my son will be attending one of the 20 universities in the country that offers PGM.  He was interested in it but was not sure the direction he wanted to go.  Since the program is very rigorous, he has chosen not to pursue that curriculum/degree.  Didn't want to put it all that time unless he knew he wanted to be a club pro, instructor, etc.  So knowing up front makes the chosen path well, not necessarily easier, but more productive...focused.

One of the great things about a PGM program is that you get a business degree, and not just training in golfing aspects. I'm not familiar with how much of that you get in the type of school you're planning to attend.

I do know that the PGA is particular about which universities they allow to host PGM programs, so that limits the number of graduates somewhat.

[Doctorfro]

This is very true and a good sidebar to the whole thing.  My son's drawback was the fact that when you are not in school you are doing internships at every summer break with one of them extending into the schoolyear.  It's a 4 1/2 year program.  One really coll thing at his school is that in five years with all the right classes you could have a masters in business which would be such a great thing to put on the resume.  Frankly, if you really want to be in the business, this is a great program.