05Glide

Yes, he's getting it together, probably just not as quickly as I thought he would. :) I'm from the Nam era so my way of looking at the "Thank a vet" is very different from how they are these days. Vent Mode On #1 I mean no disrespect to anyone that serves or has served ! Personally I find the "Thank a Vet" as of late a bit too much. Yes those from Nam were treated badly no doubt, but trying to make up for it by over-thanking anyone in uniform is disrespectful to those who served in battle. A guy a used to work with, was stationed in Minnesota in 1991, never left the country. After Gulf1 and the Thank a Vet idea, he acted like the world owed him. Unfortunately I've seen too many stateside's take whatever they can get just because they wore a uniform and that bothers me. Having said that though, millions have served over the years and most came out, got home and started again. Vent Mode Off

Update After I got over the shock of my son wanting to change majors, we talked a great deal about his future direction and plans. I did NOT push him either way, only he had to make decisions that would effect the rest of his life. And after discussing it with course management, his profs and some soul-searching, he decided he'd come too far to quit and that he needed to learn to ignore idiots, including one ex-student that was really pushing him to quit the program. I also understand one of the members he respects talked to him. So all is OK again. "But the big question I haven't heard anyone talk about is...did you improve your golf game?" There are many sides to the golf "industry", IMO the PGA accredited PGM program isn't about improving your golf score. To me that's an expensive way to go for a better round of golf and those are my tax dollars you're spending. My son's spring semester classes are Turf Management, Marketing, Law and Legal issue classes. That is a lot of work for a lower round. But to answer your question... When my son started 21/2 years ago he had an 8-10 hdcp, he had good and bad days. I felt his golf game was too inconsistent. Now he has a consistent swing, most of the time he's hitting the greens in regulation and 2 putting. His hdcp is 2-4 now. So yes his game has improved. Good Luck

Well after all that... I present this information simply for parents and the soon to be college students as something to consider while looking into a PGM career, your experience may be totally different, I hope it is. My son interned at a private country club for his Sophomore Spring 2014 semester. The course asked him to stay on as a regular employee for the Summer, so he stayed in Florida. I went and visited my son a couple of weeks ago. His golf game looked good, but I could sense something was bothering him. During dinner he asked me "Would you be upset if I changed majors?" Boy was I shocked. "Dad I just can't see myself doing this for the rest of my life. The career path to become a club pro is long, the guys I work for aren't making much money, some of the members and their guests are just a pain*, and working 10-12 hours a day got old fast". *He then gave me a few examples, he understands personal interaction can be a pain anytime and anywhere, it's part of life. I saw one adult guest act like a total jerk because he didn't understand country club policy and then to take out on an employee is unacceptable. When we visited college 3 years ago, we heard more than once that the drop-out rate for PGM is roughly 50%. I attributed that to the extra golf work involved along with academic work, I now question that. I met a few students and club workers that had already or were thinking about leaving PGM for reasons similar to what my son mentioned. I would like to suggest that perspective students and parents look closely at the downside (that's never mentioned) during their decision process. Good Luck,

As I read the post, I began thinking the poster may be a shill. When I saw "our graduates", I was sure.

I've wanted to make a comment similar to yours, but hesitated to. The indoor place I mentioned when my son was 15, he had a nice "20 something" fella as an instructor, but was clueless about the finite elements of golf. His teaching ability was severely lacking and when I pointed out the problems to him, I got a blank stare. I went to the owner of the place and he was all lip service. Fast Forward to Summer 2013 My son interned at a local country club. He was showing 8-12 year olds how to hold a club (I hesitate to say he was teaching a class). He noticed someone off in a corner just watching. As he walked away, the fella came up and asked "Aren't you the fella I had as a student at XXXXXX"? My son recognized him, "Oh yeah". The fella apologized about how poorly he did and told him "Make sure you tell your Dad, I'm really sorry, that place is a joke". He asked my son what he was doing, and my son told him he was in PGM. The fella told my son he took the quick way and was sorry he did. "Now looking back I can see I didn't get the education you're getting and I'm stuck".

I like your term and comments "education inflation", all very true as I see it. My father quit school to help support his family during the depression. Yet he worked his way up to Senior R&D; Engineer, working for the same company from after WWII until he retired, and with 3 patents to his name. In the business world 99% of the time having a degree is a foregone conclusion. On the other hand, except for a quick one-liner "he attended...", how often do we hear them discuss a tour player's college let alone any degree. I guess it's all relative.

"Even the less famous names on there (e.g. Coastal Carolina, Campbell) etc are good, solid, regionally accredited universities. Don't saddle yourself with boatloads of debt to go to a dubious, for-profit school." I'd be cautious regardless, do your homework. Out-of-State tuition almost doubles my son's college tuition costs. We spent 2 weeks just looking at and going over the PGM accredited universities websites and then how their PGM program was presented. As mentioned, weather was a factor and distance from home was also a factor. That got us down to Coastal Carolina, Florida State, North Carolina State, Florida Gulf Coast (boy did they mess-up the March Madness brackets) and Arizona State (which dropped the PGM program shortly there-after, talk about distance?). Good Luck

And I respectfully disagree with that. If you're missing "weaker points of your game", because "your playing 18 holes in warmer climate" that's a problem in itself. Playing indoors certainly can not replicate regular play out on the course. The dynamic variables simply aren't there. The following relates to my son, YMMV. He was having some minor swing problems before starting college. Hours at the driving range just didn't quite suffice. Once he started playing on a course regularly he was able to work out those issues. He credits being on the course so often with the improvement. BTW, prior to the PGM program, he really hadn't had professional lessons, we did try one indoor place for a couple of months when he was 15, but that place is a joke and we stopped, in fact, they destroyed his swing. He went back to working on his own and got his 8 handicap back over that summer. He's now has a 4 and still improving, so he's getting there.

Thank You same to you and Happy Holidays

No. My son and I live in Ohio and I didn't think golf work indoors during winter was the best and he quickly agreed, so we looked at the warmer climates. No offense meant, but I would prefer not to start a one university vs the other(s) discussion. Each is different I'm sure, but they all adhere to PGA requirements. As a side note; I liked this college after reading their website and how the university and PGM itself were presented, he liked a different one. After visiting the colleges he decided to apply to this one. After getting past freshman jitters and being homesick, he began to like where he's at and got to golf almost everyday. Now he says he can't imagine being anywhere else.

Yes, this is my first post. I was searching the web regarding PGM job placement, came across this thread and decided to comment. This is more for the parents reading this. My son is a PGM sophomore at a PGA accredited university. The program is long, but along with his Class A card he will also have a B.S. degree. He's talked about golf as a career since he was 12. As a sophomore in high school he started talking about going the quick way, one of the "golf" academies. I told him I would not go along with the quick way, I wanted him to have a degree to fall back on. After finals this week, he admited that although the process is not quick, he's definitely glad he's taking the time (and my $$ ha-ha) to do the 4.5 year university route and earn a degree as well. As a father I would also comment I can see he's maturing, taking complete responsibility and becoming an adult. I feel the college environment is responsible for that (he's 1,200 miles away). I'd question if the golf academies would have that kind of influence let alone even care. Good Luck and Hit 'Em Straight