Halfway Through My Front 9
Whether I like it or not, my upbringing in golf did not put me on course to become a PGA Tour player like I dreamt of, rather I was on a trajectory of becoming a PGA Professional. I grew up just outside of Princeton, New Jersey and spent every summer in high school at the local municipal golf course, Mercer Oaks. My dad would drop me off at the course in the morning before work and my mom would pick me up after work. I spent every day chipping, pitching, and putting if I didn’t have another $4 for another bucket of balls, or kicking the machine for a couple more balls to hit. I would get paired with an organized threesome and walk 18 holes with them. We spent 4 hours together on the course and I would then join them in the bar for a turkey club and iced tea after the round. Some days I would play 36 holes and my mom would watch me walk off the 18th green as I would be chatting it up with a group of 60 year old guys that I just met hours earlier but you would swear I knew them for years given the way we interacted. I spent 4 consecutive summers with this schedule and I loved every minute of it. Being paired with random groups made me comfortable communicating and interacting with people from different walks of life which is imperative as a PGA Professional but in general, helped me grow as a person.
As a kid, I would pick my mom up from the train station after her commute home from NYC and would watch businessmen leave the train dressed in suits, carrying a briefcase and I immediately knew that wasn’t for me. She discovered the PGA Professional Golf Management Program and brought it to my attention. I then enrolled at Penn State University in the PGM program and from that point forward the golf world opened up for me. The opportunity allowed, me, just a kid paying $4 for a bucket of balls at the local Muni, to work at three Top 100 golf courses across the country, live in areas of the country I never thought I would, spend my senior year spring break with my best friends at the home of golf in Scotland, and spend four consecutive years working at Augusta National Golf Club during the week of The Masters. I am incredibly grateful for the life experiences I’ve had over the last 15 years and the best times in my life can be traced back to the game of golf.
The PGM program required students to take part in internships during the summer months. I viewed this as a prime opportunity to travel and work at places I read about and saw on TV as a kid. After my Sophomore year at Penn State, I went to Boston and spent back to back summers at The Country Club in Brookline working under PGA Head Golf Professional, Brendan Walsh. Brendan showed me what it looks like to put pride into your work and to be a CEO of a golf operation. On my first day back for my second season, while walking from the employee parking lot across the 17th fairway and behind the 15th green, I said "Good morning” to Tom Brady as he strolled to the 16th tee box along with a member. A couple months later, the club hosted the 2013 U.S. Amateur where I was able to walk the fairways and meet future PGA Tour players such as eventual champion, Matt Fitzpatrick.
After the U.S. Amateur was completed I packed my bags and flew out to Bandon, Oregon and spent the next three months on internship at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. I’ll never forget opening the golf shop doors in the morning and listening to the sound of the waves of the Pacific Ocean crash as if they were right out front. I was able to play 4 golf courses which are all rated in the Top 100 in Golf Digest’s Top 100 Public Courses and practice as much as I wanted to. Branching out and moving from one coast to another and gaining exposure to a resort setting instead of a private club setting allowed me to continue to grow as a person and professional.
As a Junior at Penn State, I interviewed and was hired on to work the week of The Masters at Berckmans Place. Dressed in the Augusta National white caddie attire, I read putts for patrons on one of the three replica greens and conversed with them about their experience. I was able to interact with PGA Professionals from across the country that were hired to facilitate the golf operation at Berckmans Place and it is also where I would go on to meet my future boss and current mentor, Shaun McElroy. I was fortunate enough to continue working that week for the next three years. Shaun and I managed the trophy display table for the Drive, Chip, and Putt National Finals where we prepared the trophies for the winners in real time as they came off the 18th green. I was able to walk the property with my friends and stand in awe of Amen Corner, witness shots into the 16th green, and hear the roars from all corners of the property. A friend of mine was chilly one morning and a member of Augusta National offered him his own sweater. To return it later in the day, we were told to deliver it to him at Butler Cabin. I couldn’t believe that I was standing in Butler Cabin, at Augusta National Golf Club working during the week of The Masters, it was a dream come true.
During my senior year, our PGM cohort traveled to Scotland and played golf at The Old Course at St. Andrews, Muirfield, and Carnoustie just to name a few. I’ll never forget spending time with my best friends in the home of golf.
After my Senior year, I was on my final internship at Congressional Country Club. One morning I woke up to 30 golf carts parked outside the employee house behind the 1st green. Another staff member picked us up on a cart and said “there’s only one man that needs 30 golf carts to play golf” and an hour later we were in the Director of Golf’s office having a meeting about the President of The United States playing golf and how to handle any questions. I fielded a call from The President’s caddie while they were on the 9th tee box. He began to order a turkey sandwich. I frantically wrote down the exact order and walked it to the kitchen where line cooks were slicing turkey and meticulously crafting the world’s best sandwich. As I approached the group on the 9th green, secret service stopped me and fanned the sandwich open like a book and held the can of soda into the sunlight. That night when I got home, my friends and I couldn’t stop talking about how neat of a day we just had.
Immediately following my time at Congressional, I packed the car and drove down I-95 and spent the next two winter seasons at Pine Tree Golf Club in Boynton Beach, Florida. During my time there I was able to watch LPGA Hall of Fame member Beth Daniel hit balls, converse with Gary Player, meet incredible members, and spend my first winter after college in South Florida. After a quick 4 months I packed the car and drove off to Jackson, Wyoming to work at Shooting Star under Shaun McElroy.
Shooting Star is a high-end private country club at the base of the Jackson Hole Ski Resort. It was my first time in the mountains and was a change from my previous work experiences. While in Jackson, I was able to visit Yellowstone National Park, spend about 4 days a week in Grand Teton National Park, meet and create friendships with new co-workers, and leave the east coast and see another area of the country. From a quality of life aspect, these were the best two summers of my life. I was able to grow as a person and make incredible memories with friends and family.
I now live in a small one bedroom apartment in Chicago and work at Sunset Ridge Country Club located just north of the city. The experiences that I was able to create with friends and family are invaluable and are things that I will remember forever. Writing this allowed me to reflect on my career and life up to this point while expressing gratitude. Gratitude not only for the game of golf for allowing these events to be possible, but also for my parents’ support of my enthusiasm in the game.
My hope is that the game continues to grow, and that the kids that are kicking the ball machine for a couple more balls, can go on to have incredible golf experiences of their own.
The newsletter is titled “Halfway Through My Front 9” because my goal is to grow the game, and the business of the game, and I believe that journey has just begun. I invite you to share your golf stories and memories that you cherish in the comments below. I hope that you subscribe to this newsletter and join me as I work towards growing the game with positive and meaningful golf content. Please share this newsletter with someone in your network that you think would find this content beneficial. As always, thank you for the support.
I thought for sure there would be something about going to Lottie’s with your current co-workers in this article, because if those aren’t awesome memories, I don’t know what are… keep up the good work, twizzy.