It’s Day 5, and all of us are feeling like “we’ve made it.” Today, the Seminar started a little earlier than usual, but it’s okay because we’re ready and raring to go! We were asked to arrive at the PGA Education Center between 7:30a and 7:45a so that we’d be ready to start presenting right at 8:00a instead of 8:30a. Not a problem.
This is the end of Level 3, and we’re all excited to wrap this thing up! We know why we’re here this morning, and that’s to present the Final Experience presentations that we’ve been working on all week.
Each of the five teams was assigned a PGA Growth of the Game initiative. Ours was Connecting with Her, which is pretty open-ended. As Rafael Floriani (PGA) told us at the beginning of Day 3, the hope of the PGA Education staff is that each of us will take something away from the programs introduced in these presentations back to our own facilities. We’re all tasked with the goal of elevating the PGA of America brand.
Each presentation was 20 minutes in length followed by a ten-minute Q&A and another ten minutes of feedback. Here’s a brief summary of each of the presentations in the order they were presented:
Team 2: Targeting Lapsed Seniors
This group came up with a program called the Golden Oldies Golf Organization (GO-GOs). It’s a 16-week program from April to July held Thursdays at 1:00p for seniors ages 65+. There’s a series of nine-hole, four-person scrambles preceded by 15 minutes of group instruction. Men will play from 200 yards. Women will play from 150 yards. The program emphasizes the fun and social aspects of the game, and there are no handicaps. If seniors want to tee it up in the middle of the fairway or move the ball out of the rough, that’s okay.
Team 3: Engaging the Entire Family
This group came up with a program called Fridays Fore Family. It’s a six-week program on Friday nights from mid-August through late September specifically geared toward families with children ages 13 and under. Participants get six weeks of golf instruction disguised as games ranging from Glow Golf, SNAG, and Birdie Ball as well as a movie night out on the driving range as well as an on-course three-hole scramble played from the Family Tees.
Team 1: Connecting with Her (My Team)
Our program is called Drink ‘Em & Sink ‘Em and focuses specifically on working women. Our goal is to bring more working women back to the game of golf and to emphasize the social aspects of the game. Each of our eight practice sessions starts at the bar where women can get a complimentary beer, a glass of wine, or a cocktail before heading out to learn a different aspect of the game. Each session is roughly 60 minutes in length. We also have four on-course playing opportunities utilizing a program called Operation 36. Rental clubs and daycare will be provided.
Team 4: Drive for Diversity
This group came up with a program called Play in the Sands, referring to the PGM case study, Saguaro Sands. Diversity doesn’t have to refer to race or gender (which is what I think a lot of us think of when we hear the word diversity), it can also refer to age. The perception is that golf is decreasingly played by individuals ages 30 and younger – millennials.
This program’s goal is to engage 15 college-age millennial golfers to attend two, four-week golf clinics in August and September each lasting 90 minutes and covering the basics of the game followed by a five-hole step aside scramble alongside the golf professional.
Team 5: Engaging Electronic Users
This group came up with a program called the Saguaro Slingers. Their goal was to pique the interest of middle class, lapsed golfers between the ages of 25 and 35 who uses different forms of technology in their daily lives. It turns out millennials were more involved in the game than I thought. They make up 26% of all golfers and 20% of all the rounds played each year (90 million). They also pump $5 billion into the golf industry every year.
This program is partnering with TopGolf to help get their message across. They say if you can get a person to come to something three times, then you’ve got ’em. And honestly, who doesn’t like TopGolf?
Is the final experience graded, and will it show up as a score in our transcript?
No sir.
Thank you for the read. It was a pleasure to meet you, although it was at the tail end of the seminar! All of your level 3 posts have captured the experience accurately, and future (possibly apprehensive) PGMers will appreciate the detail. Your final experience presentation was very well done. Congratulations!Good luck with testing, and may your election to membership be speedy! Fairways and greens.
Ian,
It was great meeting you as well. Look out for that Level 3 Study Guide in the coming weeks. Best of luck!