The PGA of America, Helping To Make Golf A Powerful Business Tool

It has long been known that the game of golf is a powerful business and social tool.

Presidents and prime ministers all over the world play the game. CEOs and other senior business folk use the game to court clients and consummate deals. Families use it as a way to spend quality time together, and at risk teens in urban areas have found golf programs as a healthy escape from the dangers of the streets. Wherever you look, it is not uncommon to find golf playing an important role in someone’s life.

Specifically, the use of golf as a business tool has grown exponentially in recent decades.

Any career person who has taken advantage of the game’s business benefits can clearly explain why. First, it is a well-known fact that most people who play golf don’t just like golf, they usually love it. As such, if a business person takes the time to invite a client, customer or associate to play golf, likely at an impressive facility, that often can be a winning situation all in itself.

Second, once you have that client or associate out on the golf course, you cannot compare the power of spending four hours on the course in peaceful, enjoyable surroundings with any office or meeting room environment. The chances of bonding and getting to know that person on a different level are much higher.

Third, you can learn a lot about a person’s character and integrity in how they play the game of golf. Time out on the golf course is an ideal opportunity to get to know a client, customer or associate in a way that might not be apparent in other meeting situations. Likewise, they will also have the chance to get to know you on a deeper level.

Assuming that the on-course experience has been a pleasant and enjoyable one, the ongoing business relationship most likely will move on to a whole new plane. Picking up the phone, or sitting across a meeting table now is all the more comfortable, based on the new bond formed during the golf outing.

We must also consider that the positive aspects of playing golf in business are not reserved only for entertaining on the course.

Just the ability to mention during business conversations that you play golf can bring down numerous relationship barriers. Golfers love to talk golf, and if that golfer happens to be your boss, your client or your prospective business partner, your ability to engage in a dialogue about the game can be a critical advantage.

The PGA of America has been a leader in recognizing the power of golf as a business tool and, as such, has implemented and supported a number of initiatives to grow that side of the game.

While many people might be aware of the myriad of benefits the game has to offer, it is not always as obvious to those who haven’t yet got into the game. Even for those who are interested in playing golf, it isn’t that easy to know how to go begin. If your family or friends don’t already play golf, the prospect of finding a way to enter the game can be a daunting and intimidating proposition.

Our Association of 28,000 men and women professionals across the country has developed or supported three programs that have a specific focus on attracting people to the game of golf because of its business benefits. They are: Golf: For Business and Life, a unique and innovative program that works with students at universities across the country; Link Up 2 Golf, a newly-introduced program that is designed for beginners and is rapidly becoming known as “America’s Welcome to Golf Program”; and the Executive Women’s Golf Association (EWGA), a non-profit organization formed to foster opportunities for women to learn, play and enjoy the game, while benefiting their business and personal lives. The EWGA (see Page 71), which is supported by The PGA of America, is comprised of 17,000 members in 100 chapters in the U.S. and Canada. (for more information on the EWGA, log onto www.ewga.com.)

These three initiatives are among a number of innovative PGA-driven growth of the game projects. Link Up 2 Golf expanded to 34 new markets. Already with a great deal of success to its name, the premise of Link Up 2 Golf is to create a fun and relaxed environment for beginners to learn the game, and for former golfers and occasional golfers to connect or reconnect with golf. Participating facilities can host the program by focusing it toward beginning golfers of various segments including couples, families or busy career professionals with emphasis on using golf as a business tool (For more information on Link Up 2 Golf, log onto www.playgolfamerica.com).

Another target to capture the attention of young people just embarking on their careers has been the Golf: For Business and Life program. The concept of the Golf: For Business and Life program originated at Purdue University under the direction of university professor Dr. Tom Templin.

A lover of the game of golf, Dr. Templin wanted to find ways in which to get young people interested in golf, such that they could benefit from the game both in their personal and their business lives. He achieved this with remarkable success after piloting the program. In fact, the program has been so well received that Golf: For Business and Life now has expanded into 35 universities nationwide, and is funded by The PGA of America’s Growth of the Game initiative.

This national program teaches junior and senior college students how to use golf as a business tool, no matter which career path they choose. It offers an instruction element, clinics on rules, etiquette and terminology, and guest lectures by key business leaders who impart their wisdom on how they use golf with their business.

The program has taken root with tremendous results.

One particular success story has been the program introduced in 2002 at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. In an effort to expose more young people to the business and social pleasures of the game, The Golf House of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University last year collaborated to offer Golf: For Business and Life to a select group of Vanderbilt students. With the support of The PGA of America, they introduced 72 young adults to the game through a nine-week program.

The results of their first program in Nashville were exciting and fulfilling, both for the students who took part, and for those at The Golf House of Tennessee and Vanderbilt who got to see how positively these young people responded to their first golf experience. The group quickly realized how much golf was going to be a powerful addition to their academic qualifications as they continued on their fast tracks to graduation and their ultimate entry into the business world. How those students now see golf playing a role in their lives varies from including golf in their job interview process, to entertaining business colleagues and partners once they are employed, through to actually finding a job within the golf industry. After the completion of the program, students are continuing to play and are also introducing their friends to the game. Even more important to their future careers, these students have realized the value that golf brings in cultivating successful business relationships.

All in all, the Vanderbilt University example highlights the power of a growing nationwide program that is preparing its participants to graduate and move into their careers with golf as a new tool.

They know how to play, how to conduct themselves on the course, and how to hold a dialogue about golf. Now, The PGA of America and its partner universities will be sending out to the workplace a well-educated and talented group of young people. Thanks to the Golf: For Business and Life program, those young people now have a powerful new tool to complement their resumes—the wonderful game of golf.

Jim Awtrey is CEO of The PGA of America.

Topics Education Universities Tennessee