Sustainability Spotlight: The PGA Works Program
The PGA of America is one of golf’s biggest and oldest governing bodies and with over 29,000 worldwide members (about 23,000 in the US) who manage and operate golf courses while growing participation in the game. However, of the 29,000 members, fewer than 10% of them are women and less than 1% are African American. In this issue of Sustainability Spotlight series, we dive into the PGA of America’s initiatives to build a more diverse and inclusive golf professional workforce.
A student-athlete competing at the PGA Works Collegiate Championship. Photo courtesy pgareach.org.
Several years ago the PGA of America founded PGA REACH, a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation with the mission to positively impact the lives of youth, military, and diverse populations through the game of golf. The PGA WORKS program is a strategic initiative under the PGA Reach foundation designed to diversify the golf industry’s workforce. The WORKS program leverages fellowships, scholarships, career exploration events and its PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship to inspire and engage young people from diverse backgrounds to pursue key employment positions across the golf industry.
The PGA WORKS John & Tamara Lundgren Scholars Program
The John & Tamara Lundgren Scholars Program, funded by PGA REACH, provides $8,000 scholarships to college students intent on pursuing PGA of America Membership through one of the 18 PGA Golf Management Programs at universities across the country. Notable universities include NC State, Penn State, New Mexico State (a Hispanic Serving Institution), University of Maryland - Eastern Shore (a Historically Black College and University), and UNLV. Since 2018, 47 scholarships have been awarded, totaling $376,000 in funds.
PGA WORKS Beyond the Green
Beyond the Green is a career exploration initiative, held in conjunction with PGA of America Championships. The initiative is designed to create partnerships with local community organizations within the host site’s market and provide behind the scenes access to students from underrepresented backgrounds. Through their interactions with industry leaders, executives and influencers, students gain valuable knowledge and experience by witnessing what it takes to put on a massive sporting event like the Ryder Cup or the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Students pose with PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh at the 2022 PGA Championship in Tulsa, OK. Photo courtesy pgareach.org.
PGA WORKS Fellowship
The PGA WORKS Fellowship is a one-year, paid entry-level employment experience in which individuals from historically underrepresented backgrounds (including gender, age, race, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, religion or Veteran status) gain industry experience while working for one of the 41 regional PGA of America Section offices. For the current year, there are 22 Fellows working in 22 Sections and since the program's inception in 2017, 4 out of 5 Fellows acquired jobs within the golf industry upon completion of their fellowship.
To honor this year’s Black History Month, a few PGA Fellows share their stories and what it means to them to have this opportunity to work in golf.
PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship
The PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship is an end of the season championship tournament for student-athletes enrolled in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions and other Minority-Serving Educational Institutions. Formerly known as the National Minority College Championship, the tournament was started in 1986 to provide underserved and underrepresented golf programs with an opportunity to compete in a national tournament. The PGA of America took ownership and management of the tournament in 2006 with PGA REACH assuming ownership in 2019.
The Championship is a 54-hole, stroke-play team tournament with an additional individual championship that is open to all minority men and women student-athletes playing collegiate golf at the Division I, II, III, NAIA and NJCAA level as well as students enrolled at the one of the 18 PGA Golf Management University Programs. 76% of the players that competed in the 2022 Championship identified as “non-white”.
In addition to the tournament, the PGA WORKS HBCU Golf Scholarship endowment was created to provide men’s and women’s golf scholarships to underfunded institutions to ensure the sustainability of the golf programs.
Andrew’s Driving the Green Take:
The golf industry’s lack of workforce diversity is a major issue, but it is one the industry recognizes and is moving swiftly to right decades of wrongs. Without representation, it’s incredibly difficult to inspire young underrepresented and underserved populations to pursue a career in golf. One of the many things that make me very proud to work with the National Links Trust is the organization’s dedication to diversity and inclusion. Many key positions at the three Washington, DC golf courses are held by Black men and women and their workforce development program at Langston Golf Course is providing paid jobs to 30 local high school aged students to expose them to the day to day operations of a municipal golf course.
But the diversity issue is just one of several that are plaguing the industry. Insufficient pay and a lack of work-life balance are forcing the current inventory of golf professionals to pursue greener pastures in other professions, leaving many courses struggling to fill open vacancies. That is why the push to bring in more women and minorities is so important because they represent a section of the workforce that is ready and willing to accept the invitation to pursue a career in golf if they are provided the opportunity to do so.
I was very close to leaving the industry all together in 2015 because I was fed up with the demands my job at the time placed on me without the benefits reflective of the level of work I provided. It took me over ten years of working in golf before I finally made more in salary and benefits than my age (I was 35 when that happened). I’ve sacrificed a lot over my nearly 20 years of working in the golf industry. I’ve missed more birthdays, weddings, family reunions, and vacation opportunities than I care to count and I hated that I was supposed to feel guilty for wanting to take a few days off or that I didn’t make enough money to save for such life-fulfilling events.
But despite all of this, I wouldn’t change anything about my experience working in the golf industry. I am who I am because of what I went through and it was all worth it because I’ve finally found my happy place in the industry (everything I’m doing right now!). So let’s continue to reshape the golf industry to reflect our beautiful and diverse society so the next generation of golf professionals has the opportunity to feel as personally and professionally rewarded as I do from my years of work. The PGA WORKS program is a great first step and I’m excited to see what comes next.
