Golf degree on course
THEY call it the Harvard of golf. Griffith University on the Gold Coast and the Professional Golfers Association International Golf Institute have come together to teach hopefuls and pros the, ahem, pros and cons of all things golf, on the fairway and in the clubhouse: how to run and market the sport, and especially how to appeal to the vast pool of players in Southeast Asia.
Griffith has offered golf-related courses for a number of years, but 2006 is the first time the PGA will be involved.
The institute's Sascha Connell told the HES the university offered a range of programs in the discipline. They include a three-year degree: a bachelor of business, majoring in sports management. It comes with an industry certificate and the Griffith badge and is open to domestic, government-sponsored students and international, fee-paying students.
The fees are $31,500 for domestics and $88,600 for internationals.
A one-year certificate course covers the first year of the degree program. It costs $20,000 and is open to domestic students only. Students can then complete the second and third years to graduate with a bachelor's degree in business.
New this year is a certificate-four vocational education and training course in sport and recreation (intermediate golf management practices).
Also under the VET umbrella is the advanced golf training program for elite golfers. Ms Connell said the certificate-three course concentrated on the sport.
In the degree program, Gold Coast professionals Gary Edwin and Mark Gibson take students out on the fairways and greens for four hours each Monday in small classes for an 18-hole round at Emerald Lakes.
Ms Connell said subjects in the degree included an introduction to golf, golf-course development and maintenance, and golf facilities planning.
The joint venture (50 per cent Griffith and 50 per cent PGA IGI) would not disclose student numbers but Ms Connell said enrolment for 2006 had doubled since 2005 and that inquiries had tripled.
Program development manager Ian Redmond of the PGA IGI said the aim of the courses was to bring education and business and golf together.
In the past, golf club and course management had been undertaken by people with hospitality and accounting backgrounds, who didn't necessarily have an interest in the game itself, he said.
And it was appropriate that golf should be part of a business degree, given the networking and deal-making opportunities the sport presents.
"You can tell a lot about a person from a round of golf,'' Mr Redmond said.
By Brendan O'Keefe, The Australian, January 25 2006.
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