Local College Drives Golfers To Become Pros

Whitney Trimble, 21, hopes to score a job as a golf professional. TheMethodist Collegesenior is doing his internship atPinehurst.

"I don't think I could intern anywhere else and get the experience I am getting here," Trimble says, "especially with theU.S. Open."

Students in the Professional Golf Management program are interning in several states. They are highly sought after because of the school's reputation.

TheCumberland Countycollege is just one of eight nationwide accredited by theProfessional Golf Association. But Methodist is the only school that has a golf course just for its students.

New York native Scott Ellender was able to swing a job as a golf management professional at Pinehurst immediately after graduating from Methodist. He chose the school not only for its reputation but for its proximity to some of the best courses in the country.

"I don't think I would have had as much of an opportunity here if I had not graduated from Methodist," Ellender says.

The school's partnership with Pinehurst and other resorts has been so successful that Methodist has decided to start a resort management concentration this fall. Educators say the two programs will work hand in hand.

"The person will start out being a golf professional, then become a director of golf, then he'll see in his 40s that he'd like to become a general manager," explains program director Jerry Hogge.

Methodist College has a 100 percent job placement rate for its professional golf management students.