Each year the Indiana Junior Golf Program gets a grant from the USGA’s PJ Boatwright internship program. This allows us to hire an intern for about an eight month period and that intern is responsible for helping with all the internal operations of the junior program. When you call or e-mail the junior department, you’ll most likely be speaking with our Boatwright intern. Also, when you see pairings, scoreboards, scorecards etc… at your events, that’s all his hard work in action. Once they leave here our Boatwright interns do a lot of different things. We have former Boatwright interns that are running junior golf programs, working for other sports governing bodies or even attending grad school Here’s a chance to meet our 2010 PJ Boatwright intern.
Name: Dan Marti
Hometown: Angola, IN
College: Purdue University
Grad Year: 2009
Major: Hospitality and Tourism Management (Minor: Organizational Leadership and Supervision)
Golf Background/Experience: I have been playing golf since the age of 4. I have been playing competitive golf since I was 11 years old. I played on my Middle School and High School Teams. When I was 16 I began to work at Zollner Golf Course in Angola. I worked there until I was 18 as a member of the cart staff outside. When I was 17 I also began working at Glendarin Hills Golf Club in Angola. I worked as a member of the cart staff and I also did some work with junior golf camps. I worked there during my first two years as a college student during the summers as well as odd weekends when I would come home. I stopped working there after 2 years. When I was 20 I began working at the Birk Boilermaker Golf Complex at Purdue. I worked primarily inside the clubhouse. After a few months there, I also began to work outside with the cart staff. While there I also assisted in junior golf programs that were held at the complex. While I was on staff there I also had the opportunity to caddy for a few different tournaments that we held on site. During my time as an employee there we hosted the 2008 Men’s NCAA Championships, so I got to be a small part of that and experience a larger scale tournament first hand. I left Birk during the fall of my senior year when I was 21.
Why did working for the Indiana Junior Golf Program interest you?
I have always been interested in working in an environment that supports junior golf. I feel that the sooner we can get kids on the golf course the better. The attraction to this program is how large it is and how well operated it is. I liked the fact that they offered this Boatwright Internship because it will and has provided me with a good inside and hands on look at how tournaments are operated. This program seemed like it would provide me with good experience in the golf industry.
What have you learned so far about Golf Administration?
I have learned that there is a lot more that goes into the preparation of a golf tournament than meets the eye. It takes a lot of preparation and planning to ensure that everything will operate the way it is supposed to. One last thing is that the use of technology, like BlueGolf, is a tremendous help. Having good computer skills coming into this position has helped me a lot.
What are you looking forward to this season?
I am looking forward to getting the ball rolling. We have been working on the preparation of these tournaments and collecting registrations since I began in February. I cannot wait to see it all put in motion. While looking at that, I know that this summer is going to be a lot of hard work but I am really looking forward to the challenges that will come along with it.
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