Holland College | Sawgrass TPC experience of a lifetime for students
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Sawgrass TPC experience of a lifetime for students

The rain delays at the PGA's Players Championship event in Florida might have been an inconvenience for the players, but the foul weather enriched what was already a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Holland College Golf Club Management students volunteering at the event, according to program coordinator Paul Murnaghan.

"When things go perfectly, you don't have as much opportunity to learn anything," Murnaghan said in a recent interview.

"Working a PGA tournament is a great experience anyway, but the rain delays allowed the students much more exposure to the pros, the caddies, and Sawgrass staff. And seeing how the PGA tour handles challenges such as bad weather was a great learning experience."

Trevor Giggey of Stratford, one of the 27 second-year students who went to Sawgrass agreed. He said the rain delays allowed them to see how the pros conducted themselves while they waited for the weather to change.

"Some of them stayed very focused, and didn't interact much with the crowd; others, like VJ Singh, were much more relaxed."

Murnaghan said watching Singh talking to the people in the gallery was a real pleasure.

"You don't get to see that side of these players when you watch a tournament on television. They really are performers."

The Holland College students worked on the driving range and in the merchandising tent. Students were guaranteed two days on the range, and one day in the tent. As rewarding as the experience was, Giggey say it was also hard work.

"We were busy all day. We'd get up at 5 am to go to the range. But no matter how early we were, there would already be players practicing - even in the dark!"

The students were responsible for ensuring that the players had everything they needed, retrieving balls, and placing signage identifying the player when he was on the range.

Instructor Blair Macphail pointed out that although working at a tournament as large as TPC is a unique experience, it is also one that the students will be able to incorporate into their professional lives when they graduate.

"Students have now seen how tournaments are organized on a large scale," Macphail said. "They can apply the same principles to much smaller events. That makes their experience a tremendous asset to golf clubs in our region."

Giggey hopes that by participating in the event, students have enhanced their employment opportunities.

"To be able to put that we worked the TPC event on our resumes should really help when we go out into the job market," he said.

The students exceeded everyone's expectations at the tournament, Murnaghan added.

"I was very pleased with their approach toward the event. After the initial nervousness at being at such a prestigious tournament, they really put their noses to the grindstone and garnered a lot of compliments on their professionalism from the event's organizers."

TPC organizers were so impressed with the students' involvement that plans are underway to arrange for second year students to participate in the tournament again next year.

"We're hoping to be able to take our students again. This year's students jumped right in and performed much more than was expected of them. Early indications are that the organizers would like the students to take on even more responsibility next year."

It wasn't only tour officials who noticed the students' hard work, though. Macphail said other people attending the event commented on their performance, and he was constantly being asked where Holland College was located.

The students wore ginger-coloured golf shirts with the college logo on the front to make them easily identifiable to the tournament organizers. In fact, the Holland College logo became so familiar to event organizers that the students and instructors hardly needed to use their passes at all.

"It was a great opportunity to promote the college and the province," Macphail said. "People were very receptive and friendly, especially when they saw how hard our students worked."

In addition to acquiring valuable work experience, the group came back with a vast collection of photographs, including a group shot with Canadian Mike Weir, and a host of anecdotes about the players.

Murnaghan said the students who participated in TPC this year will be able to train the upcoming class for their trip to Sawgrass next year. The team is preparing a presentation about their experience for students and staff at the college.

For the past three years, students have traveled to Sawgrass as part of their second year course work, but in previous years they did not have the opportunity to participate in TPC. In addition to working at the Sawgrass event, the students played Grand Cyprus; and visited the World Golf Village, home of the World Golf Hall of Fame, just outside of Jacksonville, Florida. There they had the first opportunity to view the new Bobby Jones exhibit. Accommodations and travel expenses are included in the students? tuition fees, and each class participates in fundraising activities to help defray their other expenses.

A public presentation will take place at the lecture theatre at the Tourism and Culinary Centre Friday, April 8th at 11 am. The group looks forward to sharing their experience with Island golfers and others interested in the logistics of organizing large golf events. For more information, contact Paul Murnaghan at 894-6823.

For more information about this release, please contact:
Sara Underwood, Media and Communications Officer
Tel: 902-566-9695
Date: Monday, April 04, 2005