In its more than three decades of existence, the PGA Tour’s summer internship program has navigated a strategic path to success and has evolved into an enviable model within golf for immersing and creating new workers within the industry.
Begun in 1992 with 14 interns, the program features the best sample of applicants from diverse backgrounds who will continue in careers golf specifically, and, aspirationally, within the PGA Tour.
“Well-oiled machine is a wonderful way to term it,” said Jim Clarke, the tour’s vice president of talent and culture. “We now have Teslas when we used to have Model Ts. As things have evolved, we have continued to tweak the program.”
Clarke emphasized that the ongoing evolution of the opportunities for aspiring industry leaders has existed since the program began. In 2010, personal and professional growth was accentuated with the introduction of a classroom-based curriculum. In 2022, the 30th anniversary of the program, the Tour “tweaked” the program to intentionally retain the interns as staff employees, Clarke said.
“In the last two classes of 15, we hired nine of the 30, who stay on the payroll in virtual internships in the fall and then join us after graduation,” he said. In addition, these new employees become residents of northeast Florida, where the tour is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach.
According to the tour, nearly 1,000 apply for the 14-16 available positions each year. Clarke said 1,100 applied for 16 positions this year.
“We tell them on the first day that it is harder to get into this program than it is to get into Harvard,” he said.
During the eight-week paid internship program, the participants have active roles within their assigned departments, but they are given a comprehensive primer on the tour and its functions through interactions with senior leaders. Thirty-four hours in the 40-hour workweek consist of assignments within their specific areas, and six hours are with the talent and culture department.
The internship program usually runs from early June through early August.
Noah Dacanay, a rising junior at the University of North Florida, watched the progress of the building of the new Tour Global Home as he drove to school in Jacksonville.
Curious about the construction and because he had volunteered for the Players Championship in the golf shop and the practice range, he applied for and was accepted within the finance department.
“I’m working on the budgets and forecasting for the new PGA Tour Studio building,” said Dacanay, a finance major and sports management minor. “It is a fun environment to work and be in. The best part is the amount of networking and the relationships you can build in a short amount of time. There are so many networking opportunities and meetings with other employees.”
“Any job in sports would be a dream come true for me. … (My preference would be) “user-experience design or product management, because I do the best when I’m thinking of creative solutions.” – Maiah Jaffa
Dacanay, who loves surfing, skateboarding and biking, spends free time watching football, basketball and golf. Not surprisingly, he eyes a career in sports “either on the financial side like an agent or corporate finance that I am working on now.”
Clarke, who has worked in college admissions, added that similar to the philosophy of the First Tee program, the PGA Tour is “not trying to find the next Tiger; we are trying to use the sport to develop youth.”
Each of the candidates completes a general application, a short essay, a one-way question-and-answer video and a face-to-face video as part of the process that takes approximately four weeks from late January to March.
Each of the departments that desires an intern must submit a written request with a detailed list of duties. Clarke and a committee of six others meet periodically during the selection process.
“When people say, ‘How do I get a job here? How can I work here?’ that’s our best comment from those who have gone through the internship.” – Jim Clarke
By March, the list of successful candidates, who are “the best people,” according to Clarke, is complete.
Maiah Jaffa, a rising senior at the University of Florida who is majoring in digital arts and sciences, works in the digital department where she interacts with the tour’s Fan Council to gauge reactions to possible changes and/or adjustments to the website or mobile applications.
“Any job in sports would be a dream come true for me,” said Jaffa, adding that her preference would be in “user-experience design or product management, because I do the best when I’m thinking of creative solutions.”
Jaffa loves the free flow of ideas and concepts within her department and the fact that her internship is part of a program that could lead to full-time employment.
“They really have things built out for us,” she said.
Clarke revels in those assessments of the program.
“When people say, ‘How do I get a job here? How can I work here?’ that’s our best comment from those who have gone through the internship.”