CooperBryanHawkenProjects2022

      I was inspired to do this project due to my love of golf. It was also a great experience for me before I head off to college to continue studying golf management. My goal was to experience first hand all of the responsibilities that come with each position at a golf course. I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to do so. I believe that everything went as expected and I was able to learn a lot from my experiences. It definitely confirmed to me that I am extremely interested in this field, and I am excited to continue learning more next year. I worked extremely hard and I was flexible in doing whatever job was needed from me on a day to day basis. My only wish was that I was able to visit the course at a busier time. There was a lot of action in the mornings, but not a ton for me to do in the afternoons due to how busy the course was. I appreciate that my mentor tried to have me come in during the busiest times of the day, whether that was ...

  Today was my final day at Palmetto Pine. I arrived around 9 A.M and helped the cart guys pull out carts and load bags. I also helped clean the restrooms and other areas. It was fairly slow so they told me to leave early and play golf. I was able to play 18 holes with my mom. I had a great time helping her and playing myself. I headed out for another 18 once we finished and had one of the best rounds of my life. I shot a very eventful 72 with 5 birdies. It was for sure one of the most interesting rounds of my life. I have learned so much from my work at Palmetto Pine, and have only furthered my interest in professional golf management. I am very grateful for the opportunity and all of the nice people that were willing to help me! 

Today I experienced the later shift and helped set up for the Wednesday night men's league. I spent some time picking up balls on both of the practice green facilities and picking up baskets on the range. I also set up a bunch of range balls for the league members. My other job was to pull the carts in to the cart barn and charge them for the night. Tomorrow will be my last day here, and I am excited to finish up my internship.   

  Today was perhaps my most informative day since beginning work at Palmetto Pine. I spent the day in the office with Matt and discussed all of the responsibilities that he has daily. He said that the most important part of his job is being able to coordinate with everyone so that the club can run smoothly. This includes informing maintenance when he needs the course ready by, telling the restaurant staff when he needs the food ready by, and making decisions with management about pricing how the club should be run. Matt also talked a lot about products and what the club sells in the pro shop. We talked about inventory and how he prices items. He has to make sure that the club can sell each thing that they buy, otherwise they will have an inventory backup. We also looked into the profit margins to see exactly what they are looking for when reselling an item after purchasing it from a vendor. He also showed me the budgeting sheet that Palmetto Pine uses. Each part of the club has a s...

  I showed up to work today around 9 A.M. I helped Andrew load bags on to members carts and pull carts out of the cart barn. It was a slow day so that is all that we really needed to do. I also had a Zoom call with Mrs. Yudovina and Matt, my project mentor to check in on my progress. Matt also showed me how to regrip a club. Tomorrow I will be working with Matt in the office to look into more of the pros responsibilities instead of the cart/ranger responsibilities that I have been doing so far. 

  Today was a slow day, mostly due to the overnight thunderstorms that didn't stop until around 7 A.M. I arrived around 7:45 and spent the day drying carts and pulling out more for the members to use. I parked them along with another of the cart managers. I also spent time cleaning the cart barn and moving plants around. The owner and another of the pro shop workers had to decide whether the course was playable enough to allow carts to ride off of the cartpath. Ultimately, they decided that it would be better for business if they allowed the carts to move freely. It was already congested and people were cancelling times due to the back nine being under construction for the day. Overall, it was a slow day. 

  Today was tournament day! I began by bringing supplies and cleaning the on-course restrooms. Next I organized a bunch of buckets of range balls. I also brought out 4 large baskets filled with balls to the range. I helped some other workers move things such as tables and chairs to various locations. I worked with the other cart managers to clean the windows of all of the carts that the players would be using for the tournaments. We also removed all of the cart keys and added scorecards for the players. We also had to load their bags on to the carts that corresponded with the listings on our sheet.  My main job today was assembling the sponsor signs and bringing them out to each hole. I also had to tell the sponsors what hole they were on and bring out their things to that hole. I got some good practice in dealing with a difficult customer. She was very needy, but said that she appreciated my kindness. She took a lot of convincing before understanding the plan that we were tak...

  I woke up early this morning for work. I was there by 6:50 A.M. I helped one of the rangers drive out supplies to the bathroom nearly as soon as I arrived. It was nice to see the course during the early morning with all of the dew still on the ground. It looked a lot different than I normally would see it. I also helped clean more of the rain hoods on the newer carts. They weren't as dirty since they were newer but they needed a little bit of cleaning. I also emptied some trashcans and polished the ice and water dispensers. I also helped stock the pro shop with new merchandise and move some cases of drinks from the indoor bar to the back room of the golf shop. I then headed up to the range with Matt. He was speaking to me about how golf is an industry that requires you to be able to please people. He talked about all of the people that he has to organize such as the maintenance staff, the cart workers, and all of the other people that he oversees. He has to be able to manage all ...

  Today I arrived at Palmetto Pine Country Club in Cape Coral, Florida. I met with my mentor, Head Professional, Matt Turza. I was also introduced to other members of the staff who ensure that the golf operation side of the club is running smoothly. Everyone was extremely friendly and accommodating.  My first task was to wipe down and clean a bunch of carts in the cart barn. There were probably over 80 carts that I wiped down. Matt mentioned that the 25 newer electric carts (not pictured) were bought by the club. They also have lots of other, older, electric carts. I cleaned the plastic that hangs in front as well as the rain hoods that were dirty from the past season. It took a lot of work but the carts look much more presentable. I imagine that it will make a big difference on the perception of the members. It was interesting to spend time in the cart barn, as I had never been in there throughout my previous time at Palmetto Pine.  My next piece of work during the day w...

 My plan for my Hawken project is to visit Cape Coral, Florida and volunteer at Palmetto Pine Country Club. I have previously made connections with the staff and management at the golf course, and I plan to work there. I have spent months at the club improving my golf game and learning more about the golf industry. I have enjoyed my time there so much that my initial thought for my Hawken Project was to spend more time there. I am also planning on going into the Professional Golf Management program at North Carolina State University. This will further my experiences before heading off to college as the program requires over a year's total of internships across four years at golf clubs around the world. I wanted to get familiar with things that I would be doing in that volunteer work at a place I am familiar with. I was inspired to do this project by my love of golf and willingness to continue learning about it. I have had many golf jobs in my life including caddying at the Mayfield...