Q Golf - Official online magazine for Golf Queensland Winter 2012 | Page 23

PGA IGI spreads
its web globally
By Pat McLeod
ON the verge of its 20th anniversary the
PGA’s International Golf Institute now
spreads its web globally. Based on the
Gold Coast the PGA IGI has cemented its
place as a crucial part of the golf industry
network in Australasia. “We are very
proud of our outcomes and successes,’’
says the institute’s CEO, Dominic
O’Brien, who graduated through the
program more than a decade ago. “We
are certainly getting more traction with
former students now moving through to
the upper echelon of golf roles.”
“For example Marcus Sullivan the
General Manager at Pacific Harbour is
one of our graduates. So is Nick Thornton,
the PGA’s Victorian EO, and also the Head
Professional at the Lonsdale Golf Club is
one of ours. “Globally we are also making
our mark. The Head of Instruction at the
Hong Kong Golf Club is a former graduate
and we have others in the Arab Emirates.”
The PGA IGI offers a one-year full time
golf industry diploma or a three-year
program which will result in students
gaining their IGI diploma and a degree
through Griffith University.
As O’Brien explains the PGA-owned
IGI gives graduates wide ranging golf
industry skills and opportunities. “We are
concentrating on the guys and girls who

are just sub-elite golfers, but who want
to stay in the sport and have a career in
the game – general managers, operations
managers, directors of golf, etc. “Students
coming out the other side can do a
fourth year, a professional year, with the
PGA and become PGA members. With
the added PGA qualification the career
options multiple again into different
avenues. “The PGA IGI prepares its
graduates for a career in the business and
management of golf as an industry.’’

We are certainly
getting more traction
with former students
now moving through
to the upper echelon
of golf roles.
Of the 60 students at the PGA IGI in
2012 their nationalities are a 50-50 split
between international and domestic.
O’Brien said we are also now seeing more
mature-aged people at the institute.
“About 50 per cent are straight out of
school. Quite a few have been out of the
school system for a few years, but now we
are seeing more and more sea-changers,’’
he said. “These latter students tend to be
very successful because they have plenty

www.golfqueensland.org.au

of life skills and often are more focussed
on what they want.’’
O’Brien said industry acceptance of
the institute was crucial. “Industry
consultation and collaboration is very
important,’’ he said. “Because it is a
vocational and training sector it is very
important that we have outcomes on
the other side that are of value to the
industry. “We utilise our contacts within
the Golf Managers Association (GMA), the
Golf Course Superintendents Association
(GCSA), Golf Australia and of course
our PGA network to make sure what’s in
our curriculum is what is the industry is
looking for from our graduates.’’
O’Brien said although the IGI Diploma
of Golf Management was wide ranging,
there was still plenty of time for golf
specific tuition, including four hours of
golf coaching each week. You don’t have
to choose between education or golf, with
the IGI and its articulation agreement to
Griffith university you can do both. The
benefit being, all of our graduates are
uniquely qualified to work in the business
of golf. It will be very interesting to see
where we are (and our graduates) in the
next 20 years!
Full details about the institute can be
found at www.pgaigi.com

Q Golf Online Winter 2012 23