For female players, the career path after college golf can seem a bit narrow. You can’t play professionally, so what else?
Courtney Trimble is a former college golf coach and has many answers. She’s determined to help women realize that there are opportunities in the golf industry that will allow them to use their college-golf experience. Trimble’s company Fore Hire helps players who are competitive to get a job in the golf industry. Trimble will host a three-day, immersive networking event for college golfers in May. She has the background of the NCAA Women’s Championship.
The “Women who Want to Work in Golf” program will select up to 30 women from all ages. It runs May 21-23. The deadline for entries is March 22.
She stated that the idea was to expose 30 women to different aspects of the game and which jobs they might be doing.
Trimble hopes that the two-sided mission will be a success and that industry leaders are impressed by the talent of the female candidates.
Participants will have the opportunity to engage in roundtable discussions, exercises that are “career-ready”, and networking over the course of the three-day event. Trimble hopes to capitalize on the buzz surrounding the NCAA Women’s Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club. Industry members are often present there so part of the experience will include a day at the championship.
Courtney Trimble, a former college golf coach, helps golfers who are competitive to make the transition into a career in golf. Courtney Trimble (Photo: Courtney Trimble).
Ping will host the event and open his facility for program participants. This allows them to see every aspect of a major equipment manufacturer from engineering to design to product creation.
Trimble has placed over 40 women in the industry from marketing to coaching to fitting clubs to marketing in the last year. She says that sometimes, it is as simple as knowing how to market your skills and finding the right job within golf. She recalls a former college golf coach, who was interviewing for a job as a sales representative at a golf club. This conversation was about sales experience. Trimble emphasized her ability to promote her college program.
Trimble stated, “That’s a transferable ability.” Sometimes it is necessary to point it out to the person hiring. You’ll get the same candidates you’ve always received otherwise.
Ping’s participation as host is not the only benefit. “Women who Want to Work in Golf” also benefits from buy-in by major stakeholders in the game, such as the PGA of America or the Women’s Golf Coaches Association. Moon Golf, a Florida-based retailer of golf, is owned by Anne Moon, Trimble’s former Auburn teammate. She continues to support Fore Hire’s women’s initiatives.
Ohio State head coach Lisa Strom is president of the WGCA. Trimble helped the association create a mentorship program for its coaches, according to Strom. Strom also sees the value in expanding this program to the wider golf industry.
Strom said that college golfers can get “tied in” to the idea of LPGA, Epson Tour or other tournaments. “… However, there are so many avenues that their skills can be used because of the connections they have made throughout college.
Rose Fielder, director of engineering operations at Ping knew that there was untapped talent among female college players because she herself used to be one. Fielder was a player at the University of Michigan between 2004 and 2008. She then got an internship at Ping through a professor she knew. Fielder had never known that there was a way to combine engineering and golf.
Fielder believes that this is still the case for all of the individuals she interviewed for Ping.
Fielder stated, “I believe that Courtney is ultimately trying to achieve this balance of educating women on what is available and then simultaneously trying find what suits their skill set the best and possibly matching up employers with qualified candidates.” It’s a combination of some really important, necessary things for women in general.
Fielder made it a priority for her to find qualified women candidates to fill the Ping open position. Fielder met with the WGCA two years ago in order to find more women for Ping’s internship program. The number of female interns has increased to almost half of the summer’s group.
Chuck Thiry, vice-president of XXIO is sitting at the table. This is a natural progression after the recent influx in women to the industry. XXIO is especially focused on female employees, as women account for half of all sales.
Thiry worked with Trimble to recruit female talent. She found that college experience is particularly transferable.
He said, “They have shown that they are not afraid to do hard work. They’ve also proven that their competitive fire can be used to get out of bed every morning.” They had to do everything in order to be good players, and that transfer well into the hard goods sector.
