Pro Shop Management Intern Experience

By Brett McGugan, 2019 Pro Shop Management Intern

My summer at Fair Hills Resort working as the Pro Shop Management Intern at Wildflower was an amazing experience and one that I will never forget. I am currently a student at Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan, where I am also a part of the men’s golf team. I am a sports management major, in which I intend to pursue a career in the golf industry after I graduate. When I came across this internship opportunity last year, I thought it was something that sounded great and I would enjoy doing and it turned out to be exactly that.

Now if I’m being completely honest, I was extremely excited about the internship but also very nervous after they offered me the position. Although I have been playing golf since I can remember I never actually worked at a golf course or had much experience teaching lessons, which is a big part of the internship. However, I trusted my gut instinct, packed up my things, and drove 15 hours to a place I’d never heard about before in hope to gain professional experience I needed.

After arriving at Fair Hills, I got to meet the amazing owners of the resort and the staff that worked there year-round. They quickly made me feel welcomed and it was like I was at home with my family.

From my very first day working I was taught hands-on about how to run the pro shop at the golf course and how to handle any issues or problems that may occur while I’m working. Not only did I learn how to run a pro shop on a day to day basis at a golf course, but I also learned how Men’s and Women’s leagues are run, how golf tournaments are set up and run and, also, gained so much experience in teaching lessons to people of all ages. On top of all this experience I gained in the golf industry, I also gained so much experience in customer service and learned how to talk and interact with people over the phone.

One of the best parts about working at Fair Hills is the people you get to work with and the friendships you make over the time you are there. I, myself, am Canadian but I got to work with people from all over the United States, Russia, Turkey, France, Slovenia, Taiwan and so many more amazing places. I learned all about their cultures and I am extremely happy I got to meet these amazing people and be able to call them my friends.

At the end of my internship, it was very difficult to say goodbye to everyone; we all knew that at some point we would be saying goodbye to each other, but I never imagined it would be so hard to say goodbye to people you didn’t even know before coming to Fair Hills. To this day, I still keep in contact with the friends I made over my time at Fair Hills and I will treasure the friendships we made forever.

Being the Pro Shop Management Intern at Fair Hills/Wildflower was an experience I will never forget about. I learned and gained so much experience at Fair Hills and it will only help me moving forward in my life to pursue a career in the golf industry. To the owners, staff, and friends that I made during my time at Fair Hills, I want to say thank you. Words can’t explain how thankful I am for the opportunity I got and for the friendships I made.

If you are reading this and you are thinking about applying for an internship at Fair Hills, all I can say is just do it. Fair Hills offers so many different types of internships and no matter which one you apply for you should know that you are going to gain so much experience and have a great time doing it. I, myself, loved the experience and time at Fair Hills so much I am applying to come back next summer. So, if you do end up applying for an internship at Fair Hills, don’t feel nervous about it. We will make you feel welcomed and like you’re at home while you gain so much experience. After all, that is the true Fair Hills magic.