GILROY
– Thanks to the Pro Golfers Association, Gavilan College and
Eagle Ridge Golf Course will be able to continue their fledgling
program to turn current and future business people into something
more than wanna-be golfers.
GILROY – Thanks to the Pro Golfers Association, Gavilan College and Eagle Ridge Golf Course will be able to continue their fledgling program to turn current and future business people into something more than wanna-be golfers.
The PGA announced last week it will award $35,000 to Gavilan and Eagle Ridge. The grant will fund the Golf for Business and Life program, which teaches golf skills, game history and course etiquette to novice players.
“It’s all about exposing people to the game, so when they get on a course with business associates, they feel comfortable,” program facilitator Scott Krause said. “Golf is done in a huge business arena, but it’s a great social game, too. You can play it all of your life, unlike tennis which after a time gets more difficult to enjoy.”
Krause, who coaches Gavilan’s golf team and is the director of instruction at Eagle Ridge, held the first Golf for Business and Life class Saturday. The PGA grant enables Krause to offer the program during the summer semester and beyond.
Gavilan Athletic Director Ron Hannon said the additional funding couldn’t come at a better time given the state’s budget crisis.
“Right now it looks like golf will have some part in our curriculum, but it wouldn’t if the budget crisis gets deeper than what it’s at right now,” Hannon said. “Golf is one of those things that could potentially be pulled if finances aren’t there.”
Gavilan College cut more than 100 class sections from its course offering this spring and will do the same for fall 2003. It is trying to reduce spending by roughly $2 million over the next 18 months, in part by hiring less part-time teachers.
Krause seems to be a charmed grant writer. Last year, he won funding to start up a program that taught Hispanic students to play golf. It was the first grant he had ever written.
“The lessons were free and we were averaging 16 students a class,” Krause said.
Krause, a golf pro since 1982 and a PGA member since 1993, has been director of instruction at Eagle Ridge the last three years.
The idea to apply for the PGA grant was inspired partly by the number of female golfers taking lessons from Krause. He said many of his students wanted to not only learn golf skills, but understand the culture of golf in order to feel more comfortable on the links.
“I knew there was a demand for a golf class like this,” Krause said.
