TEE TIME
AT Augusta Tech B Y G A R Y J O N E S
Golf fits Augusta Tech, too, thanks to Mills. Given that the Augusta area is a kind of golf heaven, he surmised that he had the ingredients for a perfect fit — a golf team for Augusta Tech.
"We needed an athletic outlet for students," said Mills, who coached the first golf team in 1991 and continued straight through the 1997 season. But Mills, a tinkerer of parts, wasn't satisfied with just a golf team. He had the components for more than just a school with a golf team. Augusta Tech's mission — training people for jobs — called for doing more for the game of golf itself. Mills believed Augusta Tech also could prepare students for working in the golf industry. "We felt like we had the resources right here," Mills said. "You have the Masters Golf Tournament here each spring, and there was golf course building going on in the surrounding area. All the elements were here." In 1993, Mills joined an advisory committee at Augusta Tech that was exploring the possibility of a golf course management curriculum for the school. The committee surveyed golf course professionals in the Augusta region to see if, with the right instruction, Augusta Tech could place graduates at golf courses for a career in the industry. The positive responses to the survey convinced the committee to continue work toward the new program. The program was endorsed by the Augusta Tech Board of Directors, and that board, in turn, sent Augusta Tech President Terry Elam to state officials, who approved the program. And that approval sent Augusta Tech and Bonnie Mills scrambling to find the right person to run the program, the person who could meet the perceived needs of the industry, the person to prepare students for work at golf courses. Mills said when the committee was interviewing candidates to run this program, he thought the applicant they finally chose — Mark Avery — was a perfect fit. "He was prepared," Mills said. "He had suggested texts and he had researched the possibilities for our campus. When we interviewed him I think it was pretty obvious he was the choice."
THE RIGHT FIT A 38-year-old golf professional, Avery — who has a Professional Golfers Association (PGA) of America Class A card — is proof that sometimes in life you can get a mulligan. After four years as head pro at Augusta Golf Course (a municipal course known locally as The Patch), Avery found out he had leukemia. He painfully, but successfully, endured a bone-marrow transplant at Emory University Hospital that saved his life. When he got back home, he was faced with the tough decision of giving up completely on golf. But then he saw Augusta Tech's ad in the newspaper for an instructor for the golf course management program and the light bulb went on in his head. This, he saw, was his opportunity to stay connected to golf. Once hired, he realized his task was monumental. There was little precedent for such a program. Only two four-year schools in the United States had golf course management credentials approved by the PGA — Mississippi State University and Michigan's Ferris State University. Drawing from those two schools' courses as a starting point, Avery developed Augusta Tech's program using his background as a working professional. His knowledge of golf and his knowledge of the business of golf are equally impressive. On a typical January morning during winter quarter, Avery displayed a grasp of the facts and a surprisingly easy manner of communication with his students. After only one year in the classroom, Avery has developed a class plan for each of his courses — merchandising, turf management, club repair/fitting, swing dynamics, fundamentals, tournament organization, golf course maintenance and golf vehicle management. He has two main goals for the program. First and foremost, he wants to see his graduates working in the industry; although he didn't have a graduating class until spring of 1998, he's seen 22 of 53 students in the program working at golf courses while attending classes. Second, he wants PGA Golf Professional Training Program Certification for Augusta Tech. "They've been here to see where we are," said Avery of PGA's visits to Augusta Tech. "Basically, they've told me to keep doing what I'm doing, that we are on the right track. With PGA approval, we'd get recognition in the industry, increased enrollment and increased awareness of the program." If all of Avery's drive and desire to make Augusta Tech's golf course management program a model for two-year institutions throughout the country makes you wonder if he is spreading himself too thin, Avery probably won't argue with you. "I try not to dwell on it, but time is very important to me for obvious reasons," Avery said. "I get to sit down with all the students who want to take this class and I have to approve them before they can come into the program. I wanted it that way because I don't want to have someone who doesn't really want to be totally into this. When I get a call from a professional asking for a first assistant (golf pro), I want to be able to hand them the resumes and tell them these students will do a good job for them."
A WINNING TEAM
Anthony Adams, 19, is a talented golfer who spent his high school career moving, with his military family, between Harlem (an Augusta suburb) and Bradenton, Fla. Now he's back in the Augusta area, attending golf management classes and playing golf. "I started in the minority golf program here in Augusta, and I've played a lot in Florida," Adams said, further explaining that he heard about the Augusta Tech program through a friend. "Right now, I want to compete on this team and at this level. The competition is tough, but in the end I want to go back down to Florida as a golf pro." Michael Witherington, 21, also heard about the golf program at Augusta Tech through a friend. "Just word of mouth, that's how I found out about the school's golf program," said Witherington, a late-blooming golf talent. He was never anything beyond a weekend golfer until late in his high school career at Augusta's Richmond Academy. "I took a few lessons, but I never really got serious about golf until recently," Witherington said. Now he's taking the competition seriously and he, too, eventually wants to become a golf professional "somewhere in the Southern zone. I don't like the cold at all." Barry Mettel also is receiving the benefits of Avery's instruction, but he's not on the golf team. Mettel, 50 years old, came to the Augusta area as the result of a sickness in his family and found out about the golf program at Augusta Tech through an advertisement. With an extensive sales background and a downright devotion to golf, Mettel hopes he can turn his love of the game into a second career. He believes the golf management course is his ticket. "I'd like to work with a major golf equipment company," said Mettel, who notes that Avery and the program's fast-growing reputation will increase his chances. "He has the contacts and he knows the people and he knows this business."
'AUGUSTA' IS A WINNER
As he wrapped up his second year, he realized what Mills first recognized in 1991Augusta and golf are a good fit. "I really do think that the 'Augusta' in the name of the school, Augusta Tech, helps this program more than anything," said Avery, who explained that a day doesn't pass now without a package in the mail from an applying student or a video from a golf team hopeful. They are attracted,, Avery thinks, by the name "Augusta." If Avery has his way, the golf program and the golf team, as envisioned by Mills, will honor Augusta's name and enhance the game of golf.
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