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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend August 7, 2005 Higher learning shouldn’t be so fun By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune Andy Kimmelshue spent several years discovering the world. Along the way, he discovered something about himself: He loves golf and wants to make it his profession. The former standout player for Cascade Christian High School will take a big step in that direction when he enrolls at the San Diego Golf Academy, part of a unique, five-campus school that places golf professionals at an impressive rate. "It will be a new chapter, it’ll be fun, it’ll be interesting," says Kimmelshue, who has worked as an assistant in the pro shop at Eagle Point Golf Course since November. "I’m excited." Advertisement The four-semester school, which opened in 1974, lasts 16 months, and tuition is $19,000. In the end, nearly all its graduates land jobs within six months, says Cassie Jones, student coordinator for the campus. The placement rate posted on the Web site for the five schools — the others are in Arizona, South Carolina, Florida and Hawaii — is 85 percent, but she says it is actually higher. San Diego, she says, placed all of its graduates the past several semesters. For Kimmelshue to define it as "exciting" is telling because he has a fairly broad frame of reference. He graduated from Cascade Christian in 2000 after placing 10th and 11th his junior and senior years, respectively, in the state golf tournament. Rather than go to college, he traveled. Brazil, China, the Philippines, Hawaii. Some were missions, where he taught English, was involved in building projects and worked with Habitat for Humanity. In Hawaii, he attended 2½ years of Bible school. He pretty much gave up golf during that period, and he learned how much he missed it. Since returning to the Rogue Valley a year ago, he’s been working toward golf school. Kimmelshue first heard about the academy five years ago. "It sounded good," he says, "but it was hard. I wanted to travel, and there’s so much of the world to see. But now I’m ready to start a career, and this is a good avenue to work toward." At Eagle Point, he works the counter and sets up tournaments. He finds time to play two or three times a week and carries a 3.7 handicap. His best round at Eagle Point is 74. "It’s been an experience," he says of his first taste of working in the business. "It’s been extremely good for me to get an idea of what the industry is about, as far as what I want to do and don’t want to do." His goal is to become a teaching pro, perhaps instructing at a golf resort. But Jones says he’s hardly limited to that. She sends a list of the 104 most popular job titles in the golf industry to incoming students. "We want them to start thinking about what they want to do," she says. "When you think about golf, you think about being a teaching pro. But there are infinitely more opportunities than just that." The academy is set up for classroom instruction in the morning and on-course work in the afternoon. Subjects include business, rules, course design, turf and grass management, club repair and history. Business is a big part of the curriculum, and for good reason. "It’s a multibillion-dollar industry," says Jones. Because all their classes go toward the major — no extraneous time — students earn an associate of applied business degree, she says. On the course, students get golf lessons. They learn the mechanics of the swing, the short game and putting, and they learn how to teach them to others. "I’d love to spend time instructing people and helping them get their games in order," says Kimmelshue. Part of the on-course sessions will be competition in weekly tournaments. "How fun is it to wake up every day of the week and want to go do something, want to go to school," says Jones, who took up golf only after joining the school five years ago. "It freaks people out, but (our students) like to come to school." The school has few restrictions. Students range from 18 to the 60s, and men players should have at least an 18 handicap, women a 24. "We don’t want them to feel intimidated or uncomfortable," says Jones. "They have to have some ability to come in here." The average student, she says, is 30, has a bachelor’s degree and is a 10 to 14 handicap. The enrollment is roughly 200, and 10 to 15 percent of students are international. "There’s not a program like SDGA anywhere else in the world," says Jones. "They come in on a student visa, then return to their home country and just fly with it." That’s Kimmelshue what intends to do. He just doesn’t know the destination. "I’m not sure where this will take me," he says, "but I’m sure something will open up." It’ll be another discovery. Have golf story idea? Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail Higher learning shouldn�t be so fun ">[email protected] . 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