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Careers on Course

Young people who love golf, but might not have the skills to play professionally, can still pursue a golf career. That's the focus of a program called "Careers on Course" sponsored by John Deere and The First Tee organization. The one-day experience will introduce high school students to the science, technology, and business aspects of golf course management.

First Tee CEO, Joe Louis Barrow, Jr., says 24 teenage participants from Chicago, Boston, and Atlanta, will learn about what it takes to make a golf course PGA tour-ready.

"Each of the young people will have an opportunity to go to a PGA Tour golf course," said Barrow, "TPC of Boston, or Sugarloaf, or Cog Hill in Chicago , and actually be on ground with superintendants and the club managers to really understand the operations of a golf course."

Next year, some of the participants will be invited to Deere & Company in Moline and TPC Deere Run, for a more extensive program. Barrow says it takes a lot of a lot of people to make tournaments like the John Deere Classic run smoothly.

"Most people, when you think of golf and think of career in golf, you think of playing on the PGA or LPGA Tour," said Barrow. "And there are thousands, upon thousands, upon thousands of jobs in the golf industry that have nothing to do with your skill in terms of what you can do on the golf course, but is everything to prepare people to play the golf course or experience the golf course."

This is the first year John Deere and The First Tee will offer the "Careers on Course" program. The companies plan to expand it to more cities in the future.