Work Experience Bursary
BSc Applied Golf Management Studies
Tell us a bit about your internship
Hi, I'm Tom Rayne. I'm an Applied Golf Management Studies student, currently in my third year. On my degree we're asked to arrange and complete a internship every summer at a golf facility, so I arranged for my second placement to be at Pinehurst Resort. They're based in North Carolina in America. I had a great experience and I met a lot of really good people during my time there. I had the role of Golf Operations Intern where I was asked to complete retail transactions in the professional shop, to managing and organising corporate events for them.
Why did you apply for this internship?
My main motivation for applying for this internship was I knew I wanted to work in America for a summer. I googled the highest ranked golf courses in America, and Pinehurst Resort's on the list. They've hosted major championships and a Ryder Cup. After looking through their website and social media I knew I wanted to try and work there due to their history and forward way of thinking. I applied through the careers section of their website and was accepted for an interview a couple of weeks later. I hope to work in the golf industry when I graduate so I knew this would be an unrivalled experience for my CV. I remember watching the US Open being played on one of Pinehurst courses in 2014 so I thought it would be pretty special to work at the Cradle of American Golf.
What did you gain from doing this internship?
From doing this internship I managed to gain a few new skills as well as developing some existing ones. So I'd never really done any public speaking before the internship but while I was out there I was encouraged to practice this by doing speeches and announcing rules to 150-200 people events. This skill turned into a strength that I wasn't aware I had before undertaking my internship, and while I was out there I did manage to develop my professional network by just talking to industry professionals and shadow another department on my days off. I had a really successful internship and have been offered back for another year once I graduate.
What are your top tips for applying to internships?
My top tip for making the most of your internship opportunity is to really utilise Careers Network's resources when you're originally creating your application. I kept getting a bit stuck when I was applying because I didn't really know how to make my applications stand out, I wasn't aware at the time of Careers Network's resources but since looking at them now I definitely recommend using them as they'll save you a lot of time and make your application better.