Avid golfers have a lot of opportunities when it comes to college funding. The earlier your child starts, the greater his or her chance is of gaining access to scholarship money.
In 1981 I was 19 going on 20 when I decided my two best chances of improving my game were to either go on the mini tour or play college golf. For some romantic reason, I thought I should stay an amateur for as long as possible and so decided to try the college route. Since I went to school in England and quit at 15 I did not have a high school diploma but nevertheless showed up one day at the admissions’ office of Palm Beach Junior College, who referred me to the Dean.
I drove to Atlantis Golf club a mile away and asked for the pro, Jim Simons. I explained to him that I had been sent over to have my playing ability tested. He immediately took me out on the range, which was very short, and told me to hit it high, low, left and right with a wedge.
That accomplished, we went out to play nine holes. I was a little nervous but shot 37 and beat him by one. That done, he sent me back over to the Dean and told him I had a full ride. The dean then gave me the info on the GED classes and told me to come back after I had my certificate.
On Thursday I took the test without bothering with the classes and passed, narrowly in some subjects but passed nevertheless. The rest, as they say, is history. Palm Beach College, as it’s now called, paid for my tuition, books and expenses when we traveled. The first time we went to a tournament, I was given $30 spending money, two sleeves of Titleist balls and a new glove. I can’t tell you how thrilled I was.
Obviously, the route I took is neither the normal way students enter college, but why be normal? We had a very good team and went to the nationals twice. I was what they called ‘fifth wheel’ but played most weeks and one year finished second best on the team at the nationals, which was nice.
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