Shooting par in the workplace
WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. --Jonah Detro harbors no wild fantasies about his future as a golfer. He knows he'll never score on the course like Tiger Woods or Ernie Els. Shoot, in all likelihood he'll probably never even be a scratch player, much less a Masters champion. And that's just fine with him. Really. "Hey, I just want to be able to get around the course, hit the ball, and not make a fool of myself," Detro says. But while the 27-year-old Purdue University M.B.A. student is quite sure he will never be a professional golfer, he is hopeful that golf will win him favor in his chosen profession of international business. That's why he's taking a course this semester called Golf: For Business & Life, where the goal is to teach students how to use the maddening game as an effective business tool. "Clearly, many companies tie golf to their business success by using a round of golf to discuss potential relationships and ultimately close deals," says Prof. Tom Templin, who heads the Department of Health and Kinesiology. "Four hours on a course gives you lots of time to learn about clients and how to do business with them."
Golf nut Templin started the program for undergraduates back in 1998 after he became dissatisfied with the university's existing program, particularly the lack of involvement of local PGA pros and the large class size. The initial pilot program was funded by famed course architect Pete Dye and his wife, Alice, who is a former member of the PGA of America's board of directors. Since then, 49 other colleges and universities have started similar classes using Purdue's effort as a model, with all of this helped along by more than $4 million from the PGA of America via donations from the U.S. Ryder Cup teams. And now Purdue has expanded it to the M.B.A. program.
And yes, the university is aware that the class, on the surface at least, sounds like a joke, maybe part of some sort of slacker, ad hoc major along with the apocryphal underwater basket weaving. So Prof. Jerry Lynch, who oversees Purdue's M.B.A. program, makes a point of noting that the class is a not-for-credit elective. "I sure wouldn't want other schools to think we're giving actual credit hours for golfing," Lynch says. The class is also popular with foreign students. One taking part is 28-year-old Srini Iyer, who hopes proficiency on the links will help him start his own company when he returns to Bombay. "Business school isn't just about learning business," he says. "It's about lifestyle and learning to live the life of an executive."
Going for the green. The M.B.A. class at Purdue is an eight-week course that meets for two hours in the morning twice a week at the school's Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex. Once a week, the students hear from a businessperson, one benefit the undergrads don't get. On this late-summer day, the speaker is Jay Smith, CEO of a local insurance agency, who tells how golf has influenced his business and affected his career. There was the time, for instance, that a chat on the links helped him save 21 insurance accounts worth a half-million bucks. "Will you be picking up million-dollar checks out there on the course? Probably not," Smith tells the two dozen or so students. "But you will be able to hone relationships." He also believes golfing allows him to get a handle on the character of his clients and better gauge what kind of risk they are. "Taking too many mulligans really shows someone's true character," Smith explains.
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