ELMSFORD, N.Y. (July 11, 2014)- The MGA Foundation’s cornerstone internship program, GOLFWORKS, provides meaningful summer working experiences at Met Area clubs to more than 200 deserving high school students each year. Now in its 20th year, the success of the GOLFWORKS program can be attributed to the willingness of MGA member clubs to hire very deserving teenagers, many of whom have never considered working at a golf club, like second-year intern Gary Molina, who works at Packanack Golf Club in Wayne, N.J. A graduate of Panther Valley High School, Molina, 18, never considered working at a country club before GOLFWORKS and is now considering golf course maintenance as a career.

“Before GOLFWORKS, all I knew from playing golf was taking divots,” Molina joked. “Thanks to GOLFWORKS, I have been able to learn to maintain the course, and realize the care I should be applying whenever I step on the course.”

For Gary, when opportunity to work through GOLFWORKS came to him, he jumped at it immediately.

“My high school golf coach came up to me and asked me if I maybe wanted to work in the summer,” Molina said. “When I heard that they needed a Spanish speaking person I figured why not, and I knew I would get some money. I didn’t realize that it would become so much more than a job for me.”

Molina started his job with a relaxed view of work and a laid back attitude, he quickly learned that doing a good job required diligence and hard work.

“Through my job at Packanack, I learned that I had to be responsible in both my time management, and my work,” Gary said. “I am part of the grounds crew and I had to learn to tend to the greens, fix divots, and mow the grass. Everything that the grounds crew does requires careful work and preparation.”

Through his work with GOLFWORKS, Gary now sees golf in his plans for the near future, as well as a possible career path.

“I never imagined I would work at a golf course,” Gary said. “Thanks to [GOLFWORKS Recuiter] Bob LeBlein and the MGA Foundation, I can now see this being my career. Without my job at Packanack, I would never know how much I love tending to and working on the golf course.”

To learn more about the GOLFWORKS program, click here.

-By Jack Zenkel