INTERVIEW - NICOLE MONTGOMERY

(26 August 2010 – Marangaroo, Western Australia)

Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing one of our newer Members, Nicole Montgomery, about her career choices since joining Australian Ladies Professional Golf (ALPG) just under of two years ago. The affable Western Australian stars&apos results have been promising in her first two seasons; with her best finish a tie for second at last season&aposs Power Ford Castle Hill Country Club Pro-Am where she lost in a playoff to the experienced Tamara Beckett. Off the course she is a delightful young lady with a maturity beyond her years. Please read on to discover what she&aposs doing at the moment, the reason&aposs for that decision and a few things about her current employment. Click here for Nicole&aposs full playing profile.

Where are you doing your Traineeship and when did you start?
rnI am working at Marangaroo Public Golf Course in Western Australia and I am in my first year of the traineeship.
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rnWhy did you decide to do a PGA Traineeship?
rnAfter competing for just over a year on the ALPG Tour, Ladies Asian Golf Tour, and China LPGA Tour I realised that life on tour was not as easy as I had thought. I had some very good results during that year but was only just managing to cover my costs and without being able to find any financial sponsors it was becoming very difficult to manage. During my time out from travelling I was working at a public golf course and developed a passion for customer service, golf club operations and recognised the satisfaction that everyday people received from improving their golf. This was also where I learnt about the PGA traineeship program. The traineeship will allow me to gain a Diploma of Sports Coaching and become a recognised golf teaching professional worldwide, so one day when I decide to have a family and settle down I will not have to give up what I love doing and the work hours will be a lot more flexible than those on tour.
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rnExplain what the PGA Traineeship is?
rnThe PGA Traineeship is administered by the PGA Academy of Golf, and is a three-year workplace based golf traineeship.
rnDuring the three years the trainee is required to work full time under the supervision of a PGA member at a golf course. The training involves the completion of academic based assessments, on-the-job training, educational training schools and a playing assessment. There are four academic subjects which include Coaching, Golf-Club Technology, Retail and Business Management and Professional (Workplace) Skills. As well as the academic component of the traineeship there is a playing requirement where every trainee must complete 30 PGA approved rounds of golf per year and stay below the required average. At the end of the traineeship the trainee becomes a full vocational member of the PGA of Australia and gains a Diploma of Sports Coaching (golf).
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rnGolf is traditionally male-dominated. Do you think that as a female PGA Trainee you are afforded the same courtesies and respect that male counterparts may receive? Is there any difficulties you face as a female in the traditionally male dominated world of golf?
rnFemale trainees are most certainly afforded the same courtesies and respect that the male trainees are. In one respect I actually feel that being a female in the PGA industry I am at an advantage. The number of females completing the program and receiving their PGA coaching qualification is extremely low. Because of this we are able to stand out from the crowd and offer prospective employers something different and unique.

I don&apost believe there will be alot of difficulties as a result of being a female in the male dominated world of golf. Of course, every now and then, and this has already happened, a male customer will prefer to buy product and get information from a man but I don&apost worry about things like that too much, its not reflective of my expertise, it’s simply their preference. Whether male or female you need to be good at your job, so I&aposm going to study hard for the three years, work hard in the golf shop and hopefully stand out as great golf professional.
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rnIf the traineeship and/or becoming a touring professional doesn’t work out, is there another area within the golf industry that interests you?
rnAny position in the golf industry would be a dream job for me. Golf is my passion and I couldn&apost imagine not having it in my life. I have often thought that I would like to organise and run golf events, be it amateur, professional or corporate golf. I love being a part of events and to be able to organise them for others I think would be quite satisfying.
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rnIf you are working full time, how do you manage to compete in ALPG Tour events?
rnBecause one of the requirements of the PGA is to work fulltime, it means I only get four weeks annual leave where I am able to compete in ALPG events. This is one of the only unfortunate aspects of the traineeship. However, my employer Robert Farley, has allowed me to do extra hours throughout the year so I will then be able to take time off in lieu. I plan to use all of my holidays and extra time off earned to compete on the ALPG Tour because it is very important to me to maintain my relationship with the tour and to also stay competitive at an international level.
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rnThe ALPG Tour is only a small tour with limited events, so why is it important to you to maintain that relationship with the Tour considering there are no real flow-on benefits, apart from prizemoney, from playing in these tournaments?
rnYes, the ALPG Tour is only a small tour but it is also the only women&aposs Australian professional golf tour which makes it very important to me. The ALPG Tour gave me the opportunity to turn professional and compete in professional events without it costing me an arm and a leg and having to travel overseas.
rnThe ALPG Tour also gave me the opportunity to compete with world class golfers and more importantly to meet these players in person. If the current ALPG Members do not continue to support the tour then inevitably the tour will lose sponsorship, tournaments and players. If this happens who will be there to provide the stepping stone in Australia between amateur golf and professional golf? We need to be growing our tour and thats why it is so important for me to maintain my relationship with the ALPG and continue to support their events.
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rnWhat are your goals for the traineeship and what do you plan to do when you finish?
rnMy main focus during the traineeship is going to be developing my coaching skills. Robert Farley has already given me the opportunity to begin coaching and although as a year one trainee I am not allowed to coach unsupervised he has made time to supervise the classes I do. Together with another PGA member I developed the Marangaroo Junior golf Program, a mix of term classes, holiday classes and on course competitions. During the term program I have the opportunity to teach a girls class and absolutely love every minute of it. Being able to pass on my own experiences and knowledge and give them the opportunities that I had as a junior is very gratifying. I will continue to work on growing our program and next year when I am able to coach unsupervised I will be able to coach more classes and have more opportunities to develop my coaching skills.
rnI haven&apost thought too much about what I plan to do when I finish. It depends on where this journey takes me. If i continue to enjoy coaching then I may simply make a career of that but if I get the urge to go back on tour then I may try that again. I will have to wait and see….
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rnHow many juniors are in your program? How many junior members does Marangaroo have? How many junior girl members?
rnThe Marangaroo Junior Golf Program currently has about 70 juniors ranging from 4 yrs to 16 yrs. Because we are a public golf course the juniors do not become members but they can take part in our term and holiday classes as well as competitions that we run. We currently have 15 juniors girls in our program ranging from 5 to 12yrs.
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rnIn your role at the club, do you see yourself as a role model for other junior girl golfers? You were a junior once. From your experiences, do you think there are enough support/programs to keep junior golfers, particularly girls, in the game?
rnI accept and embrace the responsibilities that come with being a golf professional and one of those responsibilites is to be a good role model for junior golfers. I need to ensure that I am always dressed, speak and act in a professional manner because they see how I dress, they listen to how I speak and they watch how I act and children are very good at mimicking.

From my experiences as a junior, I can say that training wise and financially I was given a lot of support. However, there was never anybody there to look up to or to go to for advice and support and somehow the state association never recognised that as important. I have twice volunteered my services to our state women&aposs association to provide that to the current juniors but have not been contacted. There can ever be enough support. Whether it be on a national, state or club level more can always be done. If we don&apost have new juniors coming through our golf courses how will golf continue to grow in the future? We simply all need to do our part.

Photos and interview by Paul Melville – From Top

Nicole in action at the Lady Anne Funerals ALPG Pro-Am – Ryde-Parramatta Golf Club – December 2009.

Nicole with playoff opponents (Leah Hart [left] and Tamara Beckett) at the Power Ford Castle Hill Country Club Pro-Am – December 2009.

Nicole anxiously watches her second shot to the first playoff hole.

Nicole waits to tee off at the Handa Women&aposs Australian Open – March 2010.