During the summer, the American Junior Golf Association conducts at least seven tournaments a week. To meet the needs of this demanding schedule, the AJGA hired over 70 interns this summer to run 86 national junior golf events. While there are many interns that have some form of golf knowledge, a lot of candidates join the internship without even stepping foot onto a golf course. After a week of training in headquarters, the 70+ interns are split into seven teams and off to run their first events.
The 2023 Summer Internship class is made up of impressive people - 62 colleges and universities are represented through this class and will travel 43,570 miles this summer. These interns fall into two categories - Operations and Communications Interns. The Operations interns are mainly responsible for the set-up, breakdown and execution of each tournament while the Communications interns execute social media and promotional plans while also taking photos and videography. All traveling interns also serve as on-course rules officials. Through the AJGA Internship, the interns are able to develop other skills such as leadership, teamwork, public speaking and customer service. Alongside the seven teams of interns, there are also eight interns returning for a second season of the AJGA's internship as a Tournament Assistant or Communications Assistant. These positions are an elevated role and aid in helping assist and manage our intern teams, while help conducting our events.
All summer interns are out on the road for three months without stopping. To catch a glimpse into a week in the life of an intern, check out this timeline .
A fun and unique aspect of this internship is the continuous travel. During the internship, each team travels with two trucks, a rental car and a 16-foot trailer with all the supplies needed to conduct an AJGA event. Teams this summer are made up of nine members and have been assigned a region of the country to travel. When not at the golf course, teams have the ability to explore what their region has to offer - hiking at National Parks, trying out different foods and going to a ton of sporting games. No matter where a team is, they will always be able to find something new and exciting at each tournament.
The backbone of the AJGA is its internship program and we hire directly from the program into full-time roles, with 85% of our staff having completed an internship. Former interns and full-time have been able to launch their careers in golf, but also the sports industry. Alumni have received jobs with prestigious organizations both in and out of golf such as the PGA TOUR, LPGA, USGA, PGA of America, Augusta National Golf Club, NFL, MLB, NHL, TaylorMade, Nike, college coaches. Interns have also gone on to roles outside of sports in different corporate positions.
Are you interested in joining the family? Applications for the 2024 AJGA Travel Internships open on August 14, 2023. The deadline for the Spring session is on October 16, 2023, and the Summer session is on January 5, 2024. To apply and learn more about the #AJGAInternship, check out the AJGA Careers website and Instagram.
