Finding a B-School Niche

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After he graduates with the energy master's, Bejarano hopes to get into commodities trading in Houston. "This is the oil capital of the nation," he says. "If I'm going to do anything related to energy or commodities, this is where I need to be."

Florida State University

Stacy Barwick has a tough decision to make. In a few months she will be setting out for a summer internship, the third of her college career, and she's having trouble choosing one. Barwick, a junior in Florida State University's Professional Golf Management program, is in the enviable position of being able to simply pick any golf club or resort that appeals to her. Even if there isn't an open position, students in her program are so attractive to employers in the golf industry that they will create one. "We're one of the few majors that I know of that allows students to choose where they want to be," Barwick says. "I'm not complaining."

And why should she? She goes to college in sunny Florida, majors in golf, and can choose where she interns. But there is a slight caveat. "When I go out and meet prospective students, I tell them our target market is very defined," says Don Farr, PGA professional and director of the PGM program. "They have to be in the top 20% of their high school class, and they must be a 12 handicap or less." Farr explains these are student-athletes in every sense of the word. "You drop a pass in the Sugar Bowl, you're still graduating," he says. "You can get a 4.0, but if you can't pass the golf requirement, you don't get a PGM degree."

Florida State is one of 20 universities that offers the PGA of America-accredited PGM degree, but the school is unique in that its curriculum includes all of the core courses in both the business and hospitality schools. Students, 40% of whom come from out of state, learn about course and tournament operations, turf management, club design and repair, as well as catering and restaurant management. They also must pass the PGA Playing Ability Test, which requires them to shoot a score of 78 over two consecutive rounds.

The golf curriculum is broken into three levels, covering the ins and outs of the game, as well as business writing. Farr estimates the golf portion amounts to more than 1,000 hours of work over four semesters. "It's a heavy load," Farr says.

But the load isn't curbing student interest from inside or outside Florida. In fact, more than 40% of students are coming to the program from out of state, no doubt attracted by the fact that the program has a 100% job placement rate and 16 months of internships built into the curriculum. With experience in both hospitality and business, many grads go on to be general managers of golf clubs, teaching professionals, course architects, and managers at golf-related companies such as FootJoy or Titleist. Some students have greater aspirations. "Many want to own their own golf course," Farr says.

And this when, according to the National Golf Foundation, the number of core golfers—those playing eight rounds or more a year—has been dropping each year since 2000. New course openings are also on the decline. Farr, though, isn't worried about the prospects for the game. The boomers are starting to retire, and that should be good for golf.

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Gloeckler is a staff editor for BusinessWeek in New York.