Assistant Professor of Practice & Instruction Coordinator
May, 2011 – Present

My position at UNL has me primarily focused on instruction and student advising. While I can teach the full breadth of the program materials, I spend most of my time on the Teaching & Coaching, and Player Development modules. I've spent the last year focused on an overhaul of the facility management topic areas as well. 

I am extremely fortunate in my position as it has afforded me the opportunity to travel across the United States and the World. I have led groups of students on education abroad trips to Scotland on a number of occasions and built a program in China. 

In my thirteen years, I have taught nearly 400 credit hours worth of courses across the entire curriculum. 

Program Administration

• Worked with the PGAM Team to navigate the 2021 PGA of America Accreditation Review.

• Lead role in maintaining PGA Golf Management Policies and Procedures in accordance with PGA of America Standards and Criteria.

  • Helped to lead program to successful re-accreditation by PGA in 2015 and 2022

  • Coordinate programming (curriculum, seminars, etc.) with PGA of America and provide reporting to maintain program accreditation with the association.

• Worked to help with the recruiting process by filling in for visit sessions when needed, development of messaging to share with the broader community, ensuring that messaging matches the actual experience that prospective students will receive.

• Hired and trained one to three Teaching Assistants each semester.

• Leading role in organizing annual PGA Merchandise Show attendance including booth setup, hotels, transportation, and all activities for roughly thirty and up to fifty student attendees each year. 

• Helped to manage program budget for greatest impact in student experience and success 

• Worked with Liz Husmann on an extensive re-design of the PGAM Website

Curriculum Development and Delivery

• Reimagined program core curriculum multiple times including during the transition from the 1.0 program to the 2.0 program to the 3.0 program and now the 3.1 program as prescribed by The PGA.

• Designed and redesigned 14 academic courses within the program to match changing industry needs and requirements by PGA of America in a way that kept the courses engaging and helpful.

  • PGAM 101,112,201,212,301,312,401,489,295,495,496,496 mini-sessions

  • AGRI 310,311 (International and Domestic Study Tours)

  • This includes coordination of PGA Testing and Seminars at each level

  • PGAM 391:

    • Golf Course Design and Architecture- This course is ready to be deployed under its own number

    • Golf Genius Software Level 1 Certification

    • Golf Statistics for Player Development

  • I’ve successfully taught every course within the curriculum multiple times.

• Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 special Mini-Sessions Funded:

  • Golf Course Design and Architecture (collaboration with Landscapes Unlimited)

  • Coaching Systems in Golf

  • These mini sessions led to the my creation of a new course on “Special Topics”: PGAM 391

• PGA of America test results improved year over year. 

• Advised all students within the program to help determine the most valuable  and efficient path to graduation and PGA Membership.

• Led Education Abroad Programming.

  • Led multiple trips to the UK (Scotland) and developed a trip to China (canceled due to COVID).

  • Launched a domestic study tours program that was focused on the relationship building between golf professionals and turfgrass management teams in collaboration with the Turfgrass Management Program.

  • I was one of the first six individuals to become a certified leader by the UNL Education Abroad Department

• Led students in undergraduate Research Projects related to golf.

• Increased core competencies of our graduates over those from other universities by augmenting our program with additional materials such as TrackMan University, PXIII fitting certifications, PGA.COACH (ADM), etc.

Committee Service and Outreach

• CASNR Biennial Program Report Review Team set to review 4 CASNR academic programs checking for learning and DEI outcomes

• CASNR Curriculum Committee (2020-2022)(2023-2025)

  • Serve on Curriculum Committee subcommittees focused on refining requirements for course certification as “Experiential Learning,” and the development of an updated form of the College Integrative Course requirement.

• Engaged with Faculty Fellows For Student Success as an active member of the 2020-2021 Cohort.

• Education Abroad Scholarship Review Committee (2020)

• UCARE (Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research) Proposal Review Committee (2020)

• Launched a new podcast for the program titled “Launch” focused on informing the public about aspects of our program and highlighting student and alumni successes. 

• Helped to increase scholarship pool to allow for more than $30,000 to be awarded annually

• Co-advise PGA Golf Management Student Club (RSO) 

• Hosted Local High School Golf Coaches for numerous coaching workshops

• Conducted a Golf Statistics Webinar for the Nebraska Junior Golf Community

• Assisted with multiple NJGT Events in an official capacity including the new Spring and Fall Series Events sponsored by the program. 

• Nebraska PGA Section Involvement:

  • Junior Golf Committee Chair (2013-2014)

    • Increased Jr. Rounds more than 20%

    • Increased registration revenue by more than 50%

  • Education Committee Chair (2018-2019)

    • Created numerous educational offerings for section membership

    • Re-launched the Nebraska PGA Teaching and Coaching Summit featuring speakers of national prominence 

  • Special Awards Selection Committee (2020)

Student Space and Technology Development

• Orchestrated multiple Teaching and Sim Lab upgrades, including a new K-Vest system, a new Computer system in the Teaching Lab, and the PuttView system.

• Leveraged technologies such as TrackMan, Flightscope, Foresight, Full Swing Simulators, BodiTrak, High-Speed Video, K-Vest, MySwing 3D, PuttView, Sportsbox AI, and others in teaching and coaching students.

• Continuously work to update and maintain simulator system infrastructure, software and hardware to keep the space functioning perfectly for an outstanding student experience.

Tech Rep

March 2018 – Present

Starting in the Spring of 2018, I have been able to work with Mizuno Golf conducting golf club fittings for members at clubs and the general public at official demo days for the company. Being engaged in the sales process as well as the technical fitting process on a regular basis has been a great opportunity for me to keep my skills sharp and my in-class stories from getting stale. 

The relationship that came as a result of this connection has also led to the opportunity to finally add an updated fitting cart to our PGA Golf Management lab space. 

More recently, Tyler Schaaf, the sales representative that I do this work for was awarded our Section's "Sales Rep of the Year" award. 

Member

October 2010 – Present

I have always made it a point to help my section whenever possible. In addition to service as the chair of two committees (Jr. Golf and Education) I have also put in time with our YMCA Jr. golf clinics, coaching a TEAM Golf team, and volunteer work at countless Summer Junior Tour events across the state. 

Sales Associate

November 2010 – May 2011

To put it plainly, this was the job where I learned the value of a career that I would actually love and enjoy. It was the driving force behind my current personal mission to help others achieve success in careers they actually enjoy. 

This is not to say that I didn't learn a lot about the sales process, both good and bad, as I did learn a lot about how to build relationships in a somewhat hostile environment. It was the overall stress level of this position that I didn't want to be part of my life.

Assistant Golf Professional

February 2009 – October 2010

Ridgewood was my first home club as a PGA Professional and will always hold a special place in my heart. It was very typical of an Assistant Professional Position. The membership was great and it was my first real opportunity to build and manage a team. Many of the friendships I built there have persisted long after leaving.