By Bob Branciforte
Chris Zumpano, a graduate of Newsome High School, is swinging his way to success at Florida State University in the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Golf Management Program. He has been elected to the executive board of the university’s PGA Golf Management Student Club.
Zumpano was elected to the executive board of PGA Golf Management Student Club as club tournament co-director by his fellow students. The club’s executive board plans and organizes club-sponsored events and activities that benefit the golf management program and its students.
“Chris is very passionate about the game and is one of the best players that we’ve ever had in the program,” said Don Farr, director of FSU’s professional golf management program. “Professional golf management students benefit from the balance of developing as golfers and as businesspeople.”
Zumpano is aiming toward his dream of becoming a PGA Class “A” golf professional in a unique program at Florida State’s Dedman School of Hospitality. He is earning a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management with a major in PGA golf management. The Dedman School of Hospitality is an independent, industry-specific school with its own admission and degree requirements. It is administered through Florida State University’s College of Business.
One of only 19 programs accredited by the PGA in the U.S., it enables students to acquire hospitality business skills while they satisfy supplemental PGA requirements—a player ability test, 16 months of PGA-approved internships and several PGA workshops. After four and a half years of coursework and internships, graduates are on their way to managing top worldwide clubs and resorts or to following other career paths within the golf and hospitality industries. The program boasts a 100 percent graduate placement rate.
This summer, Zumpano served in an internship position at the historic Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, N.C., founded in 1895. The United States Golf Association plans to bring both the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens to Pinehurst Couse No. 2 in June 2014.
