Niverville golfer tees off in Japan

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This article was published 13/10/2022 (983 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fresh out of golfing college, armed with a degree in Professional Golf Management, Niverville’s Jacqueline Peters will be heading to Hong Kong for a three-month working golf holiday. For Peters, it will be all-expenses paid trip, including flights, apartment and a living allowance, as well as wages, a reward for her hard work the past 16 months at a California golf college.

Peters says she could have gone to work at any prestigious North American or European course, as it is the choice open to all graduates of the college. Every day, there would be offers on the school’s employment board and faxes of resumes would be sent for those who were interested.

“One day, one the men who runs the school came and asked me if I would like to go to Hong Kong.”

She picked Hong Kong for the experience, thinking she may never get another opportunity to go there.

For three months, Peters will be working in a golf studio, called Improve Your Game, located in the centre of the city. While there, she will be teaching people how to golf and fitting clubs for them.

While home briefly for Christmas before leaving for her new job, Peters says she is still “coming down” from the excitement of what was a 16-month golf holiday for her.

”Imagine a school where afternoon classes are on sunny golf courses in the wine valley of California and all you need for exams are your woods, irons and putter.”

Weekends were spent “schmoozing” with big leaguers at tournaments and classes were spent “schmoozing” with former big leaguers, who were professors at the Professional Golfers Career College in Temeculu, Calfornia.

While attending the college carried a hefty price tag, Peters says after 16 months, she was ready for more of the school. Despite the steep tuition costs, thousands of golfers apply each year and only 150 are able to attend, and among them Peters was only one of two women in the class.

Ironically, Peters has not always loved golf. In high school, Peters played nearly every sport offered, but golf never seemed to spark her interest. Her parents, John and Dorothy Peters, of Niverville, are both golf enthusiasts and tried to get her to take up the sport, but she wouldn’t.

For years, Peters pursued a degree in music at Brandon and North Dakota, with a specialization in the euphonium and piano. Her summers were spent in Ottawa, playing as part of the band during the changing of the guard.

That was until a few years ago, and when she returned from Ottawa and her father entered her in a parent/child tournament. She knew from the moment she hit that first ball, she was hooked on golf (pardon the pun).

After that, golf became her passion and she says she probably has practised more in the past two years since she took up the game than other people have in a decade.

Peters says initially she was fooled by the ease the golfers displayed on TV, but she soon learned golf is a difficult game that requires practise, practise and more practise to succeed.

Peters compares golf to other sports to stress how difficult it is. In basketball or volleyball, if you miss a shot, a teammate can bail you out. You always have a teammate to fall back on.

“In golf, if you get beaten, it is because of you. If you play badly, it’s because of you.”

In spite of having a specialized degree, which will open all kinds of career doors for Peters in all facets of the profession, from golf pro to golf course design and management, Peters maintains she still would like to work towards achieving a spot on the LPGA tour.

Peters realizes that she has only been playing the game for a couple of years and the women on the LPGA tour have all been playing since they were 12.

“All that means is that I’ll just have to work that much harder.”

In the meantime, Peters says her parents, who own the Mohawk gas station in Steinbach, are very excited about the Hong Kong trip and the possibility of a future job in Palm Springs.

“They want to come to visit.”