For The Love Of The Game: GOLFWORKS Q&A With Brittany Ferrante
SANDS POINT, N.Y. (March 11, 2022) -- This past summer, the MGA Foundation's cornerstone program, GOLFWORKS, returned to Met Area clubs. In total, 147 GOLFWORKS interns worked at 39 clubs during the summer months, gaining valuable work, golf, and life experiences. In addition to the 147 interns participating in MGA programming, 18 former interns were hired directly by clubs, showcasing the relationships forged between intern and club during the GOLFWORKS program. In the case of Brittany Ferrante, GOLFWORKS and The First Tee program were springboards to a career in golf.
Related: GOLFWORKS | Foundation News
Ferrante currently works as the Director of Junior Golf at The Village Club of Sands Point, a position she has held since she graduated from the University of Hartford in 2018. Ferrante studied Elementary Education and Teaching in college and was able to marry her love for golf and education in her current role. Ferrante was selected as part of the U.S. Kids Golf Top 50 Kids Coach Award class of 2021, for her excellent work in growing the game through the next generation of golfers. An exceptional ambassador for the game, GOLFWORKS and The First Tee, we caught up with Ferrante to explore how she fell in love with golf and instructing.
Q- How were you introduced to the game of golf originally?
I was first introduced to the game of golf when I was eight years old I think. My brother was into basketball and baseball but kept getting benched, so he started playing golf. I went to play tennis but my dad told me I would have to pick because I couldn’t be on the golf course and tennis court at the same time. So one day I came home from third grade to a set of Cobra clubs on my bed and from there I just started going to Dix Hills Golf Course with him. After that my dad found The First Tee program at Eisenhower Park and my brother and I started taking classes there on weekends. It’s turned into a lifelong passion from there.
Q- What are your favorite things about the sport?
I like giving back and I love, love teaching the kids. Being able to see their reactions and see how happy they are when they make contact with the ball is awesome. Also, just being outside and having fun with my current job is great. I liked the competitiveness of golf, but that wasn’t my number one love, so that’s why I decided to give back to the game because it helped me grow so much as a person when I was younger.
Q- How did you learn about the GOLFWORKS program?
It was through The First Tee program. So when I grew up as a student in their program, I ended up learning that there were some intern opportunities through GOLFWORKS and The First Tee. I started interning in middle school and high school and was teaching the first two levels of the program after a while. I can honestly say I owe my life to The First Tee and GOLFWORKS.
Q- What did being in the program and then teaching as a GOLFWORKS intern teach you?
It’s a program like no other. I think the biggest benefit to me was the life skills I was taught. The First Tee preaches nine core values and it’s about so much more than learning golf but also about learning to be a better person and how to go about your day to day activities. It really shaped me into the person I am.
Q- When did you know you wanted to pursue a career in golf?
I knew before I went to college. I have a bachelor’s in elementary special education, and I knew after my first three years in The First Tee program. I knew I wanted to be a teacher all along, but that was when I decided I wanted to focus more on golf. I would say my sophomore year was when I realized that my degree would pair well with pursuing a career in golf too.
Q- Describe your current position at Sands Point.
So I’m the Director of Junior Golf at The Village Club of Sands Point on Long Island. I took over the junior program in the beginning of 2019. Before I took over we had 50 kids enrolled in the fall and last fall we had 150 enrolled. In the summer of 2021, we had 210 enrolled between my Tuesday and Friday classes. We also do a six-week mini clinic in the spring, and I have three PGA junior league teams. So I am basically doing something Tuesday through Sunday every week.
Q- What’s your favorite aspect of your job?
I’ve mentioned it already, but it’s really just working with the kids. They are so awesome. Seeing them smile, seeing them have fun, they are always just excited to be there. Some of them really like golf and some of them are just there because we are providing such a fun environment. No matter what they are awesome, and they make me feel young. I know I’m young myself but they are all my people, all 210 of them.