Catching Up With 2018 P.J. Boatwright Intern Nick Mogelvang

The NJSGA caught up with former P.J. Boatwright Intern, Nick Mogelvang. Established in 1991, the internship program is designed to give experience to young women and men interested in pursuing a lifetime of work in golf administration.

NJSGA: What year were you a P.J. Boatwright Intern and which department did you intern for?

Mogelvang: 2018. I was working in championships with Mike (McAneny) and Brad (Bardon).

NJSGA: You attended the University of Colorado. What did you study?

Mogelvang: I studied business with an emphasis in finance.

NJSGA: What originally led you to apply for the NJSGA Boatwright internship?

Mogelvang: I'm from Chatham, NJ and went to school in Colorado. I had played high school for Chatham all four years, so I had always played golf since an early age and it was always my favorite sport. When I went to Colorado, I kind of stopped playing. I originally was going to get into the trading world for finance out of school. I had applied for a job. It was a position for a proprietary trading firm based in Denver. But the job fell through, so I just fell back on what I knew best instead of applying for other finance jobs. I had gotten into working at the PGA Tour Superstore and was caddying in Denver. I decided to move back home with my parents in 2018 and I was looking for jobs here in the golf industry. While working at the PGA Tour Superstore in Paramus, the Alcorn's (our family friends whose son, Zack, was a former Boatwright intern with the NJSGA) informed me about the Boatwright internship. I really wanted to do something in the golf industry and that was the perfect fit. 

 NJSGA: If you could sum it up, what did you learn during your internship?

Mogelvang: I feel like I was truly part of a team and made a considerate contribution to working for them. I learned what it takes to be a team player. There was a lot of planning that needed to be done with Brad and Mike in advance of prepping for the venues we were going to have events at, making sure we had all of the components ready like the tee sheets, yardage markers, hole locations, going to the course and prepping the course, painting hazard lines and stuff like that. It taught me preparation and planning.

NJSGA: Is there a special moment that sticks out to you from your time at the NJSGA?

Mogelvang: I didn't grow up at a country club, my parents didn't belong to a country club, and I think the biggest thing that I took away from the internship was how amazing golf is in New Jersey that I wasn't aware of. Peak season, I don't think there's any better golf in the U.S. than in New Jersey. The way that some of these top clubs manicure their courses and prepare is second to none. Seeing some of the courses like The Ridge at Back Brook, Hollywood, Ridgewood, Arcola – I was just overly impressed with some of the clubs.

NJSGA: What’s your current role and how did you land there? 

 Mogelvang: While I was working at the NJSGA, on weekends I would do fitting events for Rick Hartigan, NJ Sales Rep for TaylorMade. I would go to various driving ranges and clubs to host demo days. While I truly enjoyed fitting and dealing with TaylorMade equipment, I felt like there wasn't much room for growth as a Demo Tech. I asked Rick to reach out to someone at HQ in Carlsbad. My mom's side of the family is from California, and we're all slowly gravitating over there and moving to Carlsbad would be easy. He reached out to Chris Pural, a manager in customer service, who hired me as a temp. I was in service for three months and got furloughed because of the pandemic since they couldn't train us remotely. HR reached out to me because there was an opening to work in accounts payable that was remote. They saw my background in golf and my degree in finance and I got hired into that department. I was in Accounts Payable from late 2020 until June 2023 and have been a Financial Analyst since.

NJSGA: When did you realize you wanted to have a career in golf?

Mogelvang: It was soon after college. I had taken a business trek to Chicago during school and learned about various positions in investment banking/trading, but none of it really sparked an interest for me. It seemed boring and tedious. It was shortly after college where I really needed to start paying the bills and I wanted to get into something that I was super passionate about. I always wanted to get into golf, but it was more out of a necessity when I got out of college.

NJSGA: What is golf like in California? Do you get out often?

Mogelvang: Golf is great. Since COVID, the amount of rounds played has gone up significantly. It's hard to get tee times, but I now belong to a club at Oceanside Municipal. A lot of the TaylorMade guys go out every Saturday, we get a 7:30 shotgun tee time - we play individual matches, team matches, club championships, various events. I get to play Torrey Pines frequently and travel to La Quinta to play PGA West and other clubs in the desert. I am also competing in various city championships and try to qualify for SCGA amateur events. I am making it a new plan to travel back to NJ each year to try and qualify for the US Mid-Am. I have done so for the last two years.

NJSGA: What would you say to those who were interested in the Boatwright Internship?

Mogelvang: It's easy for someone younger, maybe fresh out of college to say they want to get into the golf industry. There’s so many different areas in the industry, but my advice would be to be specific in an area that you want to get into. If you’re really obsessed about equipment, you can go to the manufacturers. If you're obsessed with business, you can go to the large companies, if you really want to be face to face with play, then you should go to work for an AGA or the USGA. There’s a lot that the industry allows, and if you push what you're truly into, it's possible.

NJSGA: Talk more about your current role at TaylorMade.

Mogelvang: I’m working specifically for the supply chain finance team. We support all of the operations teams globally. Right now, I'm working on managing our largest distribution facility in Evansville, Indiana. I manage their P&L so its a lot of expense tracking, working with business partners on key projects, and properly closing/forecasting. It’s been a great role where I can combine my background in finance and passion for TaylorMade products.

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