An article was published in the magazine "Golf Course Seminar" about our university's Faculty of Business Administration Golf Management course, which will open in 2026.
The article also includes comments from Professor Kazumi Uemura of the Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Business Administration, at our university.
This magazine is not sold in bookstores, but every golf course in the country has at least one copy.
"Training future manager candidates"
(Reprinted with permission from the publisher.)
On March 3th, a signing ceremony for a cooperation agreement regarding the promotion of golf was held at Miki City Hall in Hyogo Prefecture between Miki City, the Miki City Golf Association, and Kansai International University.
One notable feature of the recently concluded "Agreement on the Promotion of Golf and the Development of Its Human Resources" is the establishment of a new "Golf Management Course" at the Kansai International University's School of Business, Department of Regional Management (Miki Campus) in April 2026. This will build a cooperative system for the sustainable development of the region, with a focus on developing human resources to support golf as an industry.
The university was selected in 20 for the Sports Agency's commissioned project, "Establishing a regional revitalization hub using university sports resources and supporting the placement of university sports administrators," and has since been working to collaborate with Miki City's Golf Town Promotion Division.
"We would like to take advantage of our strength as the only university located in Miki City and work with golf courses in the city to develop human resources," said Kazumi Uemura, assistant to the university's president, director of the Center for Research and Development of Higher Education, and professor in the Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Business Administration.
Regarding the aim of establishing this new course, Professor Uemura said, "The 2025 problem will have a major impact on the decline in the workforce at golf courses. Currently, veteran employees in charge of course management are reaching retirement age one after another, and all golf courses are in need of young people to take on the role. Therefore, the concept of human resource development for the Golf Management Course is to train candidates for future managers." (Professor Uemura)
The four skills that are considered necessary for a manager are "communication skills," "cooperation and teamwork," "hospitality," and "customer service skills," and a curriculum is planned to be created to improve these skills. Regarding hospitality and customer service, it seems that they are considering preparing a program that will teach not only general content but also etiquette specific to golf courses.
In addition, in discussions with the Miki City Golf Town Promotion Division, it was agreed that while the Golf Management course will focus on golf-specific content, the basic subjects in the current curriculum, "Introduction to Business Management," "Introduction to Economics," "Marketing," "Finance," and "Business Statistics" (all four credits), are essential for training golf course managers. Therefore, the spring and fall of the first year and the spring of the second year will be set as periods for learning the basics of management.
At the same time, experiential learning such as golf practical training and internships are also offered, and students in the Golf Management course take these as compulsory subjects.
"The concept of the curriculum at the School of Business Administration is 'communication between the classroom and the workplace.' The idea is to put what students learn in the classroom into practice in the workplace from an early stage, deepening their learning. The School of Business Administration offers an internship program for second-year students in the summer semester for 10 days, and from the summer of 22, we have been accepting interns at golf courses in the city, where they undergo work experience at two golf courses over a 10-day period." (Professor Uemura)
Furthermore, in the golf management theory and golf management seminars held in the spring and fall of the second year, "while the focus is on classroom learning, students will also learn the basics, such as the history of golf, golf course etiquette, and the work of golf courses, as well as the skills required for each department, such as front desk reception, facility management, course management, the caddie master's office, caddies, sales, marketing, and restaurants, through practical training," says Professor Uemura.
Several golf courses in the city, including Miki Golf Club, located just over 15 km (about 27 minutes by car) from the Miki Campus, Lions Country Club, and Miki Yokawa Country Club (all Hyogo Prefecture, XNUMXHM), are already offering courses as activity locations for "lifelong sports (golf practice)" for students majoring in regional management, and accepting internship students.
In the future, they will visit high schools in Miki City with the newly completed leaflet (A20 size), and then expand their PR to the Higashi-Harima region and Hyogo Prefecture. The leaflet was also displayed in the houses during the "Golf Festival" held at Miki GC on March XNUMXth, which was attended by a total of XNUMX people, and it seems to have been a good PR opportunity.
Information will also be made available on the university's official website and on the university and faculty's Instagram accounts.
The battle to select the young people who will be responsible for running golf courses in the future is likely to begin soon.
*This is a related article to the Golf Management Course at the Faculty of Business Administration.
※ Introduction of Professor Kazumi Uemura, Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Business Administration
