Area Women in Business: Lisa Schwinden, Sports Business

Lisa Schwinden

Born: Fargo, 1980

Education: University of Portland, 2002—Journalism and French minor

Business: Head PGA Golf Professional, Osgood Public Golf Course, NDSU Women’s Head Golf Coach, 2007-08.

Community Volunteering & Donations: Hosting 4th annual Rally for Cure to benefit the Susan G. Coleman Cancer Foundation, Sisters of Mary of the Presentation—secretary, golf lesson donations, Women’s Fund board member.

On leadership, “Someone who demonstrates by example and is not afraid to make the hard decisions.”

Fargo’s own Lisa Schwinden was the first female PGA Head Professional in the state of North Dakota and is only one of 115 PGA Professionals nationwide certified to instruct by the PGA’s Certified Professionals Program. She started the PGA’s Professional Golf Management Program in 2003 and finished in January of 2005. Lisa is one of only four female Head Professionals in the tri-state area.

Having lived in Fargo for all but four years of her life, Lisa left the area for college when she attended the University of Portland. Lisa was a four-year starter at the University of Portland and was named to the West Coast Conference all-academic team all four seasons. She returned to Fargo after graduation in 2002. She continued fulltime as the Edgewood Golf Course assistant pro that she had started as a summer job a few years before. Lisa pointed out that her biggest business inspiration is Greg McCulla, the head pro at Edgewood when Lisa worked at the course.

In 2005, Lisa became the head pro at Osgood Public Golf Course. She is responsible for the operations of the course, golf leagues, golf instruction and she also owns the golf shop.

A recent addition to Lisa’s work life is that she has been named the fall and spring NDSU women’s golf coach. She said she is very excited to be a part of the program and says that the budgets and schedules she will be working with all add up to a solid program.

With all the she has accomplished in a short time, it is hard to believe that Lisa graduated from college not knowing exactly what she wanted to do for a career. What Lisa did know was that she wanted to help women. This desire took the form of working in the golf profession to help get more women involved in the sport. Besides paving the way for women golf players in general, Lisa is also paving the way as one of a small number of female golf pros in the Midwest.

Lisa said that her main career obstacles have arisen because she is a woman in business and in the golf profession. She feels golf stereotypes still remain that feed into the old thinking that the sport of golf only belongs to wealthy Caucasian males. Lisa said that another obstacle she has had to overcome, as a woman building a business, is forming working relationships with banks in order to finance and grow her golf shop business.

Each day is packed with a lot to do. Reviewing her Tuesday schedule, Lisa describes a typical work day in her profession. The day starts with an 8 AM golf pro meeting with others from the area’s golf courses, 9 to 9:30 AM are leagues to teach, and then private lesson teaching starts. At 4:00 PM, Lisa starts to prepare for the ladies league which will meet later in the day. At 6 PM 100 women golfers arrive for lessons and to play golf. Ladies Night then runs from 9 to 10:30 PM when Lisa spends time socializing and building relationships with her students and other golfers.

National golf trends show that the number of golfers is declining and golf courses are closing due to the cost of the sport and the time it takes to play. Locally, the sport is healthy and Lisa points out that the numbers of golfers are up. She attributes it to actively attracting women players to the game, the fact that more seniors are playing, and more playing by offering junior golf programs. Playing opportunities such as playing three holes at a time and golf sessions for the entire family are also very popular and bring golfers out to the course.

A golfer since eight years of age, how does Lisa keep learning about her sport and profession? The PGA offers a variety of educational opportunities and Lisa said that the Master Professional is the next step for her in her professional education.
Besides taking part in the PGA’s educational programs, Lisa also learns from the PGA Magazine which covers hot trends in golf. Lisa also looks to industry reps for trends in golf clothing to keep up on the latest clothing items she carries in her golf shop.

People may not know that this accomplished athlete is also an aspiring violinist. She started lessons in college and now tries to play regularly during the golf off-season. Lisa played piano and percussion as a child.

Lisa said her future plans include working very hard teaching, coaching and building her business at Osgood. She is striving to get the golf shop to a stable point and then she plans on playing more golf herself in the future. In the meantime, Lisa said that this community and Osgood Golf Course are a great fit for her.

North Dakota State University will begin its final year of the five-year reclassification from Division II to Division I next season. The Bison will join The Summit League next season and will be eligible for NCAA championships beginning in 2008-09. Schwinden is the head professional at Osgood Golf Course in Fargo and has held that position since the course opened in 2005.