NAPLES, Fla. — During the school year, Austin Cherichella is a golfer. The rising senior is the best player on the FGCU men’s golf team. The Florida native even has aspirations to turn pro when he graduates. During the summer, however, Cherichella switches hats and becomes an instructor.
“It’s a lot of fun just being with the kids all the time,” Cherichella said.
Cherichella is interning this summer with the Junior Golf Performance Academy, which offers golf instruction and development for kids of all ages. His internship takes place at Quail Creek Country Club in Naples. Each day Cherichella brings a group of kids to the driving range, putting green and full course to teach them the sport.
The internship is a part of Cherichella’s school curriculum. He is a student in FGCU’s PGA Golf Management program. The program teaches students the ins and outs of the golf industry and provides them with a gateway to the PGA. Students graduate from the program with the proper certifications needed in order to have high-level jobs in golf.
“It’s a good way to get into the golf industry if you really love golf,” Cherichella said.
One requirement of the program is students must have 16 months of internships by the time they graduate. So, the way Austin is fulfilling that is by teaching the next generation of Southwest Florida golfers. This is his third year instructing at the JGPA.
“They love it,” Cherichella said. “They keep coming back year after year.”
The kids’ love for the JGPA makes sense when you consider they are learning from a future pro.
“They can really look up to Austin,” JGPA owner Thor Parrish said. “They can kind of see themselves in his shoes. Austin can talk about remembering what it was like to be ten, 12 years old and the road he took to get to college golf.”
Cherichella’s road included programs just like the one he is now instructing.
“I think if they get the right framework, they get to experience what I went through too, if they go through the same thing, they could be just as good one day or even better,” Cherichella said.
Only time will tell if the kids live up to that, but right now we do know they have quite the instructor.
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