Our Story/Connor Mulcahy

May 2016

For Connor Mulcahy, enrolling at Penn State was a no-brainer.

A member of his high school’s varsity golf team, “the main driving forces behind my love of golf were my parents and both sets of grandparents. The drive from them and my younger brother, who is also an avid golfer, helped a lot as I was trying to continue to get better at golf,” he said.

He learned the game at a young age, started playing competitively as a teen, and even worked as a caddy through high school. His passion for golf could be seen in all aspects of his life.

Then, with one visit to Penn State that included a tour of the PGA Professional Golf Management (PGM) program’s facilities, Mulcahy knew he needed to be in Happy Valley.

More than 4,500 Penn State students are enrolled in the College of Health and Human Development (HHD) studying a wide-array of fields, each committed to the concept of improving the quality of life for others. Mulcahy found a home in the Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management (RPTM).

Part of what Mulcahy loves about the PGM program is the close-knit aspect with the feel of a family, as there are less than 30 students enrolled at a time.

“The fact that I’ve got 25 best friends doing the same things I am at the same time, that’s very appealing to me,” Mulcahy said.

Mulcahy also appreciates the program’s requirement to complete 16 months of internships over four years. Mulcahy’s internship experience has included stints at Sankaty Head Golf Club near Nantucket, Massachusetts; Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio; and The Country Club in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

“Internships are extremely vital for our program’s success,” he said. “It gives us real world opportunities that not a lot of other career paths require.”

Those internships lead to additional opportunities, he said.

“It’s pretty surreal knowing that my career options are endless because of the amount of people I have met in the golf industry,” he said.

In addition to RPTM, there are a variety of areas for students to study within HHD through the Departments of Biobehavioral Health, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Health Policy and Administration, Human Development and Family Studies, Kinesiology, Nutritional Sciences, and the School of Hospitality Management. Learn more about HHD.