People and Pop Culture
My first job in sports
Executives recall their first job in the industry
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Purser (right) has spent his career in golf, including close to 15 years now at the Toshiba Classic (below).
Photos: TOSHIBA CLASSIC (2)
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Jeff Purser’s year of preparation culminates this week at the Toshiba Classic in Newport Beach, Calif., a Champions Tour event that annually raises more than $1 million for charity. Purser said that the event’s success has come from “a great title sponsor, a great community with great resources and Champions Tour players who are always generous with their time and willingness.”
DIGGING IN: My first day was really boring. I sat in the office and added printing costs. It was in a cubicle in the middle of a big office building. We actually didn’t have permanent offices for the golf tournament set-up, so I was down in Phar-Mor’s building. It actually turned out to be very interesting to see how print work got done: the layout, the design and then the packaging to go to the printer. It was a good education.
WET START: The first tournament I worked we got an absolute deluge, like a 50-year rain. There’s a little creek that meanders through the entire golf course that ends up collecting in a lake on a par 3, No. 18. This thing was so overflowed that literally tents were underwater. It’s pouring down rain, and I’m trying to rope off an area that was loose turf. I saw one person go down because the sod gave way. So I’m roping and staking and going after them, and I look over at the awning and there’s my boss staring at me like I had lost my mind with his hands in the air going, “What are you doing!” … The point of it is, you do difficult, unappreciated, behind-the-scenes jobs, but it’s a great experience.
GOTTA PLAY THE GAME: When I started in the sales side … it was difficult because in golf and sponsorship development you tend to take companies out golfing and spend some time with them to develop the relationship and the sale. And I was just absolutely horrible. I had never golfed before. I remember I’d get on the tee, and I’d be able to hit the ball dead sideways. But I learned over time and eventually was able to spend time with sponsors without completely embarrassing myself.
