Alumni Spotlight: Clayton Brown
Posted on October 28, 2019
Clayton Brown began his journey in golf at the age of 13. After moving from Maryland to Virginia, Brown was introduced to the game of golf by some kids while riding the bus. His passion for the game grew from that moment forward. Years later when searching online for colleges Brown discovered the Professional Golfers Career College. He enrolled and began his path towards a career in the golf industry. Clayton Brown has now become a successful Territory Manager for Wilson Golf.
Brown attended the Hilton Head campus while at PGCC. “PGCC was my foundation, and launching pad into knowing golf is what I wanted to do, whether it was playing or working,” Brown shared. During his time at the school he began creating a network, building relationship building skills and developing better time management. “PGCC assisted me with refinement of skills,” he continues, “How to properly deliver information to individuals in the business and overall management of a property.”
The Professional Golfers Career College helped Brown build a wealth of knowledge about the business of golf. Looking back at his time at PGCC, Brown enjoyed playing in the President and International Cups. The President and International Cups are a time-honored tradition at PGCC where the elite golfers amongst the students compete against the faculty team and their guests. After graduating PGCC with a Specialized Associate’s Degree in Professional Golf Management he decided to further his education.
Brown attended the University of South Carolina Beaufort campus and obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Hospitality Management. “Upon Graduation from USCB I took a job as a course golf professional for one year in Charleston.” After working at Coosaw Creek for a year, Brown was able to gain local sponsorship to pursue a playing career. He set out to compete on the Golf Channel Amateur Tour and several mini tours in Carolina and Florida. He’s “been very fortunate to play several high-level courses throughout the states and travels.”
“After about 18 months trying to play, I began a career in golf retail with the PGA Tour Superstore.” Brown brought his competitive spirit from the golf course into the retail world. “Upon increasing sales and meeting some individuals I applied for a contract experiential sales role with Wilson Sporting Goods.” Brown shares about his career path. He achieved a career highlight after becoming the number one salesman during his time in the Wilson Experiential Rep contract sales program.
“After two 9-month contracts and setting record sell through numbers I was able to be promoted to a Territory Manager role here in Southern California.” Brown explained. After being the territory manager for 18-months, his territory was expanded to California and Nevada. “It has been a whirlwind of a couple years and I have loved every minute of it.” As part of Wilson Staff, Brown was featured in several instructional videos under the “Gear Up” series which appear on the Wilson Staff website and YouTube page. Brown’s videos stand alongside videos from PGA Tour players such as Brendan Steele, Troy Merritt, and Kevin Streelman.
Brown shares the key to his success, “through hard work, servant leadership, and waking up every day trying to be better and better someone else, we have come to this point. Set your mind on a set of goals and an action plan to get there and do not let anything deter you.” The most rewarding part of his work is being able to see all forms of business within the industry “succeed and be profitable, while most importantly assisting them in giving their clientele high performing golf equipment to assist their games.” Brown notes the knowledge he gained at PGCC by “education through involvement,” helped him grow and succeed. He recommends PGCC to anyone “if you want to work in the golf business and need a solid foundation to lean on and learn – Do It.”
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