How PGA WORKS is Helping Emily Jones Forge A New Path in the Game She Loves

The game of golf is all-reaching. It’s a universal game that connects us, challenges us, and can even forge a new path that we never even knew existed. Golf has continuously developed as a game that everyone can love and enjoy, and these days, its industry has become one of the most powerful in all of sports.

As we reflect on and celebrate Black History Month this February, we look to the likes of Charlie Sifford, Lee Elder, and countless others – how they broke barriers on some of the most prominent stages in the game. We think about LPGA and PGA of America Professional, Renee Powell and her continued trailblazing legacy she and her family have built at the Clearview Golf Club in East Canton, Ohio.

If you take a 65-mile trek up Interstate 77, you’ll find yourself in Cleveland Heights, the hometown of PGA WORKS Fellow for the Northern Ohio PGA Section, Emily Jones.

A lifelong golfer, Emily was first introduced to the game by her father. “It’s kind of all I’ve known,” says Emily. “There are pictures of me from when I was around four or five years old, going to the driving range with my siblings.” It wasn’t until she was about eight years old that she took more of a liking to the game and got involved in a local youth program called The Greater Cleveland Junior Golf Scholarship Fund (GCJGSF), whose mission is to empower Cleveland’s youth through the game of golf.

“It was just really fun for me,” says Emily. “It was something I did every Saturday morning. My dad would drop me off at Shawnee Hills Golf Course, and I really loved being around the other kids.” As Emily grew older, she played all the sports – from soccer, basketball, track and field, and even softball – but eventually decision time came. “Around eighth grade, I was really focused on softball and golf, and I remember thinking to myself, ‘Man, softball is really messing with my golf swing!’”

And the rest is history. But even Emily couldn’t imagine what the game would be able to provide for her.

Emily played golf all four years of high school golf and then got involved in Club Golf at the University of Dayton. Emily would earn her degree in Early Childhood Education where, during the summers, she helped run junior clinics at Shaker Heights Country Club back home in Cleveland. This eventually led to other opportunities like interning for the Northern Ohio PGA Junior Tour and the GCJGSF – the same two organizations that helped introduce her and shape the love she now has for the game. Emily graduated from the University of Dayton in 2024 and started her PGA WORKS Fellowship shortly after.

As the fifth PGA WORKS Fellow for the Northern Ohio Section, Emily gets to be involved in just about every aspect of the business. “It’s definitely all-encompassing,” notes Emily. “And I feel like my scope has grown each day that I’ve been a part of the team.” She acknowledges that even though she had a pseudo-headstart being an intern for the Section’s Junior Tour, she emphasizes that there is so much more that the Section does year-round.

“The Fellowship has allowed me to mesh those two worlds and helped me see where in golf I fit in, but also gives me a chance to figure out what skills I can transfer from my education background.” Emily admits, there is a lot she didn’t realize about the industry, and that’s why this opportunity to be a PGA WORKS Fellow was so important to her. She believes the Fellowship is fighting headwinds in the industry to create pathways and provide needed exposure and access to the game that simply wasn’t available even ten years ago.

On paper, Emily’s story is like many other successful young professionals who have found their way to a career in golf. There’s an upbeat and bright charisma about her presence, so one would think golf is written in the stars for her. However, Emily’s passion for the game and the industry lies much deeper – to her, it’s about representation and showing up for other girls who look like her.

“When I was growing up, I didn’t have that representation – especially as I started playing on larger junior tours… I was very much the only one who looked like me,” recalls Emily. “The reason I want to be in the golf industry is to change this narrative – because the first step to change is to be in the position that I’m in, and if I’m not in this position then there’s one less person who looks like me in golf.” She even recalls times showing up to a tournament and giving pep talks to herself saying, ‘You belong here – so go show them why.’

The echoes of those pep talks have carried Emily throughout her time as a Fellow. She even talks about how she has seen the Fellowship shape communities within and beyond the game. She emphasizes that it provides this space for a broader audience to experience the game in a non-traditional way. She says it helps establish a foundation for basic skills that can transfer to other industries. “It provides confidence,” says Emily. “Once you wrap up the Fellowship, it gives you the self-assurance that you can go and be a leader somewhere else.”

It almost begs the question, how will her storyline unfold? What is the history and the legacy that Emily Jones will leave behind?

While it may be cliché, Emily says she sees so many connections to the game of golf and how we navigate our own lives. “I went to school to be a teacher, and I believe everything that would make me a good teacher is helping me forge my own path in golf. Like teachers who use their skills to help the greater good and the next generation, I want to use golf as a tool to do the same. It’s more than a game to me.”

To Emily, she finds it encouraging that the industry continues to see an influx of programs, access points and new innovative technology that is making the game more relatable to new groups. “Putting clubs in hands is one thing, but I think the industry has to continue to push the envelope when it comes to helping people find golf experiences – and this may not necessarily happen on a golf course.” To Emily, long gone are the days of needing to be a member of a country club – golf experiences are happening in new and unassuming places. Emily sees herself leading the next generation in some capacity, whether this is giving lessons as a PGA of America Member or administering programs through a PGA Section office that provides boys and girls access to the game.

One truth remains steadfast, Emily’s heart and eagerness for the game she loves will springboard her to new heights – for not only her own good, but for all those who cross paths with her in golf and beyond.

“We’re just going to keep figuring it out as it goes – but I’m so excited for what the game continues to hold for me.”

Through PGA WORKS, we are committed to helping equip the next generation of leaders. It’s our why behind being as intentional as possible when it comes to opening doors for new professionals to make an impact on the golf industry and beyond. We’re serious about establishing golf as both a game and a business open for anyone – and it takes all of us to get there. Learn more and apply for the PGA WORKS Fellowship →