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Sports
Lynnfield’s Weaver learning the ropes under
USGA Boatwright Internship
By Mike Alongi
Lynnfield native Abbie
Weaver’s relationship with the
game of golf has evolved over
the years, and what started as a
leisurely activity with her father
and sister a few times a summer
as a kid has now turned into a
true career path.
Since April, Weaver has been
working as a women’s events
intern for Mass Golf under the
United States Golf Association’s
(USGA) P.J. Boatwright
Internship.
“It’s an incredible honor to be
given the opportunity to get this
internship and work with Mass
Golf,” said Weaver, who graduated
from UMass-Amherst’s
Isenberg School of Management
in 2020 with a degree in sport
management and marketing.
“I’m excited to gain a more
comprehensive knowledge of
the game of golf and to grow my
network within the golf community.
I also look forward to
working with female golfers in
hopes of growing representation
and leadership within our demographic
in the sport.”
The internship’s namesake,
P.J. Boatwright, was the USGA’s
third executive director and was
one of the sport’s key founders
in terms of developing golf in
the United States. Boatwright
was an amateur player, a rules
expert and served as the executive
director of the Carolinas
Golf Association prior to joining
the USGA in 1959. Boatwright
was a recipient of the USGA’s
highest honor in the Bob Jones
Award, and was also enshrined
in the South Carolina Athletic
Hall of Fame, the Wofford
College Hall of Fame and the
Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame,
among other honors.
The USGA is funding 135 internships
across its network of
59 Allied Golf Associations in
2021 through the P.J. Boatwright
Internship program. Currently,
one-third of all state and regional
golf association staff members
are alumni of the Boatwright
program. That number includes
21 AGA executive directors and
16 USGA staff members.
This year also marks the
30th anniversary of the P.J.
Boatwright intern program. The
USGA has invested more than
$30 million into the program
since it launched in 1991, and
those efforts have helped to
propel the careers of more than
3,000 individuals.
Weaver never really focused
too much on golf during her
high school days, as she was
busy being a three-sport athlete
and team captain in soccer, basketball
and softball at Lynnfield
COURTESY PHOTO | ABBIE WEAVER
Lynnfield native Abbie Weaver has been working as a women’s events intern for Mass Golf
under the USGA’s P.J. Boatwright Internship since April.
High. But as the years went
on — and especially last year
during the pandemic — Weaver
found that golf was really the
only place she could meet with
and see her friends and family in
a safe, fun atmosphere.
“I didn’t focus on golf as much
because I was so busy doing my
other sports, but I always loved
and had a really strong respect
for the game,” said Weaver.
“With the pandemic last summer,
it was really a great way to see
friends and family, and eventually
I was playing probably once
a week.”
That eventually led to her
applying for a job within Mass
Golf’s First Tee program. After
she didn’t get the position, she
figured that was the end of that.
But then First Tee Director of
Operations Kyle Harris called
her back and said there was an
opening in the internship program
which would suit her much
better.
And so now she finds herself
working women’s events and
tournaments for Mass Golf, including
hosting women’s clinics
during National Women in Golf
Day on June 1. She works hand
in hand with Mass Golf Manager
of Women’s Events and Player
Development Naomi Nesenoff.
“(Nesenoff) has so much experience
and she has been such
a great person to work for,” said
Weaver. “Being a woman in the
sports industry is always going
to be about growing our representation
within the game, so it’s
nice to be able to make a small
impact on that.”
One of the big things that
sticks out to Weaver is that of the
six Boatwright interns this year,
three of them are women — the
highest number for one year in
the program’s history.
And for Weaver, someone
who is relatively late coming
into the world of golf, there were
never any feelings of unwelcomeness
or awkwardness when
she showed up to the Mass Golf
offices.
“Golf is such a tight-knit community
and everyone knows everyone,
more so than any other
sport I know of,” said Weaver.
“That’s really intimidating as
someone who’s fairly new to
the game in this capacity, but
everyone has been so welcoming
and helpful. Most of the
people on the staff are former
Boatwright interns as well,
so they all know where we’re
coming from and they’ve incredibly
helpful.”
As for what’s next, Weaver
will be spending the next month
or so bouncing around the office
to different departments and getting
a taste of what other aspects
of the organization are like. In
addition, she’ll be doing a lot of
preparation work for all of the
summer tournaments coming
up.
“It’s going to be an exciting
time for me because I’ll be able
to bounce around and see how
the big championships are run,
then I’ll also get to see how
some of the tournament setup
things are done and see what
all the other departments are
doing,” she said. “My goal is to
just keep gaining experience and
knowledge about how the operations
side of the game works.”