Position: Pro and Manager of the Rutgers Golf Course

Length of Service: November 2001 to present

Residence: Piscataway

A little bit of everything: Jill Jerauld balances her time between managing the operations of the Rutgers Golf Course at 777 Hoes Lane West in Piscataway and maintaining the “Scarlet Links Golf Shop,” a name she created. She assists the Rutgers women’s and men’s golf associations, organizes event tournaments and clinics, and negotiates contracts with vendors. She gives between six and a dozen lessons a day, teaching students of all ages throughout the university and from surrounding communities as well. University employees are invited to play in leagues, faculty and staff events, university tournaments, fundraisers, and individual tee-times.

Female and PGA-certified: Jerauld is the only female PGA member head golf professional in New Jersey. She was intent on getting her membership in the PGA, rather than the Ladies Pro Golf Association, because she felt it would increase job prospects. The process took five years, she said, because “the PGA is interested in not just producing a golfer with professional skills, but someone competent in running a business.” She is grateful to Edward Kozack, senior vice president for auxiliary services, for hiring her. “I give him a lot of kudos for believing a woman could run a university golf course,” Jerauld said. She acknowledges that the profession is tough: Less than 20 percent who enter the PGA gain membership and less than 2 percent of those become A1 professionals. She hopes that the number of women entering the PGA program will increase in future years.

As fate had it: Prior to coming to Rutgers, Jerauld spent 10 years as the head pro at Blueberry Hill Golf Course in Warren, Pa. Blueberry Hill happened to be the home course of the parents of Rutgers course superintendent Terry Sedon. Over coffee one weekend, Sedon told Jerauld about a job opportunity at Rutgers. “I loved the idea of working with younger people in a college atmosphere and taking my knowledge and background to this different level,” she said. On September 10, 2001, she flew from Jamestown, New York, to Newark airport, arriving at her hotel room 3:30 a.m. for an 8 a.m. interview the next day, September 11.  After the interview, she couldn’t get a flight out.  “It was an unbelievable day,” Jerauld recalled. Sedon helped her rent a van to drive back to Western Pennsylvania. “I drove back, half crying, half listening to the radio, not believing what I was hearing,” Jerauld recalled. “At that time, the interview seemed so small in comparison to what was happening with America.” She was asked back for a second interview, then a third. That October, Jerauld was selected as head golf pro.