collegespin
by Ryne Berthelot
jerry weeks – decades a pro
After 25-years as the Director
of golf at Hattiesburg Country
Club, Jerry Weeks felt the winds
of change brewing.
“I told myself if I ever made
it to 25 years, it would be time to
look at something else with golf,”
Weeks said. “Sure enough, on my
25th year there, something came
about.”
The job Weeks was speaking
of was no country club position.
He had applied for a job at
the University of Southern
Mississippi also conveniently
located in Hattiesburg. While it
could be called a dream job by
some, Weeks saw it as nothing
more than natural progression
of his golfing journey. Weeks
had gone from hosting the PGA’s
Magnolia Classic to coaching his
hometown college team, without
ever leaving the city. He explained
that a professional must wear
multiple hats in his career.
“As a golf professional, it’s
hard to be good at all facets,”
Weeks said. “I always wanted to
teach golf, so that was my main
focus. I didn’t want to just teach
golf exclusively, but I wanted to
do a lot of different things that
golf pros do at a club.”
Weeks remembers his time
as the head pro at Hattiesburg
Country Club fondly, reminiscing
about what the Magnolia Classic
meant to both him and the
community surrounding it.
“Every April, when that
tournament came around, it
kicked off the golf season in this
area,” he said. “I got to meet so
many really good, quality people
who now play on the Champions
Tour. Helping the guys that played
that week was really fun.”
As with any new job, Weeks
had to learn the ins and outs of
what a college golf coach does.
The learning curve, however,
was dramatically eased by the
people Weeks had met during his
time at HCC. Several other PGA
members who just so happened to
be college coaches as well shared
bits and pieces of advice with
their new rival.
“They guided me through
it a little bit. The amount of
paperwork and working for the
university was quite a bit different
than working at the club,” Weeks
said. “There was a lot of red tape,
and that was probably the most
difficult thing.”
What Weeks learned early on
was that, although a conference
championship is never a bad thing,
there were much deeper meanings
between coach and player. Weeks
pulled more satisfaction from
watching his pupils grow not only
in the game of golf, but in life as
well. He realized that, regardless
of talent level, that was the piece
of wisdom he could pass onto all
of his players.
“Golf is just one of the
segments of a college coach,” he
said. “I don’t think everyone that
comes through here is going to be
a Tour player, however, everyone
is going to grow into being B