Golf Academy of Hawai'i is for those who dream of golf as a career, but still freak out at 4-foot putts and can't crush the ball 350 yards.

In other words, the rest of us.

Started at Ko'olau Golf Club in January, the academy is one of San Diego Golf Academy's five campuses. For $20,000, students can earn an associate of applied business degree in 16 months, and play a bunch of golf doing it.

"When we're done, we'd like people to be ready to get into the golf business in whatever way, shape or form their expertise gets them to," says Rob Nelson, Hawai'i Campus director and former Ko'olau general manager. "Some guys might be suitable to be mechanics and some guys might be GMs. All the guys' career goals are different, but they're all bound by one thing — a passion for golf. Whether they are 18-handicappers or 1-handicappers, they all have the passion for golf."

That pretty much covers Nelson's initial class of 12 students. Handicaps at enrollment ranged from scratch to 18 and their ages from 18 to 53. Two were from Maui and one from Moloka'i.

Some came straight from high school or community college. Others, like former Hawai'i Pacific baseball player Tyler Ward and scratch golfer David Nakatori, already had degrees.

A quarter of the first class has military backgrounds. They were fascinated by the golfing possibilities and inspired by the prospect of their veterans benefits covering tuition.

CHALLENGING CLASSES

The curriculum is clearly not for golf bums.

An average week for first-semester students starts with a 2-hour class Monday morning and a tournament that afternoon. "Everybody loves Mondays," Nelson says. "It's a happy day."

Tuesdays get tougher, with a verbal communications class followed by business management and an hour of golf instruction. In the afternoon, students play, practice or go to work.

A 3-hour computer applications class is followed by club-fitting and repair Wednesday. By 1 p.m., students are off again to play, practice or work.

Thursday brings golf history and accounting and Friday tournament organization and planning, followed by short-game drills in the 2,800-square-foot state-of-the-art lab. And, again, play, practice and work.

Curriculum and exams are the same at all five SDGA campuses.

Nelson wants his diverse group of students to feel as if they are in a "college-type atmosphere," with a few radical wrinkles beyond all that golf.

"The thing about college is the instructor does not give a hoot if you come to class, and you don't have to," says Nelson, whose college degree was in bioscience. "If you get a good score on the test that's about it.

"Here, professionalism and participation count. We are preparing people for work so how you look and how you act in class count. Between 10 and 20 percent of your grade is based on what you do, not what you say. Guys that don't shave, don't abide by the dress code or don't come to class pay with a lower grade."

Ross Yamamoto, a King Kekaulike graduate, heard about the academy on The Golf Channel while he was attending Maui Community College. He'd like to settle at a course back on Maui while he works toward his PGA card, then maybe manage a facility later.

The most appealing part of the program for him is having daily golf included in his tuition.

"They don't overload you with all the educational stuff," he says. "You have time to learn your business side, but you also have time to work on your game. It's been great for me."

LEARNING FROM PROS

Steve Harman, 57, retired two years ago after 30 years in the military. He found the academy through his wife, who hates the game but is encouraging him to pursue his dream of running a golf complex. They plan to settle in Florida or California when she gets out of the service.

Harman's game is "awful," he says, but it has not cooled his passion for the sport. He already has bachelor's and master's degrees and the school has given him credit for classes he already passed. That's allowing him to advance quickly to classes he never imagined in college, such as golf course maintenance, calligraphy and golf course design.

The appeal for him is to be able to listen to someone like Nelson, who can speak with years of experience about running complexes both simple and sublime. Ko'olau is billed as the "World's Most Challenging Course." Making it profitable, in a rainy Jurassic Park-like setting, might be more challenging.

"Everyday there's a gem that comes from Rob," Harman says. "I've been in charge of building billion-dollar airplanes and I think, 'That would have never occurred to me as being critical to running a golf complex.' "

The 30-year-old San Diego Golf Academy boasts an 85 percent placement rate within six months of graduation. Kapalua, Makaha, Torrey Pines, Spyglass, Broadmoor and layouts in Switzerland, France, Sweden, Korea, China and Japan have taken on graduates.

Academy of Hawai'i students offer golf clinics to Special Olympics athletes and held a benefit tournament in August. By next year, the clinic could expand dramatically. Nelson expects 25 new students each semester, giving him 100 in the program each year. If the international program takes off next year, the total could double.

Golf addicts also have a four-year option that University of Hawai'i-Hilo has been pondering. The PGA Professional Golf Management program is offered at 17 universities. It has produced 1,956 graduates from 48 states and several foreign countries. Hawai'i's Jason Deigert, George Hutchison Jr. and Sean Lanyi graduated from that program in July.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.