As Doug Rankin looks forward to retirement in mid-December 2023, he’s also looking back, all the way back to the fall of 1976 and his arrival in Big Rapids to begin the Ferris State University PGA Golf Management program.

“I remember getting dropped off at Miller Hall and my father saying, ‘Okay, well, good luck, and I'll see you later,’” he recalled recently with a hearty laugh. “And I was excited. I remember thinking ‘Let's get going here. Let’s get to work. Where's the golf course? I want to go hit some balls.’”

Now, almost half a century later, Rankin can look back on a career spent entirely in the golf industry, including the last 33 years as head professional at the Toronto Golf Club in his native Canada, and he can point squarely to Ferris State for a big part of his success in a profession that he said got a hold of him already in high school.

The Toronto Golf Club is one of Canada’s most prestigious courses. It has hosted the Canadian Open five times, and the Canadian Amateur Championship nine times, more than any other club.

“I grew up in Sarnia,” he said. “And I got to work at the Sarnia Golf and Curling Club, cleaning clubs, caddying, anything that needed to be done. And I loved it. I just loved the business of golf.”

Along the way, someone told him about a relatively new program at a place he’d never heard of called Ferris State where his dreams of working in golf could find a successful launch angle.

Ferris State’s PGA Golf Management program, which started in 1975, is the first of its kind sanctioned by the PGA, and one of just 18 in the nation. The Bachelor of Science program helps students develop expertise in every facet of golf, from the business of club management to the physics of ball flight and the biology of turfgrass.

“And so, I ended up taking the trip,” he said. “My dad drove me, and we went to Ferris in the fall of 1975 to check it out. I think they admitted me almost on the spot for the fall of ‘76. I might have been in the third class in the program coming in.”

These many years later though, Rankin still fondly remembers his time on campus.

“The program was really, really well crafted,” he said. “It was invaluable. Here's a young kid going to school wanting to be in the golf business—I think I was 17 when I started—and I’ve got a chance to learn about everything you’d need to know to be successful. It was pretty amazing.”

Beyond the specialized courses he took—things like turf grass management—Rankin said there was a host of other courses that at the time didn’t seem as applicable but in retrospect have benefitted him and his career in countless ways.

“You know, to sit in a classroom and learn about public speaking,” he said. “That’s been invaluable to this day. Creative writing, an introduction to logic class. Again, invaluable. And then on the marketing side learning about retail merchandising and retail management, things I still use today. I look back, and it all stuck with me throughout the years.”

Rankin also appreciates the way in which the program integrated internships with the classroom materials.

“The way it was crafted—with the hands-on internship for six months and then six months back at Ferris—was really, really well done,” he said. “Just a great combination.”

As a Canadian, Rankin wasn’t able to do his internships in the United States, but he did land internships at Canadian courses, and that kicked off a lengthy career in the golf course industry, north of the border, including as just the fifth professional in the history of the Toronto Golf Club, founded in 1876 and the third-oldest course in North America.

He said planning for retirement is bittersweet, but he’s had a good run and feedback he’s been getting over the past few months about the ways he’s made a difference in people’s lives has helped him ease his way into the sunset.

“I’m most proud of the number of young pros who have been with me and graduated into head professional positions in the industry,” he said. “I have heard from so many young men and women who have gone on to successful ventures, and many credit their Toronto Golf Club experience as a large part of their development and career growth.”

He’s also heard from his members, and their kind words have warmed his heart, he said.

“A female member wrote to me and told me she appreciated how much I did over the years for the women members at the Club,” he said. “She mentioned that when she attended one of my golf camps, she’d been on the verge of giving up golf. It’s been nice to hear that sort of thing.”

Rankin’s final thoughts on his career and upcoming retirement included a hockey analogy, appropriate for a native Canadian and a Ferris State Bulldog. 

“I feel like someone handed me the Stanley Cup,” he said. “I get to skate around the rink for a lap and then hand it over to our new professional. One journey ends, and a new one begins.”