December 10, 2012
Sandy Diamond ’86SVC has always loved the game of golf,
and after 17 years of hard work and determination, he finally
turned his passion into his career.
This outgoing alumnus currently serves as Director of Sales,
Championship Management, The Barclays/PGA Tour, playing an integral
role in one of professional golf’s premier events.
“When I graduated from St. John’s in 1986, I knew that ultimately I
wanted to work in golf,” Diamond said. “I’ve always loved the game,
but it took me a while to get into the industry because there just
wasn’t the right opportunity at that time, especially since I
didn’t want to leave the New York metropolitan area. But things
lined up and now that I’m working with the PGA Tour – I just
celebrated my 10-year anniversary here – I can tell you that it’s
the best job I’ve ever had and really a dream come true.”
Diamond, who graduated from St. John’s with a B.S. in Sport
Management, primarily focuses on the sales and marketing components
behind The Barclays, the annual first tournament of the PGA’s FedEx
Cup Playoffs.
“The competition itself takes only four days, but it’s really a
12-month-long job,” Diamond said. “We rotate the site of the
tournament every year – this past year’s tournament was held at
Bethpage, but next year’s will be at Liberty National in Jersey
City, NJ, 2014’s will be at Ridgewood in Paramus, NJ and so on. My
job is to work with a wide range of national companies and explain
why golf is a good platform for their business.”
Diamond is no stranger to being involved in storied athletic
traditions. He served as a student worker in St. John’s Office of
Athletics and later worked closely with the University as an
employee at the Liberty Football Conference.
“I was very fortunate to be a student worker in the Sport
Information Office during the halcyon days of the Men’s Basketball
team, when the likes of Mark Jackson ’87CBA, Chris Mullin ’98CBA
and Walter Berry ’10CPS were playing for the Johnnies,” he said.
“That experience ultimately taught me a lot and helped me gain
employment after graduation.”
He reconnected with his St. John’s roots this past August, when the
University hosted a meet and greet at The Barclays for alumni and
friends with PGA Tour sensation Keegan Bradley ’08CPS. Diamond has
enjoyed watching the recent success of the St. John’s Golf team and
believes Bradley serves as a great testament to tri-state
golf.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Frank Darby ’79CBA, Head
Coach of St. John’s Men’s Golf,” Diamond said. “This is a
northeastern program that doesn’t always play in the greatest
weather, but he’s done a phenomenal job. Between Bradley and Andrew
Svoboda ’03TCB, the alumni are doing very well in the pros and
proving that, with so many great courses around here, collegians in
the New York area are quite fortunate.”
Although he doesn’t play favorites when it comes to rooting for
particular PGA players, Diamond admits that he can’t help but pull
for Bradley.
“I’m supposed to be objective, but way down deep, I’m always
rooting for Keegan to do well,” he explained. “As a St. John’s
alumnus myself, I’m proud to see a guy from the University take
that next step. It’s awesome to see.”