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By MICHAEL COURT of the Golfer Newspaper 

(Sam Mudge in full uniform at college in the United States).

 SAM Mudge did what many kids his age do when they finish school - he went off to make some money.

 So this keen golfer from Sydney 's northern beaches landed a job working in a supermarket and after a few weeks began asking himself where he was heading.

 Now he is one of a string of young golfers with a golfing scholarship in the United States and yes, he has his eye on becoming a professional when he finishes his studies.

 Mudge is a member at Manly Golf Club and learned from a member there how the son of a friend had gone to the United States on a scholarship and was loving it.

 That led him to John Hocknull of College Prospects of America and the rest, as they say, is history.

 At that stage Mudge was playing off a handicap of one and had begun to realise that maybe his golf could take him a lot further in life.

 Mudge tracked down Hocknull, paid a fee and was soon in touch with some coaches in the United States .

 ``I was actually approached first by a guy who looks after the University of Denver . So I sent off my resume and he was also looking at a couple of other Australians too, including a fellow who was playing in the state side,'' Mudge said.

 ``I didn't hear back from him but I sent an e-mail to a guy in Louisville , who was looking after a college in Louisville , Kentucky .

 ``He sounded very keen and basically told me to fill out an on-line application to apply to go to the university."

 ``Certain colleges require certain marks to get in - some are more academic than others. My college was only a junior college so that's wasn't as big an issue - as long as I got over a certain mark they were satisfied.''

 Mudge finished Year 12 in 1996 and at that stage only regarded himself as a part-time golfer, with no real aspirations to go much further with the game.

 ``It wasn't until I left school and started working part-time down at Woolworths that I started to take it more seriously,'' he said.

 ``After a while I thought I wouldn't mind going to Uni and I decided America would be a good option both for golf and to continue my studies.''

 While some Australians, who have gone on golf scholarships to the United States , have suggested there was too much study and not enough golf involved, Mudge is certainly not one of those.

 He said Australians had to understand that there would be study involved.

 ``I was looking as much for the education as I was for the golf,'' he said.

 ``Most Aussies think they'll be playing golf every day with a bit of study on the side.

 ``Really there is no University in the world where you are going to get that. It just doesn't work that way.

 ``On our team at the Military School , our top five golfers are all non-Americans.

 ``We had three Americans on our eight-members squad and they were playing numbers six, seven and eight.''

 Of that team there were Mudge and three other Australians, David Tasker from the Southern Highlands and the brothers Aaron and Jono Black from the Gold Coast.

 ``At least I have someone to talk rugby and cricket with as there is no way the Yanks are going to talk about anything like that,'' he said.

 ``They think rugby is some sort of brutal game where people knock each other's heads off.''

 Mudge says the Americans seem to like Australians and for some reason had an impression all Australians were really good people.

 ``Just about all the Americans I have met I have got on well with and they treat you really well,'' he said.

 ``In our final week before the nationals we had to hang around the school when everyone else had left and of the 15 meals we had, for 12 of them we were picked up and people took us out for dinner, it was great.

 ``The girls just like to hear you talk and when you stop they just want you to keep chatting on. I think they find it really funny to listen to us.

 ``You say I'm having 'heaps' of fun and they crack up laughing because they never use a word like that.''

 Mudge is at New Mexico , which is directly west of Texas and has the Rocky Mountains running right through the middle of it.

 ``It's very hot in the summer but it's a dry heat and it gets up to 35 or 40 degrees and in winter it is bitterly cold. It starts snowing in November which is a month before winter actually starts.

  Being at a military college Mudge has to wear one of four different uniforms, including camouflage stuff on a Wednesday, a khaki uniform one day. There is also a formal dress uniform as well as ribbons and brass buttons as well.

 ``We even have to wear a uniform even if we go to a movie in town and the girls are amazing. They think we look incredible. You're walking down the street and the girls will honk you. Here in Australia they would probably throw an orange at you.''

 Mudge said when he first got to college in August last year he was playing really well and had continued the good form he had been displaying in Australia before he left.

 ``I averaged 73 for the first semester in about 30 rounds and for me that was playing out of my skin,'' he said.

(Sam Mudge with three of the five trophies he has won at college in the US . One trophy he won for shooting 72-66 to win a tournament by three strokes.)

 ``Then I stayed over there with a friend in Colorado over Christmas and didn't play for nearly three months and also made some equipment changes and in my second semester really didn't play well at all and averaged 76.

 ``I made a couple of bad decisions on my equipment. I'm a left-hander and I often see right-handed equipment and expect it to also work for me in a left-handed version and that is not always the case.''

  Of the other Aussies, David Tasker has been playing No 1 in the team and finished with an average of 71.5 for the year. All the 'foreigners' agree that without the distractions they have the chance to improve on their academics as well as their golf.

  New Mexico has its own golf course and driving range and Mudge has just returned to tackle his next semester with renewed gusto.

 ``It's only a five-minute walk from where I live,'' he said.

 ``Many of our good young golfers in Australia haven't concentrated on their studies enough in the past and they struggle when they get over here.

 ``You can take classes that are not that hard and you only have to take four classes a semester and you can take thinks like key-boarding or elementary Spanish - really easy classes, if you want.

 ``If you can't get through that you will be in trouble.''

 Mudge isn't sure how far his golf can take him now.

 ``At the moment my main focus is getting my degree. After that I wouldn't mind maybe going to another college and furthering my studies somewhere else. Finish my degree and see how I am placed.

 ``If I finish my degree and my golf is at a level where I feel I can compete I might give it a shot. If not, I will still have a top-quality business degree and I can come home and see what I can do with it.''