Hank Haney International Golf Academy is a pipeline to college golf

If you?re a young person looking to play golf on the collegiate level or perhaps even make it to the professional ranks ? or if you?re the parent of someone who has those aspirations ? the Hank Haney International Golf Academy, located on Hilton Head Island, S.C., might be the ticket.

That?s what Matthew Moucharafieh, a student at the Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy, has done. Moucharafieh, a native of Lebanon, recently competed in the 2010 Qatar Pro-Am at the Championship Course of Doha Golf Club. He?s one of 2,000 students who have attended the Academy since it opened 14 years ago. With players from 22 states and 23 countries, the Academy has helped around 90 percent of its students get college golf scholarships. You can read more about the program in a story we recently posted on HiltonHeadGolf.com.

For the second straight year, Moucharafieh was paired up with PGA Tour veteran Retief Goosen of South Africa. As defending champions of the 2009 Qatar Pro-Am, Moucharafieh and his team of two others were invited to compete in the event again alongside Goosen. While they didn’t win in 2010, he was excited about the opportunity to play with Goosen and the improvements in his golf game.

?I thoroughly enjoyed playing with Retief again this year,? said Moucharafieh, who has been working hard on his game the past year. ?He was impressed with the changes and improvements in my swing. It was inspiring to have Retief notice the development in my game over the past year. We have developed a close relationship, and I look forward to following in his footsteps.?

You don?t have to be a golf prodigy to attend the Academy. In fact, one student who enrolled went from shooting mid triple digits to the mid-60s in just one year. All it takes, apparently, (besides some athletic ability) is the desire to work hard ? and around $63,000 per year.

But there is scholarship money (based on need and academic performance) and many students have enlisted local sponsors to help pay the costs, which include tuition, room, board, golf instruction, tournaments and transportation. Best of all, each student actually gets personalized instruction from the school?s namesake, Hank Haney, who only teaches Tiger Woods outside of the school.