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The Business of Professional Golf

From Dustin Johnson to Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey, there are many golfers from South Carolina making a name for themselves on the PGA tour.  After a successful career as Tour Manager for Hootie and the Blowfish, our next guest was introduced to professional golf when he took over the reins as the Tournament Director for the band’s Monday after the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am golf tournament.  Now he represents professional golfers, negotiating everything from television contracts to endorsement agreements.

Mike Switzer interviews Paul Graham with Empire Sports Management in Charleston, SC.

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After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.