Hundreds of memories are made on the team bus transporting student athletes to their events, but for junior Erin Nolan, none are on par with the memory of receiving her dream internship offer on the way to a golf tournament this fall. 

It was a swingingly fitting time for Nolan to receive the call. The mechanical engineering major from Indianapolis has golfed with PING clubs for years, and she was offered a project engineering internship at PING, Inc. in Phoenix, Arizona for summer 2025. 

"Everyone was cheering on the bus," Nolan said. "I started crying."

Nolan, a three-year member of Rose's golf team, practically grew up on the golf course. Her maternal grandfather played collegiate golf for Ball State University, while her father grew up near a golf course and spent his youth golfing with his own dad.

PING has been a hole in one for Nolan since her first club fitting. 

"I just hit them so well," she said. "[PING] really values their women. There's not a lot of women in golf, and I just think expanding the industry is a great thing. "

When Nolan visited Rose-Hulman in high school, she met with a representative from Career Services, who promised to put her in contact with the company. It was one of the reasons why she ultimately chose to attend Rose-Hulman. 

Her coach, Jon Lester, also used his connections to drive Nolan to PING, Inc. Lester connected Nolan to the company's head of engineering, who personally forwarded her resume and applications to the department.

Nolan foresees that her experiences on the green will help her not be green in her internship, even beyond her knowledge of the products. 

"I love the duality of [golf]; you can play for yourself, but you're also playing for your team," Nolan said. "Knowing how to communicate with a team and work together towards the same goal is key to an effective work environment." 

PING, Inc. will be the third time Nolan tees off for an internship during her collegiate season. She completed an internship after her first year at The Walsh Group, working on concrete calculations in the wastewater group.

Nolan spent last summer at Honda on the facilities team, where one of her major projects was redesigning the visitor parking lot. At the end of the summer, she presented her project to senior plant leaders, many of whom only spoke Japanese. It was Nolan's first time presenting with a translator in the room.

"I had to alter my presentation style, slow myself down, and make sure she had enough time to talk on each slide," Nolan said. "Trying to answer the Japanese plant leadership's questions was a little tricky because the translator would be talking in my earpiece, and he would be talking at the same time."

It's not the first time she's been acutely aware of links in the small, interconnected world. Nolan, along with the other members of the Rose-Hulman golf team, connected with friends of the Rose-Hulman golf program Vince (ME, '80) and Linda Foushee and Gary (CE, '78) and Barb Ellis last year during the NCAA Division III National Championship. They invited the students to their homes in Lexington, Kentucky, near where the tournament was held.

For Nolan, stepping off the team bus into the unknown of a tournament is a lot like stepping into her dream role at her dream company. She relies on the countless hours she's invested into her success, and, as she pulls her clubs out of her bag, the PING logo catches the sunlight and gleams brightly up at her.  She smiles, knowing that soon she will be a driver of PING's success as much as they have been a driver of hers.