Teaching Corporate Golf
We all know that many companies are looking for ways to encourage employees to practice healthy eating and are promoting various exercise programs. Their primary reason, naturally, is to reduce sick days and improve the overall health of their employees, thereby reducing health insurance costs and increasing productivity. Corporate Golf Wellness (CGW) has been working directly with corporations in a niche market which is a relatively...
Pros Gather to Honor Past Champions and Origins of American Golf
Temple Terrace, Florida, is credited with being the fi rst planned golf community in the United States. Exploration of the area occurred in 1757 by Francisco Maria Celi of Spain. He was looking for pine trees to use as masts for his ships, which Temple Terrace had in abundance. The town was part of a 19,000-acre estate owned by Chicagoan Bertha Palmer and was originally called “Riverhills Ranch.” Her vision was to create a golf course...
Playing Psychology from the Pros
Former PGA Tour players Dick Mast, Dave Rummells and Jim Chancey, along with PGA Tour and Champions Tour legend Jim Thorpe, recently shared their insights with several USGTF members into the psychology of playing the game at a high level. Mast played full- or part-time on the PGA Tour from 1972 to 2001, and full-time on the Champions tour from 2002 to 2007. He is currently conditionally exempt on the Champions Tour. When asked if he...
The Changing Nature of the Golf Club Professional
I grew up in the 1950s and 60s in a small town called Rosemere, north of Montreal and just south of the Laurentian Mountains. We were fortunate to have a golf club in town, appropriately named Rosemere Golf Club. I realized around the age of ten that I could make some money at the club as a caddie. Many of those I caddied for were French Canadian, so in that environment and at that tender age I had memorized a bevy of foreign curse...
My Passion for Teaching
Several years ago, I was invited to watch the Special Olympics Participants who I had been working with for a few years at their state golf meet. The group was called the Spring Panthers. There were about eight regular participants, but sometimes up to 15. I took my wife with me and we were surprised to see several hundred people at the golf course who were from all over the state of Texas. They had several different competitions such...
Dominant Tendencies Under Pressure
The year was 1989, and Tom Kite was fl ying high. He had two victories and five more top-10 finishes coming into the US Open, and was among the pre-tournament favorites. For three rounds, he did not disappoint. He took the lead at -5 going into the last round, with a onestroke margin over 1987 champion Scott Simpson and three strokes over defending champion Curtis Strange. Kite was playing solidly and in command of his game, and it...
Laws, Principles, and Training Aids
A golf training aid’s true function is often overshadowed by marketing claims like, “The only product that really works! Improves distance and accuracy!” Or, “Lowers your score 3-5 strokes – guaranteed!” It is helpful to fit training aids into a framework that will allow you to better evaluate them and know when to use them during your instruction. Rather than thinking of a training aid as a full swing, short game or putting aid...
Hitting It Longer: The Lag Myth
Power and distance have always been at the forefront of golfers’ minds. There is something about hitting the long ball that appeals to all of our egos. Everyone wishes they could hit it a long way and are impressed by those who can. There are many ideas as to how to hit the ball longer, varying from swing technique to fitness, to equipment, and to a better understanding of the physics of ball flight. Beyond a doubt, today’s equipment...
Faults and Cures – Shanking
It might be the most offensive word in the lexicon of golf – shank. Some people don’t even want to hear the word, and genuinely get upset if you say it. They come up with other terms such as “lateral,” “hosel rocket,” etc. Shanking is dreaded by most golfers, because, as the old saying goes, the toughest shot in golf is the one right after you shank. Since people don’t know why they shanked the ball, since in most cases it feels like...
My Experience with the PGA of America Apprenticeship Program
TO THE READER: This article most likely includes a certain amount of negativity, which is not my personality trait. In fact, I am a very positive, likeable individual (at least, according to my mother…just kidding!). I thought, however, that my true personal experience with regard to the title of this article was worth sharing with others. I started playing golf my freshman year of college, and after four years of playing and...
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