Spring 2015

Central Chapter E-Newsletter

Spring 2015

In this edition

President’s Note

Josh Tremblay

Adding Value

Chapter Meeting Information

Conducting Adult

Clinics

Pat Bedingfield

Encouragement, The Best Practice

Mary Hashagen

Social Corner

Pete Lobourdette

The Central Chapter Spring Meeting & Pro-Pro will be held on Monday, March 23rd at Springfield Golf & Country Club. I look forward to hosting all of our professionals that day to kick off the 2015 season. Make sure to be there to hear all about the rest of our tournament schedule and also we will have a great panel discussion to finish out the meeting. Our sponsors: Callaway Golf, Signature Golf and Golf Genius will also be speaking and you’ll get an opportunity to try the live scoring app through Golf Genius during the tournament!

The Central Chapter Pro-Junior will be held at Brambleton Golf Course on June 22nd. First, for safety reasons we will not allow teams to pile an entire team into one cart. Teams must either walk or they can take two carts with the professional driving one and either a parent or a junior (with a driver’s license) driving the other. Also, all participating professionals will be asked to bring in three items for the prize table and that way all of the juniors will walk away with a prize! (Cont. Pg. 2)

President’s Note By Josh Tremblay

Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.

Tournament Tempo

Geoff Montross

Kenwood Ka$h Robin Beach

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Central Chapter Match Play

Central Chapter Match play is open for registration. Please go to the MAPGA website to register. $100 to enter and anyone can sign up. A specialized bracket will be put together based on the number of registrants and seeding will be based on last seasons Central Chapter POY list. Have a great tournament season!

Finally, the Section has been utilizing PGA Golf Day as a fundraising medium for the MAPGA Foundation for the past few years. The Central Chapter Board discussed this at length at our February Board meeting and we need your help. This can’t be successful with just a handful or even a dozen professionals. We know that everyone can’t do the 100 holes marathon or solicit at their club. If we could get a 100 pros to raise $500 - $1,000 each we would make a huge difference. We’re going to encourage our Central Chapter Pros to be creative and maybe just solicit through social media to family & friends. If you can’t do the marathon, donate a lesson or two or get pledges for every birdie you make this summer!

ADDING VALUE TO YOUR FACILITY

At this Monday’s Central Chapter Spring meeting we will be having a panel discuss the topic of “Adding Value to your Facility.” We are looking forward to a great discussion so please bring your questions. The panel will include

Mike Bell, PGA Head Golf Professional at Fauquier Springs Golf and Country Club Michael Cooper, PGA Senior Business Development Analyst for Billy Casper Golf

David Finocchiaro, PGA Head Golf Professional at Augustine Golf Club Erika Larkin, PGA Director of Instruction, Virginia Oaks Golf Club Keith Miller, PGA CEO of Montgomery County Revenue Authority

Steve Miller, PGA 1st Assistant Golf Professional at Loudon Golf and Country Club

With this well rounded group we should have varying ideas and opinions of how to bring value to your facility. See you at the meeting!

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Conducting a Clinic to Adults by Pat Bedingfield

A golfer having an individual/private lesson is certainly a great way to learn a new skill or improve current skills. However,

teaching a golf clinic has many more benefits to your membership/customers and certainly more benefits for you,

the instructor.

Benefits:

Your main benefit of conducting a clinic is that most attendees don’t take individual golf lessons, thus you will have a chance to impress them with your teaching talents and they may become clients. Also, when teaching a clinic, you will have a chance to make much more than your hourly rate. Finally, most attendees are more than likely to attend future event you host.

Worries and Myths:

I worried when advertising clinics, that men would not sign up. Traditional thinking indicates they would not participate in group instruction. Over time, I learned men will not sign up for any full swing or beginner clinics, but prefer individual lessons. Men gravitate towards short game, putting or green reading clinics. Most ladies enjoy full swing and beginner clinics because they enjoy spend time with others. I have tried to separate the clinics by gender which seems to work.

Another worry is the people of different abilities would not like to learn together in a group setting. When teaching specialty skills like short game, putting, green reading, having a different skilled players from beginner to proficient golfer did not matter. Golfers, just want to get better and are attending your clinic to learn what they do incorrectly, no matter who is in the class. If you do have an individual signup who you know is totally wrong for the clinic, inform them and recommend another solution. They will respect your honesty.

Types of Clinics and Preparation:

When conducting a clinic, teach a subject that will interest golfers to sign up and you feel proficient in teaching. In the past I have hosted Aim Point green reading clinics, a skill that I am not certified to teach. I brought in Bernie Najar and Mike Dickson (who are certified) to teach Aim Point, along

side of me. Bernie/Mike led the class, but I was certainly involved in all aspects. Other clinics I have taught are, Ladies Introduction to Golf (5 weeks/1.5 hours per session), Less Than 30 Yard Short Game (3 Hours), Putting Skill Improvement (2 Hours), Basics of Green Reading (1.5 Hours), and 30-70 Distance Control (2 Hours).

In teaching these classes I like 4 to 1 student teacher ratio. If enlisting another teacher, make sure they have the same level of expertise in the subject you do and rehearse the clinic together. If you enlist a teacher from outside your club, members will still attend.

Creating a handbook for the attendees, with valuable skill information can improve lesson retention. The handbook can have pictures demonstrating the skill, sometimes maps of the green (short game classes), key phrases, drills, places for student notes and more. Creating video presentations and power point presentations can enhance the students learning curve. I also like to give away training aids as well, if applicable.

Patrick J. Bedingfield, PGA Director of Instruction Bethesda Country Club

golfclubrepair@pga.com

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Schedule of Events:

• Introduction of the Professional (people like to know who you are)

• Disperse Handbook

• Demonstration or Power Point / Video Presentation

• Demonstration of the Skill by the Professional (Make sure you can perform)

• Get attendees to begin work on small skills of task

• Students perform task while professional spends time with each student

• Allow students to take notes with the key points for improvements (Pass out training aids if applicable)

• Simulate/Demonstrate golf course condition (Reminder the course is not flat and no two shots are identical)

• Have student make more notes about on course situations • Conclusion of class or repeat above step with next skill

Conclusion:

Certainly have a solid game plan for a successful clinic. Plans need to be flexible in accordance with each group. Make clinics more enjoyable for the attendees by being fully prepared, whether that be supplying drinks/snacks or minimally having the learning area prepared before the clinic begins.

One thing which makes clinics more successful is to not slow the class down, adding information along while the students continue to practice at their work station is important. How often do you see a successful basketball coach huddling the team up every time gives information?

Finally, remember that golf is a hard game to learn and each attendee will learn at different rates. Some people won’t show much improvement, during the clinic. If you see someone becoming stressed, invite the struggling student to stay after the clinic or come for a follow up. In teaching golf, sometimes we struggle teaching students, even while working with them individually.

This was certainly a broad look at how to conduct an adult clinic. If you would like more specific information about clinics or even copies of handbooks I have used, please contact me.

Kenwood Ka$h by Robin Beach

Our best, new idea at Kenwood this past year was the creation of “Kenwood Ka$h.” Using a basic dollar bill image, colored paper, and photos we created

personalized currency to use as a reward system for our juniors.

Juniors can receive “Ka$h” for numerous reasons including excellent behavior, proper attire, winning competitions, participating in events, and exhibiting excellent sportsmanship. They can also be “fined” for poor behavior.

Kenwood Ka$h can be used to purchase items from our prize wall. The prize wall is a collection of items donated by vendors, purchased from our golf shop and items leftover from various club events. The wall has increasing levels, including $1, $5, $10, $25, & $50 levels.

This program has been a huge

(continue pg 5)

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According to a recent Washington Post article, an average of 137 golf courses have been closing every year since 2011. Obviously, this puts an immense amount of pressure on golf professionals everywhere to increase the desirability of golf as the entertainment, physical activity, and enjoyment of choice. Golf 2.0 has made huge strides in making golf more appealing to the average player by creating user friendly programs such as Get Golf Ready, and in encouraging players to make the game more satisfying by teeing it forward. Just like the PGA encourages players to make the game more gratifying, it could be more imperative that golf instructors at the individual level focus on players’ satisfaction and improvement through use of positive reinforcement. We know from educational and developmental psychology the most successful students benefit from teachers and mentors who support them with targeted, individualized feedback on progress as well as efforts to improve. As golf professionals, communication is key to promoting learning during lessons. We need to take advantage of these opportunities to positively reinforce the burgeoning skills we observe versus drawing too much attention to what our students are doing incorrectly. One of the best examples of how important positive reinforcement can influence students was

shared by Jordan Spieth during the Titleist Ball Seminar this year at the PGA Show. After listening to him speak, the message that resonated with me the most was his tribute to his swing coach and his father. He emphasized their technique included ONLY positive feedback regarding both his wins and progress in general. After watching this 21 year old win the Valspar Championship, I back positive reinforcement as one of the most valuable tools in a golf professional’s tool box. In order for golf professionals to make golf attractive again, I encourage you to bring more positive reinforcement into your lexicon.

Encouragement, The Best Teacher By Mary Hashagen

(Cont. from pg 4) hit with juniors and parents. The juniors frequently ask for games and competitions which reward Kenwood Ka$h and they always want to go “shopping” after junior events. The parents love the idea because it is a basic introduction to money, saving, and responsibility. Juniors are responsible for their Ka$h and we do not replace lost money. Going forward, we are discussing ways of expanding our use of Kenwood Ka$h. We have four levels of junior champions and intend to use their pictures on future bills. To fund our prize wall, we are running a promotion to encourage our adult members to donate their unused gift certificates and golf shop credit, which will be used to purchase golf shop items to be placed on the prize wall.

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SOCIAL C

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I hope everyone had a good winter. We are planning our first Central Chapter Social event of the year for Thursday, April 2nd at Caddies in Bethesda. This is a casual get together that will start at 6:30pm with no specific ending time. The Caps are taking on the Canadiens at 7:30pm so come enjoy some good conversation, food and drinks. Below are the specials offered: Thursday (4pm - 7pm) 1/2 Price Appetizers $5 Cheese Pizza (Toppings Additional) 1/2 Price "Rail Drink" (No Cosmos/Martinis) (4pm - Close) $2.25 Non-Premium Drafts $8.50 Non-Premium Pitchers

Hope to see all of you there!

Pete Labourdette, PGA

Spring Pro-Pro @ Springfield Golf and Country Club – March 23 Chapter Match Play @ Opponents Choice –Season Long Chapter Assistants @ Norbeck Country Club – May 18 Chapter Championship @ Norbeck Country Club – May 18 Chapter Pro-Am @ Stoneleigh Country Club – June 1 Chapter Pro-Junior @ Brambleton Golf Course – June 22 Chapter Fal Pro-Assistant @ Lansdowne Resort – September

TournamenT/Tempo

The 2015 season is finally upon us. We have a great tournament schedule for our chapter members this year and look forward to a competitive year playing the sport we love. The end of the year Seniors vs Juniors event will continue this year. Spots on each team vary. Juniors can earn a spot by finishing in the top 8 on the central chapter POY points race while the seniors can earn a spot by their ranking in the MAPGA Seniors points race.

Best of luck this year!