Building Relationships Through Local Golf Show

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Building Relationships Through Local Golf Show

We all know how quickly relationships can blossom on the golf course. Like a flower in the spring, friendships grow and flourish through golf year after year. Inevitably each season I will see two members or golfers who did not know each other prior to golf, end up becoming great friends simply by meeting at the golf course each week. There is something to be said for spending 4 hours with a person on the course, and we all know how golf can bring out both the best and worst in a person. These friendships that the game conjures up each season are truly everlasting.

When I talk about the game of golf, I always mention that social aspect. Playing a game that cannot be perfected is often a humbling experience. It can make you look like a fool in front of close friends. However, let me tell you bluntly that it happens to everyone, even golf pros. I’ve had moments of glory on the golf course for sure, but I’ve also had moments of frustration and embarrassment. But at the end of the day, those moments of frustration amongst friends and total strangers builds both character and most of the friendships I hold dear to me today.

So, in evaluating golf from the business side (my job) I value NOTHING above the relationships that we build with each and every golfer that walks through our door. It is our WHY. It’s why we do what we do. It’s so much more than a number on a spreadsheet. We provide an escape for all golfers who choose to spend their precious time with us. So, it is our job to get to know each and every one as best we can.

That is the main reason we chose to visit the Minnesota Golf Show in Minneapolis for the first time this season. It provided us with the opportunity to share our passion with plenty of people, some of which we knew, and some who didn’t even know we existed. In an era of social media posts and blogs, we got the opportunity to speak face to face with over 10,000 people who shared our passion for the game of golf. We got to shake their hands and they were able to feel both our energy and excitement.

I was blown away by the number of people we met from Hayward, Superior, Duluth, and all over the Northland who did not know we even had a golf course in Ashland, WI. Yet every person I talked to is in love with our area, and our Great Lake Superior. They truly look to our area as God’s Country up here and love travelling to golf. With golf on the brain and our infectious energy, I know without a doubt that many of them will come to visit us this season. Not because of an advertisement or social media, but because of the impression we were able to make with them face to face. Just as relationships are built on the golf course.

In speaking with Kevin, director of marketing & events with Twin Cities Golf, I was thrilled by his excitement about wanting to partner with our golf course in 2018. Twin Cities Golf provides golf to many locals in the Twin Cities area. They travel place to place but only go as far North as Big Fish in Hayward currently. Kevin made me aware of the demand for golf up North, so we are happy to welcome them. It was a conversation you could only have in person to understand just how hungry golfers are to play golf in the Northwood’s.

We visited the golf show this year to not simply grow our business, but to build relationships with both our current clients and future clients. I am confident that we were able to do both. To quote the Dalai Lama, “In order to carry a positive action, we must develop a positive vision.” Our vision is clear, and so is our WHY. We’ll see you on the course, happy golfing!

Golf Club Myths Debunked

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I hear many myths about golf equipment shouted as truth everyday at the Club. For some strange reason these myths seem to carry on strong and are spoken like the Gospel. Like the one that says graphite shafts are too whippy. Anyone playing decent graphite shafts that are properly fitted knows this is completely false. Or how about the one that states hitting a driver with less loft will hit the ball farther? HAHA! Or what about the one that states you can hit a driver with a longer shaft further than one with a shorter shaft?

My point being is none of these statements hold up under serious scrutiny, yet these statements and countless others are shouted as fact on a daily basis. Of course there are some exceptions that may occur, as there are exceptions to every rule, but for the average golfer they are erroneous. A lot of theses statements are made up by major manufacturers to get you to buy their latest equipment. I’ve witnessed many golfers swear to one brand over another, which is okay, whatever works. But the truth is, technically, they really aren’t much different from one another.

Let’s look at the “whippiness” of graphite shafts. Have you noticed that all tour pro’s have graphite shafts in there drivers, fairway woods, and hybrids? Do you think that is because they are too whippy? Some, like Brandt Snedeker, and Matt Kuchar even use them in their irons. Do you want to bet it’s because they’re too whippy? The truth is the graphite and resin materials used in graphite shafts today make them as stable as steel at half the weight. If that weren’t enough, they are proven to transfer more energy to the golf ball than steel shafts do. Avoiding this great technological upgrade based on the fact you think it’s whippy is just wrong!

I get questions about shafts quite often, like will a new shaft help me hit it farther. My short answer is no, my long answer is maybe. Distance is really a product of clubhead speed, launch angle, and spin rate. A general rule of thumb is a soft shaft will hit it further with less accuracy, while a stiff shaft won’t hit the ball as far, but be more accurate. By further, I mean a few yards, not jaw dropping distances.

Maximizing distance really involves gaining clubhead speed along with optimizing launch angle. In my experience a 10.5-degree driver head generally launches the ball too low for the average men’s clubhead speed of 90mph. A 13 or 14-degree driver would actually fly the ball in the air further all else being equal. So in the case of the “average” more loft let’s you hit it farther. And a lot depends on how you hit it. A steep angle of attack means you likely need more loft on the face to achieve the same results.

So yes, there are many misconceptions and myths out there when it comes to golf equipment. It is my job as a PGA Professional to debunk these myths and utlize technology like Flightscope to Professionally fit golfers so they can make informed decisions when it comes to their golf equipment. Whether it is a lesson or a fitting or an article like this, we are here to help you play your best!

-Matthew Lindberg, PGA

A Cheat Sheet For Lower Scores

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Utilize these 10 Key’s to Scoring to help you through your next round.

Key's to Scoring

Better Today Than Yesterday

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This past week the sports world lost a legend in Muhammad Ali. In my opinion he is one of, if not the greatest athlete of all time. Ali was not only known for his boxing ability, but for his personality. Ali had many great quotes, one of my favorite’s was “Everyday of my life, I hated training, but I said don’t quit, suffer today, and live the rest of your life as a champion.” I love the quote so much because we can relate it to our everyday life so easily. The way I look at it is, in order to grow, you need to try and do something everyday that you do not want to do. There are a lot of things that I force myself to do each day that I really don’t feel like doing, but when you’ve done them, you know you’ve advanced because of it.

Growth in my opinion is a choice. Change is inevitable, but growth is optional. I draw inspiration from a Jerry Rice quote, he said, “I will do today what others will not do, so that tomorrow I can do what others cannot do.” I do not mean that I think I can do things others cannot do, far from it. I think the quote makes me better on a daily basis, as I strive to be the best golf instructor I can be. When I teach golf, I want every student going away from the lesson saying WOW that was an amazing lesson! I want that for my integrity, for business, but most importantly I want the student to feel like they got tremendous value for the hard earned money they spend. With that said, I want to share with everyone, and opportunity to grow in golf. I want to share a drill that is working with many of my students to help cure swing path, and the dreaded slice.

If you slice, this drill should be the backbone of each practice session for the coming weeks. Hit 30-50 range balls a few times each week using the basket set up. Pick out a specific target and work hard to start each ball right of your target.

Using a 7 or 8 iron, grab two plastic driving range wire baskets to use as obstructions. Place the first basket about 18 inches behind the ball, and just far enough to the right to make a proper backswing. (See image) Hit 25 balls from this position. The ball will block out to the right, and you should feel the club being swung from much more behind your body. When you feel comfortable with this drill, take a second basket and place it two feet in front of the ball, but inside the line of the first basket, creating a gate for the club to pass through. (See image) Swinging through this gate should create a nice in to out club path, with proper extension toward your target.

A motto I live by is being better today than yesterday. I hope this drill, and a little inspiration can help make you a better golfer than you were yesterday.

-Matthew Lindberg

The Mental Side of Golf

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How often do we hear that the game is 90% mental, yet what do we ever do to help improve our mental game? Many of us work on mechanics, but not many golfers are working on the mental aspect. It’s an indicator of how far teaching & coaching have come that some of the professionals who do it best are actually off the lesson tee these days, devoted to technologies that improve golf performance, and are built with science in mind. Tim Suzor is a great example of this. He is a right brained, left-handed golfer from Michigan, a fellow Ferris State Alum, and the founder/CEO of THINQ Sports. Tim developed a new approach to golf performance. He, along with a few partners created the first real tool to train your brain for golf. Tim has worked with players who have won at every competitive level including the PGA & LPGA Tours, as well as NCAA Division I. Tim believes the mental game should be worked on just as much if not more than simple swing mechanics and ball flight laws. Included is my interview with the man responsible for creating this great tool for golf. (THINQ Sports) Please Enjoy.

 

(ML): Tell me about your early golf experiences.

(TS): I grew up in Houghton Lake, MI in the Northern Lower Peninsula, where my father was the town veterinarian. When I was 7 years old, my family built a house on a golf course. To me it was a great big playground in our backyard.

 

(ML): Did you golf a lot as a kid?

(TS): I was left-handed and had a really old set of clubs and I basically played golf recreationally. In 1987 when I graduated from high school I went off to the University of Western Michigan to study aviation.

 

(ML): At what point did you steer toward a career in golf?

(TS): The summer after my freshman year my brother and I were playing golf with a guy and his grandson. We got to talking and they told me about Ferris State University and their Professional Golf Management Program – Ferris was the original PGM site, established in 1975. I began my studies and internships the next year after proving my playing ability.

 

(ML): After school, where did your focus shift next?

(TS): After a couple years of teaching full time I became interested in biomechanics, especially the kinematic sequence, as we call it. That led me to join the K-Vest staff where I would end up teaching their level 1 and 2 certification courses. I used what I was learning to create the Kinetic Golf Academy at Camelback.

 

(ML): Was that roughly the time when you started teaching Tour Professionals?

(TS): Yes, although on a small scale to start. As time went by I added more players including Anna Nordqvist on the LPGA Tour. I found myself paying more attention to how the brain is involved in golf performance.

 

(ML): Is that why you founded THINQ Sports?

(TS): Yes, so in 2011 Dr. Debbie Crews and I founded THINQ Sports, with the idea of specializing in cognitive skill training. It is a video game based learning platform that trains essential mental skills for optimum performance. Given the demands of startup, I backed away from teaching one on one lessons.

 

(ML): Did that feel like a major turn in your career path?

(TS): It did, but I was excited to be involved in something that can help 60 million players as opposed to one at a time.

 

(ML): Regarding brain function and patterns, do men and women think differently?

(TS): There is right-brain dominance and left-brain dominance, but it’s not a male-female thing. What IS interesting is that someone like Anna Nordqvist, who is more of a left-brain type – more analytical, less intuitive – can turn that off. She can be in a lesson soaking everything up and processing it, and then she’ll walk to the tee and totally shut off the mechanical thoughts.

 

(ML): So there is a “learning mode” and a “performing mode”?

(TS): Yes, and golfers should be aware of this. For example, most of the best players are typically more right brain, one second before they take the club back. Meanwhile most golfers learn and read a lot of left-brain analytical information. Coaches and players need to understand if they are more left or right brain dominant. A better player can usually execute feelings and pictures.

 

            Tim is very passionate in regards to training the brain to play better golf. He believes we need to get out of our own way on the golf course and clear our minds before each shot. It is a very interesting concept, and one I know I am interested to learn more about over the coming years.

-Matthew Lindberg, PGA

Rocco Got It Wrong

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Last week I received a video from a friend showing Tiger Woods hitting 3 wedges into the water back to back to back. It is sad for me to watch a legend struggle in such a dramatic way, regardless of your opinion of the man. It is clear his game is still a mess at this point, and according to Rocco Mediate on an episode of “Feherty Live,” it’s the teacher’s entire fault. Why? Because Chris Como has never won a major, or something like that…

I have a cousin who plays college football at Arizona University. He’s worked with some of the top coaches in the United States, but not many of them were world-renowned football players themselves. Still, they are able to take him to a higher level than they had ever achieved. Sure, he has amazing natural talent, but that talent had to be coached all along the way to truly flourish.

People who win the Nobel Prize in Economics are taught by professors who themselves never won the Nobel. There are coaches in the NBA and NFL who never competed at that level who have been very successful in their respective leagues. The examples could go on all day.

So when Rocco Mediate says that teachers like Chris Como simply don’t have the playing background to help someone at Tiger Wood’s level, he’s not making sense. He then went on to question the validity of an article in Golf Digest authored by Como. Rocco further stated that only another major winner could help Tiger Woods put the pieces back together. Let’s remind Rocco that nobody who helped Tiger along the way to winning his current stash of 14 majors had ever even played in a major.

Jack Grout, who taught and coached Jack Nicklaus for his entire career, didn’t seem to be a hindrance in Jack’s march to 18 professional majors, even though Grout was winless in the biggies. Furthermore, when Rocco finished by suggesting that he could fix Tiger’s short game in one session if only Tiger would let him, he showed a jaw dropping level of ignorance of the arduous process that he himself had used to improve throughout his career working with Jimmy Ballard and others.

It’s not just the technical information that matters, it’s the entire process of coaching someone through the ups and downs of developing and maintaining a highly refined skill such as hitting a golf ball every day on the PGA or LPGA Tours. I can assure Rocco that if we took all the living major winners and lined them up to teach at a big driving range in, say, Chicago they would have a very hard time getting the quality results that dozens of professional instructors in the Windy City are able to achieve every day.

During my time at Oakland Hills CC I was lucky enough to speak with Tour Professionals such as Jack Nicklaus, Lee Janzen, Ernie Els, and others about their games, and more often than not they couldn’t explain how someone else could emulate what they do. They had a personal feel for what they were trying to do during their swing, but no idea how to convey that feeling or motion to someone else.

That’s the thing that Tour players like Rocco Mediate don’t appreciate: Golf instruction is a big part science and a big part art of communication. Guys like Rocco don’t do the golf world any favors by dumping on the people who are on the front lines every day creating both future Tour champions and engaging future 12 handicappers in the game of a lifetime.

By the way Rocco, how many majors did Jimmy Ballard win? That didn’t seem to stop you from wanting his help with your game, did it? Next time I hope Rocco and the rest of the Touring pros realize how much time and effort top instructors put into this craft and how the game would be so much less for so many without their guidance.

-Matthew Lindberg, PGA

Dear Isla, If You Decide To Play Golf

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It seems like at least once a week I am asked, “When should my child start golf?” It is a legitimate question, and one that I have thought about for some time. My answer however, is always “Whenever he or she shows an interest in the game.” In my opinion it is pointless to try and force a game on a child. Yes, I do believe that golf teaches us many great lessons, but it is a game, and must be enjoyed.

Many of you already know that I recently was blessed with my first child. Her name is Isla Rose, and I love her unconditionally. For my column this week instead of writing about someone else, I want to turn the lens toward home and share a letter to my own daughter. If you are a parent, this is my sincerest and heartfelt advice if you plan to introduce your child to the game of golf, and the life lessons it can teach.

 

Dear Isla Rose,

If you decide to play golf, make sure it is for the right reasons. Play because you feel it is fun, and because you love the game. Believe it or not other things in life will bring you greater joy. The day you were born was the happiest day of my life. It also filled me with more fear than I’ve ever felt on any golf course. Fear simply because I want to be a good dad; I don’t want to do it wrong.

If you decide to play golf it can teach you how to be tough, like your mother. She is the toughest person I know. I want to raise you to be like her, and watch you grow up to make it on your own.

If you decide to play golf, I promise to teach you. I also promise to try and work less, but our golf course is growing, and not slowing down anytime soon. It’s why I put in so many hours. I just want the outcome to be something I can look back on and be proud of. However, I won’t be a dad living through a phone line; I can manage the golf course and teach you at the same time.

If you decide to play golf, it will never spoil you, and you can’t perfect it. It will put you through adversity, and you’ll learn how to overcome and persevere through it.

If you decide to play golf, you’ll have your heartbroken. It is a competitive game, and the more devoted you become, the greater the chance of having it break your heart, but don’t let it keep you down. I love you, and I will pick you up shall you ever fall.

If you decide to play golf you’ll eventually call a penalty on yourself. The game is unique in this way. Always tell the truth, regardless of the consequence, and if you lose pay your opponent a compliment.

If you decide to play golf, give back to everyone that helped you grow. It takes many foursomes to raise a golfer dear, just work hard and don’t worry about the praise or accolades.

If you decide to play golf remember that school always comes first. Study hard and you can do anything in the world… Make sure that it is something you love.

If you decide to play golf, you may find yourself praying to the golfing Gods. Go to Church to find the real God dear.

If you decide to play golf, to be happy, you don’t need to follow in your father’s footsteps. Just learn to be selfless. Ask questions and learn from others, as you will meet people from all walks of life through golf.

If you decide to play golf, play all day, in tournaments, for fun, with your friends and neighbors. You’re only young once sweet Isla, don’t waste a moment…

 

Love,

Daddy

-Matthew Lindberg, PGA

Junior Golf School

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Junior Golf School