Forward: As a Change Management Executive I’m always interested in businesses that break away from traditional business methods. I applaud businesses that don’t get caught up in “it’s always done this way” and “you can’t do this and that”. I find it takes a lot of courage for management to ask “why not” and say “lets give it a try”. Tetherow Golf Club Management Martin Chuck and Teaching Pro Bob Duncan are examples of men who are working to change the way people learn the game of golf while building a business where people choose them over others in a highly competitive business.
This is my third season playing golf. I, like most of my friends in the technology business, didn’t play golf while we were building our high tech businesses. I simply couldn’t fit in the 4-5 hours to play a round of golf, let alone find time to practice to improve our game. Sixty hour work weeks were not uncommon for me and I always set aside Sunday for my family. Golf wasn’t an option. When I moved to Bend, Oregon three years ago, Debbie and I decided to join a local private golf club as a way to meet new people and find something we could do together.
I must admit, I was a bit put off by golf at the get go. You have to dress a certain way, they hand you a pocket book on the “rules of golf”, its expensive and it seemed like every round of golf I played with other members, people were telling me what I couldn’t do. I found it to be a very stressful and frustrating game. Here I was new at the game and fellow members were telling me I couldn’t move my ball, I had to keep hitting balls from the T-box until I got one inbounds (even though I just hit 3 balls into the woods and I wanted to go drop a ball somewhere). As a new golfer, I enjoyed the difficult challenge of improving my game, but I didn’t enjoy the game all that much.
The first two years I singed up for every clinic and took private lessons from each of our three pros. It seemed each pro changed something the previous pro taught me which often made my results worse, not better. The joke around the club was, never take a golf lesson before the weekly Men’s game because it will screw you up. In each case, all of my private lessons were taught from the driving range and lasted about 35 minutes. We have a 5 hole, par 3 loop course at our club touted as a “Learning Center” but none of my private lessons were taught there. None of my pros ever asked if I wanted to play a few holes on the course, let alone nine holes. It wasn’t how they taught golf, therefore they don’t offer it as an option.
Then, late last year I was playing (or should I say struggling) in the Wednesday’s Men’s game when a fellow member asked why I was using a nine degree driver from each tee box, since I wasn’t having any success with it. I think he was getting tired helping me look for my ball all the time. I started each and every hole in trouble. He suggested I use my 3 wood instead and leave the driver in my bag in order to reduce some of my risk from the tee box. That little adjustment helped and we didn’t spend the rest of the afternoon searching for balls. He asked if I was taking lessons and from who. I told him I tried to take a private lesson each week from one of our pros and then he suggested it might be time to try a different pro.
Bob Duncan is a Teaching Professional at Tetherow Golf Club in Bend, Oregon. You may have heard of Tetherow, designed by acclaimed Scotsman David McLay Kidd, who also designed Bandon Dunes on the Oregon Coast. When I called Bob to set-up an appointment he told me to plan on an hour and spent every bit of it writing notes about my swing, game and talking about my short and long term goals. Our first lesson went a little long and for the first time, I felt like I had a Golf Pro who was truly investing in making me a better golfer. He had me hitting the ball better than I’d ever hit it in the previous two years. Bob has an easy teaching style and made small adjustments to my golf swing to accommodate my body type, abilities and hand grip that was comfortable for me. The next week we had another lesson, not rushed which was a refreshing change from previous private lessons I had taken.
When I arrived for my next lesson Bob said, “hit 20 or so balls and warm up”. I did, he responded with “great, how much time do you have today?” I told him I had an hour or so and he responded with “great, jump in this cart”. We drove out to the course and found a gap between groups. We walked over to a green and he had me toss a couple of balls toward the pin from every direction, watching how the ball broke. Then we drove out on the fairway to about 130 yards out and dropped a few balls on the ground. He explained why balls go left, right, up, down, shorter, farther based on the ball’s lie. He then had me hit a few balls and we talked about each shot, collected our balls and headed back to the club house. For me it was a fresh teaching style. It wasn’t just about the golf swing. Bob talked about club selection, lies, the target and if I was going to miss, analyzing the best and worse places for your ball to end up.
I’ve taken 15 or so private lessons from Bob. We often use the driving range to warm up, then we head out on the course and play a hole or two. We pick days and late afternoon’s when he can find an open slot and not disrupt any players. If the course is busy, we practice on their loop course. Bob finds the driving range limiting and would rather be on the cut grass with real target and goals. I couldn’t agree with him more. He has changed my attitude about golf. When I approach each shot I have a better idea of what the ball is going to want to do, based on the lie. When I hit a bad shot I have a better idea of what my correction should be. Bob Duncan’s business card says “Teaching Professional” but for me, he’s my coach.
Most of our lessons finish with playing a hole of golf on the course if we can. He truly enjoys “playing lessons” because it gives him a chance to see how I play and what corrections I need to make. The golf course offers an unlimited amount of variables for him to show me. The Driving Range just can’t compete with that. I have to give the management at Tetherow kudos for supporting Bob’s teach style. Most golf courses are just too uptight to allow their teaching pro's on the course to teach. As I stated earlier, I think golf as a sport is pretty uptight already, which is why so many people don’t play it. Tetherow’s attitude seems to be: Enjoy our beautiful course, thank you for spending time here, have fun, and come back.
I realize this approach isn’t for everyone. However, golf as a recreational sport is suffering, especially in the younger, working class. In order to reach a wider demographic, private golf clubs need to offer different products. Before loop courses, driving ranges and learning centers, teaching pros would teach on the course. Most of the pros I have met only want to play a round (or even 9 holes) with the good golfers, people with low handicaps. That is ok, as long as private clubs have their own Bob Duncan who has the skills and patience to work with us newbie, high handicap golfers. Bob has actually added himself to my tee time twice which speaks volumes to his interest in helping me become a better golfer.
I know I spend more on lessons then the better golfers, so it makes good business sense to have services for golfers like me. If I give up on the game, then I give up on paying for lessons, buying equipment and paying dues so it’s in the private club’s best interest to recruit new members like me and then have a program to keep me engaged.
Yes my game is getting better, my handicap is improving, I’m in more control of my game. More importantly, I’m spending less time looking for my ball and more time helping others find theirs.
If you’ve given up on golf lessons or find them boring and a waste of time and money as I did, I encourage you to reach out to Bob Duncan. He can be reached at 541.388.2582 or via email at bduncan@tetherow.com wij9mr2hk5