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PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA | There’s an old joke that those who can’t do, teach.
There may be an element of truth in there someplace but it doesn’t apply to Kelly Mitchum, the lead instructor at the Pinehurst Golf Academy.
Not only has he grown into a highly respected teacher since joining the Pinehurst staff more than 20 years ago, Mitchum – who recently turned 50 – can play.
In 2020, Mitchum won the Carolinas PGA Bob Boyd Award, recognizing the section’s player of the year, for a record eighth time. He won the North Carolina Open and the Carolinas Open last year, adding to a distinguished collection of trophies and achievements.
If Mitchum leans toward the quiet side, his record screams success.
He won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship while playing at N.C. State. His name is on the men’s North & South Amateur plaque in the Pinehurst clubhouse for his 1993 victory in the prestigious event. Mitchum played in the ’93 Walker Cup and reached the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur.
Never the longest or strongest player, Mitchum has played in four PGA Championships and multiple PGA Tour events when he’s not been busy helping others get better. He’s in the field for the PGA Tour’s Palmetto Championship at Congaree Golf Club in June.
All while based in a place that is fairly called the home of American golf.
And to think Mitchum could have wound up in South Dakota instead. It’s a state with its own charms but it’s not known as an incubator of golf talent.
Mitchum’s father was a veterinarian in Virginia and was looking to move someplace that needed his services. He was licensed to work in four states, including South Dakota and North Carolina.
Starting the search alphabetically, Mitchum’s father decided to take a look at Aberdeen, North Carolina. It’s next door to Pinehurst and it was appealing enough that the Mitchums moved to the area in time for Kelly to finish his junior and senior years at Pinecrest High School.
“I can’t even imagine how different my life would be if we had moved to South Dakota,” Mitchum said, sitting in his office which is located at the back of Pinehurst Resort’s famous practice area. “Who knows what I would be doing now.”
Chances are Mitchum wouldn’t be the eight-time Carolinas PGA player of the year.
“I probably work with more good players now than a beginner but it's still satisfying seeing that person get a ball up in the air for the first time."
kelly mitchum
When Mitchum finished at N.C. State, he was good enough to give professional golf a try. He was never a long hitter but he had the gift of getting the ball in the hole, a trait that has never left him. He plays tidy golf, is exceptional around the greens and he can putt.
In 1994, Mitchum had conditional status on what is now the Korn Ferry Tour. He didn’t set the world on fire and by 1996, he was playing full-time on the Canadian Tour. He hadn’t advanced past the second stage of the PGA Tour qualifying school despite shooting 8-under par and he had the nagging suspicion that his best wasn’t quite good enough.
One evening, he told his wife he wasn’t sure he wanted to keep playing competitive golf. Tiger Woods was coming along and it doesn’t take a math major to understand that hitting 5-irons into par-4 greens against a guy hitting wedges in is a losing equation.
Rather than get into the insurance business, Mitchum decided to try being a golf professional rather than a professional golfer. He went to work in the golf shop at Pinehurst in 1997, was involved with the 1999 U.S. Open there and, in the process, came to realize what he wanted to do.
“I knew that no matter what I did, if I was going to stay in the golf business I thought that becoming a good teacher was a really, really important attribute to have,” Mitchum said. “A spot came open on the teaching staff down here. I got it, and found out the operational side was not for me and the better I got teaching, the more I enjoyed it.”
Mitchum is not a disciple of any particular school of golf instruction. He looks and listens and applies what he knows to his students. He specializes in the short game and a video he posted in 2016 of him holing three putts on different lines at the same time went viral.
“You take a little bit from here and a little bit from there and you start forming your own style and way of seeing things and way of trying to help people,” Mitchum said.
At Pinehurst, he works with local members, resort guests and a handful of top-level players, including David Kocher on the Korn Ferry Tour.
“People give him credit for teaching the short game but what’s underrated is his knowledge of the full swing,” Kocher said. “He definitely changed my game and I owe most of my success to him.
“I hit it really straight but I’m not the longest and that attracted me to him. He does everything you need to do to be a good player and he’s not the longest. I thought why not seek a teacher who knows that game.”
Mitchum also does group work with golf schools and one-on-one sessions. At one point this spring, he had worked four weeks without a day off, meeting the demand.
“I get asked all the time who do you like to work with the most or do I just work with good players,” Mitchum said. “I probably work with more good players now than a beginner but it's still satisfying seeing that person get a ball up in the air for the first time.
“It’s very satisfying to see your tournament players do well. It’s always awesome when you get a text from a player and they go, ‘Hey, I won.’ ”
Mitchum plans to play six to 10 events again this year and he still sets the same high expectations. At 50, he feels the nerves kick in from time to time and he does his best to ignore how far some of his competitors can hit the ball.
That’s where experience comes into play.
“The game is still getting the ball in the hole. It is tough every once in a while to get paired with somebody that hits it 80 yards by you,” Mitchum said. “I feel like I can still manage my way around on certain golf courses and fortunately last year a couple golf courses kind of fit my game pretty good. You try to stay ahead of the young guys a little bit but it's getting tougher.”
For everyone else, the challenge is keeping up with Kelly Mitchum.
Top: Kelly Mitchum gives a putting lesson at Pinehurst.
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