It’s May. Mother’s Day, springtime and the approaching culmination of another school year. Golf courses across the country are getting into the full swing of a new golf season. Time to welcome your women and junior golfers for clinics, social events and in some cases, competitive play.
It’s also time to ensure your summer junior camps are filling up with eager youngsters looking forward to learning and playing the game with friends under the summer sunshine. Once school adjourns in a few weeks, those summer camps will be a destination, as will your PGA Jr. League programs, Drive, Chip and Putt and other junior golf programs.
What are you doing to welcome women and juniors to your range? We asked some PGA of America Golf Professionals from New England to the West Coast what they’re offering the women and juniors at their clubs, courses and driving ranges.
Jane Blalock, a PGA of America Golf Professional in the New England PGA Section launched a series of golf clinics for women back in 1991. Now under the PGA of America umbrella, these clinics, that are held at facilities across the country, are taught by female PGA and LPGA professionals. Over four decades, the clinics have touched over 50,000 women, providing full game instruction and personal assessments; on-course playing opportunities; breakfast, lunch and a networking reception; a gift bag; and memories to last a lifetime.
“Our clinics are thoughtfully designed to create a welcoming space for women of all backgrounds and skill levels,” PGA of America Secretary Eric Eshleman told PGA.com. “We are proud to partner with Jane, a legend in our game, to make these clinics accessible in communities across the country. With more than eight million women now playing golf, the PGA of America is deeply committed to supporting and celebrating the next generation of women golfers.”
“We tend to return to venues where we’ve had a positive experience,” says Blalock.
As her team selects facilities to host these clinics for a group that can sometimes approach 100 women, sufficient function space and a large driving range/practice areas are two vital components.
At Newbury Golf Center, PGA of America Owner/Operator, Erik Sorensen has created his own successful program for women on the driving range. In fact, Sorensen says his women’s programming took off right from the start when he opened in August of 2020. Sure, the golfing and non-golfing public were starved for activities to do during the pandemic, but little did Sorensen know that not only would he sustain the popularity of his women’s clinics, but he’d see participation go through the roof. He’s welcomed over 3,000 women in less than six years!
His clinics consist of six 1-hour sessions that are limited to just eight students to ensure each gets the personal attention needed to learn the game as new golfers and improve the skills they already have as more experienced players. These clinics are so popular — each sells out in a matter of hours — that Sorensen runs them from March to October. He also hosts learning experiences for women during the winter in his covered and heated stalls.
With so many women participating in his clinics, they are always coming back to the range between sessions to get their practice in and to work on the lessons that Sorensen taught them. Sorensen says they’re also taking private lessons, buying clubs, getting the rest of their family involved and telling their friends about their experience at Newbury Golf Center. That’s his advertising…word of mouth. Sorensen says it’s always been very effective. Of course, that is a result of the product he’s providing — the experience, the impact and the enjoyment.
In fact, he’s doing so well for his customers, that Newbury Golf Center is the #1 facility in New England in Titleist club sales, with fitting reps onsite a couple of times per month! After all, he guarantees the best prices out there.
In addition, with so much learning, practice and socialization happening at Sorensen’s driving range and practice facility — a GRAA Top 50 Stand Alone Facility every year since 2021 — that they added 10 bays to now offer 20 covered and heated bays for year-round use. With Toptracer on the property as well, Sorensen touts his winter Toptracer league with 140 players in the 12-week league that uses Golf Genius to ensure a fun and competitive environment.
With juniors, Sorensen hosts after-school clinics on the range in spring and fall and a slew of summer golf schools for juniors between six and 14 years of age. He covers all aspects of the game and uses Toptracer to add to the fun and impact of the lessons. The kids absolutely love it!
Heading south, what Sorensen is doing in women’s programming up north is matched by Heather Angell, the PGA of America Director of Instruction at Fiddler’s Creek Golf Club in Naples, Florida.
“Teaching women is a very different concept compared to teaching men,” Angell says. “Women are not as strong as men, and their bodies are structured anatomically different than men. Therefore, when teaching women, I focus on aspects of the golf game where they could benefit. I enjoy creating player development programs to get people excited about the game.”
The request she gets the most from students (regardless of gender) is their desire to hit the ball farther. So, Angell started a Speed Bootcamp for men and women several years ago. The multi-week bootcamp focuses on creating more speed to hit the ball farther.
“It has been popular with all of my students,” she boasts, “and it has been fun to see swing speeds increase 6-8 mph in a few short weeks. The first couple of years running my Speed Bootcamp, I used the SuperSpeed Overspeed Training Program. SuperSpeed is a great program, especially for men, but I needed something more for my ladies and juniors. They tended to want to use too much upper body in order to swing the Speed Sticks faster and prevented their stronger hips and legs from creating the power they needed. To make the Speed Bootcamp even better, I became certified in Mach 3 Speed Training. I found that Mach 3 was the missing link I was looking for. Mach 3 is different from SuperSpeed in that it focuses more on rhythm and tempo to create speed. The ladies and juniors really resonate with the Mach 3 equipment. They love the Mamba, a 50-foot weighted rope with a rubber grip on one end, because it creates the feel of speed in the right place in the golf swing. I found that the Mach 3 System also helps improve swing techniques. Creating speed in the correct place in your swing has been simplified for not only my women and junior students, but also the men. All of them are finding that they are hitting the ball farther in a fun environment.”
At Roanoke Country Club, PGA of America Director of Instruction Rick Zarlengo hosts two ladies classes on the range, and he’s looking at starting a 3rd!
“It’s sort of a 101, 201, 301 format. Members sign up at the level they feel the most comfortable,” Zarlengo explains. “When new members join, we invite them out and let the networking begin. We meet three times a week and have between five and nine members in each class each quarter.”
Zarlengo says they are fortunate to have different practice areas — the main range, a lower (shorter) range with targets every 10 yards from 50 to 120 yards out, a short game area that allows shots up to 45 yards with bunker practice and a putting green, which is where he meets his students and starts each class.
“We socialize for a bit, usually 10-20 minutes while working on putting or chipping,” he explains. “Then we go to different areas and work on various shots and situations for that 55 min class. We also go out on the course once a week (when available) to help with etiquette and pace of play. I'm happy to say that we're now with 201 and 301 and on the verge of starting another 101 class.”
Zarlengo’s female students are becoming golfers who want to play and participate in the WGA events. They're coming out to practice with a purpose — something every coach loves to see.
He says it’s similar when it comes to his juniors — three sessions per week and time on the course with contests and game drills. Zarlengo reinforces the fundamentals for all classes, so there are alignment sticks at every practice stall. With many great kids in his junior programs, they’ve awarded 11 scholarships in the past seven years, have high school champions and Virginia State Golf Association junior champions for boys and girls.
Finally, Golf Range Magazine has highlighted the Bobby Jones Golf Course in Atlanta on several occasions over the years, as their facilities are stellar and the team onsite is second to none. When asked about his driving range, Jason Kuiper, PGA of America Director of Instruction, says, “The driving range at Bobby Jones Golf Course is the central hub of our facility. It is the most visited amenity at our facility and produces the most revenue. Arguably, it is what we are most known for. The range is the focal point for our group classes for women, juniors, new golfers, veteran programs and adaptive programs. It is also the social hub for groups of people who visit the range to practice but also spend time with friends. Our range fee provides additional use of the facility — our putting course, Par 3 course, chipping green and putting greens. Those amenities are all free at Bobby Jones and included with the range access. We recently added Trackman Range to elevate the experience for our customers and provide a more focused practice environment.”
That brief description is sure to put Bobby Jones Golf Course on your bucket list. Whether you're in Atlanta or anywhere else in the country, the consensus is definitely that the range is the hub, the meeting place, the central focal point of any facility. Socialization, education, practice and play. The driving range is where people become golfers and golfers become better. The driving range will always be where they fell in love with the game!