What’s better than one great program to grow the game? Multiple programs.
Erica Feuerhelm, PGA, spends the majority of her time coaching juniors and ladies at Franklin (Tennessee) Bridge Golf Club. She and the academy staff are leveraging all available opportunities with changing seasons and shifting daylight to offer various learning experiences for golfers.
From March-October, there are programs for 4- to 6-year-olds using SNAG golf equipment; PGA Jr. League offerings (9u, 13u and 17u) with 81 players so far this year, and with a fall season still to come; Operation36 classes; on-course game strategy classes called the SET program; summer camps; and other clinic offerings.
Feuerhelm (pictured above, left) has experienced a growth in programming the last couple years, and she has embraced it by creating new offerings as a result of interest from students and parents. This is her first year offering a 9u PGA Jr. League program, which attracted 19 players in the spring.
“This program has tied in nicely with our 13u and 17u PGA Jr. League programs, as well as other offerings we have for younger players,” she explains. Feuerhelm is certainly establishing herself and Franklin Bridge Golf Club as a mainstay for golf coaching and growing the game of golf. She recently was elected to PGA of America Membership, and is excited to see where the next few years will take her and her students as they continue to share the excitement of the game to all involved.
Since 2020, PGA Associate Cole Murley (pictured left, standing) has been growing the game through programming at The Hermitage Golf Course in Old Hickory, Tennessee, in a big way. His commitment to junior golf has accelerated his six PGA Jr. League programs, which start in March and run through October. Like Feurerhelm, Murley offers a 9u program and has seen it grow to 61 players so far this year.
Murley also offers on-course game assessments to adults and juniors and coordinates weekly adult clinics, as well. He has embraced and seen the benefits of offering PGA Family Golf events at Hermitage, hosting the most PGA Family golf events (29) of any PGA of America Golf Professional in 2024. Murley has been a leader with PGA Jr. League in the Tennessee PGA Section, as he’s earned the #GameChanger Award for the largest number of players since 2021. He has also been awarded the Player Engagement #GameChanger Award the last two years, which involves criteria including offering multiple seasons and age divisions of PGA Jr. League, hosting PGA Family Golf events, earning ADM certification and completing a PGA Coach training course.
“It’s all about the players having fun and enjoying the game,” Murley says. He certainly does this in a big way at the Hermitage, and it will be exciting to see what his offerings look like in the future.
Feuererhelm and Murley have both embraced making the game fun, offering programs that fit their students’ needs and offering these programs throughout the calendar year. It’s a win all around for them, their students, the facility and the game of golf.
Frank Maynard III, PGA, is a Player Engagement Consultant supporting the Carolinas, Tennessee and Alabama-NW Florida PGA Sections. He can be reached at fmaynard@pgahq.com or (919) 593-0424.
