Colorado PGA

In this special edition, we highlight three Colorado PGA of America Golf Professionals chosen as 2023 Award Winners. We start off by hearing from the Assistant Professional of the Year, Marcus Gillmor, PGA Assistant Professional at Fort Collins Country Club. Next, we hear what makes a great coach from Teacher of the Year winner Ed Oldham, PGA Director of Instruction at The Ranch Country Club. We round out the episode by learning from Golf Professional of the Year winner Bob Doyle, PGA. I sat down with each of them and asked some burning questions about their experiences and what it's like to be recognized as a Section award winner.

Join us in our interview with Gavin Parker, PGA, Teaching Professional at Salisbury Country Club in Midlothian, VA. Gavin is a PGM Graduate from Campbell University and a PGA of America Golf Professional. If you are active on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, you may know him by a different name. He's the Chief Energy Officer (CEO) of Junior Golf! At the time of recording, over 10 million people have viewed the hashtag CEOofJuniorGolf on TikTok. What began as a goal of posting content every day for a year, has become a platform for elevating junior golf and HUMAN development in our current culture. Staying relevant, relatable, and real are some of the highlights of how Gavin uses his platform to impact the lives of the juniors he coaches and others who have their own golf aspirations.

Does your facility need help with buying or leasing golf cars? Have you ever been curious about owning your own private golf car? Did you know that there are different classifications of golf cars? Well, our guest for this episode, Jason Masek, co-owner of Masek Rocky Mountain Golf Car, can help answer all those questions and more. Long-time Colorado PGA Section partner, Masek Rocky Mountain Golf Cars has an almost 100-year history of being in the motor industry, selling everything from tires, scooters, turf equipment, boat motors, and even refrigerators. Since the 1980s, though, Masek has sold and distributed golf cars. Servicing both commercial and private clients, Jason and his team are experts in everything golf cars. Whether you are a golf professional in search of information for your facility or an individual wishing you were heading to your neighborhood pool in style, Jason has you covered.

The DECADE Course Management System has solved golf strategy by combining shot distribution patterns and PGA Tour scoring statistics. When Scott Fawcett combined those two data sets, he created a simple way to optimize target selection. DECADE quickly generates the optimal target that will produce the lowest score based on distance, hazards, and hole location. 412891

Though COVID is still with us and may never leave, it doesn't seem to dictate our lives as it once did. However, it has significantly impacted many day-to-day things we do and think about. Are you left feeling overwhelmed or feeling heavy with the additional mental load? Well, that is what we will be chatting with Thane about. The pandemic helped push society into a much more digital age where we can accomplish so much more in new environments such as a home office or virtual meetings. Sounds great, right? Well, as Thane explains, there is a cost with every change. These new advancements also came with feelings of having no room to breathe and no end in sight.

Have you ever wanted to travel to play golf? Or, are you a PGA Professional that wants to offer more to your customers or members with thoughtful travel opportunities? Our Colorado PGA Section Partner, Tom Cotter, with The Consummate Pro, can help if you have always dreamed of going on the golf trip of a lifetime and playing some of the world's most historic facilities. After talking with Tom, he makes his customers feel so much more prepared to hopefully make that dream a reality. During this episode, Tom answers all the questions about traveling abroad for golf. From booking tee times to transportation, entertainment, and more, The Consummate Pro has you covered.

As surely you've seen, golf has recently made quite a few headlines. From the Netflix series Full Swing to the news surrounding the controversial, Saudi-Backed LIV Tour and PGA Tour drama, our great game is gaining a lot of attention. So just how do the PGA of America and its PGA Members fit into all this? Joining this episode are two of the PGA's best, the current Vice President of the PGA of America, Don Rea, and the Director of the Mountain and Midwest Regions, Keith Soriano. Don and Keith share their insight on the value of PGA Membership and how PGA Professionals can define themselves as MVPs in the golf industry. To learn more, please enjoy this episode of the Elevation Podcast.

It's 2023, and Colorado has not one but two USGA Major Championships within the Section. Join me in hearing from PGA General Manager Steve Wallace from Eisenhower Golf Club at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Steve and his team are hosting the US Girls Junior Championship. Also, hear from PGA Head Professional Andrew Shuck from Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village. Andrew and his staff have partnered with Graham Cliff, PGA at Colorado Golf Club in Parker, to host the US Amateur Championship. Debuting a new clubhouse with an awe-inspiring hall of champions, Andrew brings a unique perspective about hosting the most elite amateur championship in the world.

In this episode, we talk with one of our Section partners, Director of Golf, Ian Crick, PGA, from Strackaline. StrackaLine is a company that specializes in green reading technology, greens guides, and yardage books. Using laser technology, they create accurate green guides which can be used for competitive play. Their system also provides hole location software and other tools to golf operators, which can save tons of time while taking the guesswork out of the daily course and event preparation. We also hear from Colorado PGA Tournament Director Scott Minta on how he uses the software for event management.

Have you ever heard the famous saying from Bobby Jones: “The most important part of golf is the six inches between your ears.” In our first episode of 2023, we hear from one of the leading experts in mental game coaching, Dr. Rick Sessinghaus. Dr. Rick is a PGA Member who co-founded the FlowCode Golf Academy and is the lifelong swing and mental game coach of PGA Tour Player Collin Morikawa. Co-hosting the episode is Colorado PGA Member Corey Zoller, Player Development Director at Colorado Golf Club.

If you tuned in to a televised golf tournament between 1995 to 2010, you have most likely listened to our distinguished guest, PGA Master Professional Bobby Clampett. After a spectacular amateur and collegiate career, he transitioned to the PGA tour and later the Champions Tour. In the mid-90s, he became a commentator for CBS and Turner Sports. After his illustrious time in the booth, Clampett has shifted his focus to teaching the game of golf, using his proven strategies to improve impact position for golfers of all swing types.

If you have ever wondered how early you can begin to teach your child golf, or if you are curious about how to teach children ages 3-6 how to play golf, this episode is for you. Learn from three experts on how they incorporate instruction for kids as young as 3 years old into their golf programming.

The PGA's Lifelong Learning structure is a fantastic opportunity for PGA Professionals and aspiring Associates to build their skills within different tracks in the golf industry. Listen to two Master Professionals chat about the benefits of continuing education through the PGA of America's tailored curriculum and become even more relevant and valuable in your golf industry role.

Need some ideas to help improve the merchandising at your facility? Listen to three national award winners chat about merchandising at their courses and learn how to improve your own. From logos to vendors, our experts share the challenges and differences between merchandising at a Resort, Private Club and Daily Fee operation.

Craig Winter and Adam Moeller of the USGA discuss the Adaptive Provisions to the Rules of Golf, how to use them, and how facilities can use these provisions to become more welcoming to golfers with disabilities.

The Elevation Podcast - Mentorship with Scott Erwin And Clayton Cole by Colorado PGA

Having women in leadership roles within the sports industry is imperative. Join two industry experts, Donna Orender and Cathy Matthews-Kane, who discuss why sports are important to girls and why women are just as important to sports.

Ever wonder how top athletes maintain their mental strength and win? The latest episode of the Elevation Podcast Series will shed some light on how one of golf's best Clinical Psychologists works with players of all levels on how to Master Performance and win. Join co-host Leighton Smith, PGA and host, Holly Champion, PGA for a discussion on Mastering Performance.

Talking about Business Improvement this week are Andy Hilts, PGA Master Professional and President of Hilts Golf; and Lorin Anderson, Vice President of Instruction for Golf Channel and Founder of the Proponent Group. These experts talk through the importance of knowledge sharing and how to take a business from good to great.

Talking about Positive Coaching are John O’Sullivan, author, speaker, and founder of the Changing the Game Project, Jeff Dale, Vice President of Field Operations for the Positive Coaching Alliance, and co-host Jeff Boyer, PGA, General Manager at Eagle Ranch Golf Course, along with Holly Champion, PGA, Education Director. These experts talk through the importance of youth being involved in sport, how to be a positive coach and what it takes to create a positive culture within youth sports.

Talking about sales training this week are Josh Pitchford, Partner and Coach at Sander Training in Atlanta, Ga., and co-host Andy Hilts, PGA, President of Hilts Golf. These two long-time friends banter and role play with each other about their experiences in the sales-training field, as well as share some great tips that make them two of the best in their field.

This week, the talk is all about leadership, leadership styles and leadership qualities. Michael Leemhuis, owner of Leemhuis Consult, LLC and Senior Career Consultant for the PGA of America, and Mike O'Donnell, PGA, Colorado PGA Board Member and Director of Family & Morale, Welfare & Recreation at Fort Carson, discuss why understanding your leadership style is critically important to your success as a leader. Our guests exhibit different but effective leadership styles. Leemhuis shares his "Participative style of leadership where he believes in bringing in leaders for discussion and a consensus building session." Whereas, O'Donnell is most comfortable with a leadership style that "establishes an environment of trust, respect and a positive attitude that inspires competence and drives success." Both agree that integrity is a key quality of a successful leader and it is just one of 12 identified in a study by Leemhuis.

This week, we talk with retired Navy Seal, star of the movie Act of Valor and a real hero, Rorke Denver. How can making an effective shot on a weapon system in the military be eerily identical to making an effective shot on the golf course? Simply put, Rorke believes success is a result of not having a memory that plays on the moment, or, as he puts it, "If you look at less, you will see more!"

The topic is financial literacy and money with two entertaining guests -- Matt Stewart, past PGA Professional who joined Northwestern Mutual as a wealth manager, and Ryan Harris, 10-year NFL veteran and member of the Denver Bronco's Superbowl 50 team. Co-hosts PGA Professionals Keith Soriano, PGA Career Consultant, and Holly Champion, Colorado PGA Player Development Director, explore the definition of financial literacy and how to set yourself up for success.

This week's guest is talking golf fitness. Kaitlyn Pimentel, Golf Digest Top 50 Golf Fitness Trainer, shares the need for client fitness accountability with co-hosts Bradford Skupaka, PGA, Director of Teaching Quality at GOLFTEC, and Holly Champion, PGA, Colorado PGA Player Development Director.

Nationally recognized sport psychologist and author of a number of industry leading publications, Dr. Rick Jensen, joins co-hosts Andy Hilts, PGA Master Professional of Instruction and President of Hilts Golf, and Patrick Salva, Colorado PGA COO and Assistant Executive Director, to talk about taking your golf coaching to the next level.

This week we were joined by Trevor Ragan from the Leaner Lab to talk about learning, what it is and how we can be better!

Chris McChesney is the co-author of the best-selling book in the world on strategy execution. He is the Global Practice Leader of Execution for Franklin Covey Co. and one of the primary developers of The 4 Disciplines of Execution. In our inaugural episode, Chris talks us through why Execution is extremely important. Whats the use of focusing on strategy if you can't implement your plan?