The cofounder and operator of Golf Gem, Jonathan Dudley has taken a unique role at Forest Oaks Country Club and steered in perhaps, a surprising direction. A former GolfTec manager and head professional at Mill Creek and The Valley (formerly Indian Valley), Dudley wanted to return his focus to golf instruction. Dudley, who moved from…
By David Droschak I asked Chip Watson the other day for the key ingredients as to why the Golf School at North Carolina State has enjoyed such a successful run as it enters its 34th consecutive year this June. Sure he and co-founder and former N.C. State men’s golf coach Richard Sykes have for the…
Golf Genius Software has acquired Operation 36 Golf, developers of a beginner golf development program with a unique coaching model that is driving the goal of “1,000,000 Golfers Created”. Operation 36 provides a proprietary software platform and teaching curriculum now in use by nearly 600 golf facilities in 14 countries, and will operate as a…
By David Droschak The scorecard from Joe Steadman’s Player Ability Test hangs proudly in his office near the practice facility at the Country Club of North Carolina. The private club’s first teaching professional remembers the day well, logging 36 holes for the first time in his playing days that had included many relaxed rounds with…
By David Droschak Spend more than five minutes with Dona Lerner and Kathy Bounds and its evident there is a true division of labor in the well-oiled machine that is the Dona Lerner Golf Academy. Lerner is the face of the business while Bounds is the worker bee. The common ground is a love for…
By David Droschak When Diane Dailey stepped down after three decades as the Wake Forest women’s golf coach she dreamed of playing more golf and of spending quality time with her older sister in the North Carolina mountains. Giving golf lessons and teaching the game that opened so many doors wasn’t necessarily in the cards.…
By David Droschak After disgustedly picking my ball out of the cup and carding a triple bogey seven on the scorecard I often joke with my golfing buddies that “I’m glad I don’t do this for a living.” Relaxing on the golf course, not getting ahead of yourself, accepting the good bounces with the bad,…
By Brad King Kernersville’s Peyton Wyatt started playing golf two years ago when he was 7 years old. After he immediately began showing progress, Peyton told his father, “Dad, I want to get into some tournaments.” With his son playing in his first few competitions, father Alex Wyatt met a few other parents who told…
By Brad King Robert Linville knows the highs and lows of competitive golf better than most. An All-American golfer at Guilford College, where he won All-Carolinas Conference recognition four times and All-NAIA District 26 honors three times, Linville moved to Florida following graduation with his sights on the PGA Tour. Battling on the mini-tours weekly,…
By Brad King Jeff Crittenden was in a tight spot. The Long Drive champion known as “Critter” to friends and fans was down to his last two attempts in the nationally televised finals of the World Long Drive Championship Masters Division in Oklahoma in early September. He was battling defending world champion Eddie Fernandes — and…