Is a Golf School a Vacation or a Learning Experience?
Good question. As a golf instructor I'm biased toward golf instruction and golf improvement. Let me answer the second part of the question first since that is my bias and I'll try to be devil's advocate on the golf vacation part of the question.
Golf Instruction
We still have an average score above 90 in golf. Golf requires precision because of the size of the ball, the size of the clubface and the length of club. Golf is also counterintuitive. At Reynolds Golf Academy, we show you during a golf school or lesson to hit slightly down to get the ball to go up. The natural instinct is to try to swing up to get the ball to go up. We show you how the golf swing is circular in nature and the importance of clubface awareness. The instinct is to take the club straight back and straight through to hit the ball straight. We show you how momentum and swinging the club leads to effortless power and distance. The instinct is to muscle the club with tremendous effort to make the ball go far.
Because of these inherent issues with playing golf well, we feel the biggest benefit of a golf school is the improvement. You are immersed in your golf game for three straight days. The essential principles are given out a little at a time (at least that's how we do it) and each day has a focus that is easy to understand and accomplish. We have had tremendous success in making golfers better, but we also do it a little differently. We say learning golf is like learning to swim. Individual skills are turned into the overall skill step by step. There are certain universal principles that are always true. You plant in the spring and harvest in the fall. Try to speed that up and it doesn't work. We studied motor learning, communication skills, kinesiology and, of course, golf swing and short game. This "no stone unturned" approach is the key to our success.
Golf Vacation
This is also an easy case to make. Staying at a beautiful golf resort for three or four days is a treat and creates memories for a lifetime, especially if the resort has a spa, great dining and fun activities. I certainly must admit my bias in this case also. The Ritz Carlton Lodge at Reynolds Plantation was just ranked by the Conde Naste Traveler readers poll as the #5 golf resort in the world and the #1 golf resort in the continental United States. The five world class golf courses, spa, dining options, understated elegance and, of course, golf academy makes this one of the ultimate golf vacation resorts.
Conclusion
Done well, your golf experience will be a little bit of both. If either of the two parts is lacking, it will take away from the overall experience. A mediocre resort experience will taint your view of the instruction. Poor accommodations, lax customer service and average food certainly make it hard for the instruction to seem worth the hassle. On the other hand, a great resort experience with a golf academy that overloads you with information, has inexperienced and poorly trained instructors and treats you like a number would make you wish you had gone elsewhere.
The trouble is how do you know for sure? We know we have the resort part covered with the standards and accolades heaped on the Ritz Carlton Lodge. You can learn more at http://www.ritzcarltonlodge.com/. As far as the golf academy side, we opened March of 2007. How could you know for sure if we are the right fit for you? We are going to make it easy for you to decide. Go to our website listed at the top and bottom of this article to learn more about us. I think you'll like what you read.
We are going one step farther then anybody in our industry. When you sign up, we take your credit card to reserve your spot and we get you booked in the hotel. You will come and have a great experience with us. When you get home on Monday or Tuesday, you will get call from a staff member to ask if we can charge your card for the full amount of the school (the hotel is separate and would already be charged at your checkout). If you don't feel we lived up to what we said we would do and didn't provide the value of the price of the school, you get to name the price of what you thought it was worth and that is what you will be charged (the only question we would have at that point is to have you rate us on a scale of 1-10 and why). We will take the majority of the risk to make it easy for you to pick the most impactful academy in golf and we have the integrity and commitment to back up what we do with this unique program. You have nothing to lose except for your slice, topped shots and frustration with golf.
Stop back regularly for more golf tips like these. Or check out my blog.