A Pro in my Pocket

By Lori Gertz
VP, CMO Natural Golf

I had no business being there. Up until last summer, I had never even picked up a golf club, no less swung one. I had been on the driving range twice since last November. I have had all of three Natural Golf Certified Instructor private lessons. The week before, my husband who is also now a novice Natural Golfer took me to my first Par 3 nine-hole golf course dubbed Mt. Trashmore having been previously a waste dump. We played, we laughed, we conquered and then we went back and fixed all our divots! It was a great time, a beautiful day, and it was relaxing.

So here I was…just about a week later, nervously hopping onto the golf cart next to Ken Martin, Natural Golf’s Director of Instruction – excited to be a playing part of the Annual Billy Golden Memorial Golf Tournament just outside of Dallas.

The rules – went entirely over my head. There was something about a shamble vs. a scramble and teeing off the white markings for women while the men used the blue ones. With nearly 30 carts heading towards their holes, Ken drove like a wild man over hill and dale while I tried to hold down my lunch and repeat the rules of course etiquette over and over in my head.

I was mesmerized by the bevy of technical toys like the GPS on the cart and the binocular type gadget that Ken used to see around horseshoe curves in the course. I was impressed by the ease and smooth swings of the three other players that I was lucky enough to be partnered with. Being the CMO of Natural Golf, I was thrilled to see so many golfers attend Ken’s swing clinic and utilize the single plane method. That thrill was softened a little when I saw the percentage of golfers that hadn’t yet played with and didn’t yet own any of Natural Golf’s new clubs.

The first hole was a long one. Some of the holes were over 500 fairway yards to the green. I was a little, no…let’s be honest, I was way out of my league here and I was a LOT nervous about my performance in my foursome with my still developing swing style and barely pre-school athletic acumen. I stepped up to the tee and used my 460 Hammer driver for what was the first time on a professional 18-Hole course. Ken stepped off the cart as I lined up my tee along the white markers just about 35 yards closer to the hole than the lower handicapped “men” tee’d off from. He spotted me a target and checked me on my stance. Knowing my strengths as a visual learner, and how it plays to my understanding of my place in space, Ken gave me a mental picture to paint in my mind’s eye. He then stepped back and I’m sure quietly prayed for that sweet sound as the club head hit the ball.

With each ball, Ken would explain the rules of play to me in the cart on the way to either pick it up in search of the longer drive or he would direct me on the club I should use to play the next ball including the direction I should target in order to avoid the hazards. He taught me how to choose and when to use a tee, how to get out of the rough (which I had plenty of chances to do), how to pick a target, how to play around water, how to get out of the sand, how to chip, and how to putt. I am thankful to have a friend in the CEO who gave me a bag of the best clubs for novice golfers because between the pro I carried in my pocket that day and the best tools I could be playing with, I learned an awful lot about an awful lot.

I learned by watching. I learned by doing. I learned by listening. I learned by trusting. I learned by respecting. I learned by playing. I learned by missing. I learned by hitting. I learned by my mistakes. I learned by having fun. I learned by surprising myself. I learned because I had a pro in my pocket that was more patient than my 9th grade algebra teacher.

Ken Martin, PGA Professional, knows his stuff. He has simplified the single plane swing to the degree that a novice golfer can have fun playing golf in such a short period of time, it will spin heads. He is committed to creating a multitude of instructional programs that match a golfer’s skill and personal game goals. He is a brilliant teacher and Natural Golf and the Moe Norman Golf Academy are on the rise because of him.

I shot a 115 with handicaps and pickups. Ken told me in the end, without all that, I would have shot about 120. My score on the front nine was nearly exactly matched to the back nine. I know that without Ken, my pro in my pocket and in my ear with my best golfing interests at heart, I would probably still be out there searching for my misses in the snake grass – but, wow…with his intense instructional support, I shot 120 on my first 18-hole course.

I came home and have been to the driving range four times already. I’m fantasizing about playing really well AND often, and pull my bag of great tools in my terrific new Natural Golf bag from my trunk with glee. I’m so excited and squealing with delight at the fun I am having at the golf course….there’s no irony in that to me because that’s exactly what the Natural Golf mission statement says to a “TEE”!

The 19th Hole

Finding Joy in the Learning Process
By Lori Gertz

I have never purported to be much of an athlete. It’s certainly not my mindset holding me back as I am known for having a highly competitive personality style in many aspects of my life. It’s more that the relationship between my brain and my body is just not attuned and never really has been. So, it was with low expectations that I took up Natural Golf last year.

So now, you are scratching your head and asking the obvious, “What does a new golfer know about running a golf company? What could she possibly know about marketing golf related products and why didn’t the new owner bring someone in who had experience in the industry?”

What I know is this: Golf is hard! Perhaps even the hardest game on the planet. The industry is having a very difficult go of things as there are nearly as many people leaving the game finding it too hard, too frustrating, too cost prohibitive and too time consuming as there are entering every year. Enter the 1.7 million new people who try golf every year. I’m one of those. I’m a golf-curious, female, 40 something full-time working married mother of three. I don’t have a lot of time, nor much discretionary income, and I’m addicted to immediate gratification. I’m someone who enjoys any excuse to be in the outdoors, loves the smell of fresh cut grass, and am interested in finding more social outlets for developing business contacts.

Prior to my introduction to Natural Golf, the concept of a clubhead on the end of a 3-foot shaft hitting a 2-inch ball nearly 3-½ feet below me eluded any logic to me. I always knew my athletic limitations and assumed that I was not someone who would ever be good at, nor fit into the social ranks of the golf world, so I just steered clear of it and played the occasional tennis game or stuck to biking.

I was hired to spearhead the new marketing direction for Natural Golf specifically because I am the future of golf, and specifically Natural Golf. I am the novice, the new golfer looking for a decent game and the appropriate instruction that gets me on the green, having fun, sooner.

When I began my foray into the world of golf it was as an assessment of it as a viable consumer “good” that can be the source of a great amount of growth for a company trying to market “it.” There is no doubt that golf is BIG BUSINESS! In the current economic downturn and with rising costs the industry is cradling many challenges.

I am not a person who is driven off course by challenges, so the opportunity to learn about an industry hitting hard times didn’t scare me one bit. In fact, I am thrilled to be part of the reinvention of Natural Golf. Learning to play and hitting that itty bitty ball with that club, well, that was equally the challenge, or so I thought it would be.

While I pained over what shoes to wear the morning of my first lesson, it never even occurred to me that I might actually be good at it. That I might actually be able to take direction and relay it to my brain which would then request it of my body never even crossed my mind. That I might actually hear the sound of the clubface hitting the sweet spot on that itty bitty 2 inch white target sitting on the rubber pegged Tee in front of me didn’t even seem a distant possibility. Who would have guessed that across the nearly empty driving range that morning, the echo of my squeals of delight would be heard by all?

The method is simple. The key to success IS in its simplicity. Ken Martin, Natural Golf Director of Instruction and I often laugh over how difficult the conventional method is and can’t figure out why ANYONE would choose to play that way. When you take it all apart, it’s so involved with all its rotation and steps, it IS truly amazing that anyone can pull it off. The three fundamentals to the Natural Single Plane Swing are simple enough for even the most non-athletic person to be a successful golfer.

Now, it’s true, I have a long way to go before I can call myself a successful golfer or anything but a new golfer for that matter, but I have lots of company these days with all the visitors to the Moe Norman Golf Academy. Many golfers-to-be have joined our ranks and have downloaded over 100,000 videos to learn more about the easiest swing in golf.

I’m inundated with books on golf etiquette these days – mostly from those who have heard my delight as I hit the ball straight and consistent at the range and I’m excited to share news of this spring’s first 18-hole course I play, with you, the Natural Golfing public. Until then, I am practicing drills in my family room, living the business of Natural Golf daily, and in-wait knowing I’ll be playing Natural Golf with confidence in no time at all.

On a closing note, I’d like to share the prominent outcomes of some of our first marketing efforts at Natural Golf. I think you, as a Natural Golfer, should feel as much a part of the company as I do, and be able to celebrate the explosive nature of what we have accomplished in just the last 7 months.

100,000 videos downloaded since the launch of the Moe Norman Golf Academy
2,000 NEW Natural Golfers signed up after intro to Natural Golf at Golf shows
260,000+ copies of Natural Golfer Magazine circulating as of this issue
500 to 4,000 visitors per day to the Moe Norman Golf Academy website
10 radio interviews featuring Ken Martin on the “Easiest Swing in Golf”
4 feature articles about The Moe Norman Golf Academy in outside magazines
80+ potential new Affiliate CI’s
Recertification of 15+ Natural Golf Certified Instructors by the start of Spring Golf Season

Are Fork-Shafted Putters Legal for Play?

Ross’s Fork Flange and Jerry’s Fork Mallet are tour tested, patented and conform to the USGA Rules of Golf

by Peter Lineal

Ross Paquette invented it. Jerry Korte added extra weight and alignment in making a mallet style putter. And now these two putters are available exclusively from Natural Golf.

Jerry Korte, who passed away last May, was a close friend of mine for most of the last 30 years and exuded a passion for golf and especially for putting. He passion as a serial inventor of sport related items including golf, fishing and hunting accessories must have had something to do with winter ending in June and beginning again in August in the Wisconsin tundra.

Jerry’s putters grew out of a relationship with inventor Ross Paquette of Massachusetts who had invented a unique fork flange putter with a patented stabilizer bar that created a ball-width sweet spot. Jerry took over the sales and marketing of Ross’ putter and being the master of “unique”, he enhanced the design. He made changes that he felt made his putter better than every other major manufacturers putter.

For most of the 8 years he sold them, Jerry hawked his putters out of his minivan and at local golf shows. He relied heavily on word of mouth in getting them in the hands of Wisconsin professionals and top amateurs. Along the way, his putter and the putting lesson that he gave to amateur and professionals alike, helped many Wisconsin golfers to enjoy tour victories earning Jerry a good deal of local notoriety.

Quoted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel at the time Jerry said, "I work weekends and evenings, and I'm having a ball with it. The response has been so great among the good golfers around here that I think I've got something."

As a result of that story, Jerry became good friends with that golf writer, Gary D’Amato and they later went on to write and publish a putting instruction book entitled, The Proof is In the Putting. (This book will be available from Natural Golf later this spring)

What makes Jerry's putter unique is that the shaft is not directly attached to the putter head but instead is attached at two points, like a fork. The shaft is connected to a two-inch "stabilizer bar," which then is attached to the back of the putter with two prongs.

"Most putters are pushed and pulled from one spot (where the shaft attaches to the head)," Korte said. "The head wants to torque if the ball is struck slightly off the heel or toe. In this putter, the stabilizer bar wants to keep the putter head moving straight back and forth."
Both Ross’ original flange design and Jerry’s mallet style update are face-balanced, center-shafted putters. This reduces the amount of torque on miss-hit putts. The stabilizer bar expands the sweet spot. The putter is patented and approved by the United States Golf Association.

When Jerry first started to market the putter, Ross told Jerry that he had PGA Tour players using the club before paid endorsements took over the industry. "He told me the putter won $3.5 million on tour," Korte said. "I have no way of verifying that figure, but it is tour tested. He said he got out of it when all these companies started paying big bucks for the pros to use their putters. He couldn't do that."

Both Ross’ Fork Flange and Jerry’s Fork Mallet are available exclusively from Natural Golf for $149. Visit http://www.naturalgolf.com/ or call 888-NAT-GOLF to order today.

Original story appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on March 7, 2001.

Reinventing Natural Golf: What's Next

Interview with Peter Lineal, Natural Golf’s Single Plane CEO and Ken Martin, Natural Golf’s Director of Instruction on the future of Natural Golf and the Moe Norman Golf Academy

Natural Golfer Magazine: How is Natural Golf reinventing itself as a company?

Peter Lineal: The first thing the new management and ownership team did was to stop everything for two full weeks after the acquisition and ask, “Who are we? Where do we want to go? And how are we going to get there?” We also looked at the golf industry and business as a whole. When you look at Natural Golf’s business model you have to wonder how much a business can do that is either just totally disruptive or different than what has been done in the past. For example, golf is taught by friends and relatives first, then by golf professionals, then by books, magazines, videos and more. In past incarnations Natural Golf sold golf instruction via mail order. That doesn’t even fall in the top ten ways a person learns.

Ken Martin: Research shows between 1.5 and 2 million people in the US are trying golf every year. If Natural Golf was at the point of instruction for 10% of those people we would be the biggest golf company in America inside of 5 years. This is our primary focus going forward – teaching new golfers a simple way to enter and enjoy the game.

Peter Lineal: The Internet has changed the rules of communication and instruction in the last two years. It’s a great way to teach! In fact, one of the best ways to communicate with new and aspiring golfers. The Moe Norman Golf Academy gives Ken a platform for teaching that will reach into every corner of North America – and really, the world.

Ken Martin: The thought of helping thousands of golfers at once with a golf lesson instead of only one at a time leaves me awestruck. Email Video-casts and the Moe Norman Golf Academy website will be new and fun ways to help to grow interest in the game and specifically in Moe’s Single Plane Swing method.

Natural Golfer Magazine: So, will there be more instructors and schools to support a greater interest in learning the Natural Golf swing method?

Peter Lineal: Ken will be leading a major expansion of Natural Golf Certified Instructors, as well. We have both seen it for years: once we show a golf instructor how to teach the Natural Golf Single Plane Swing they then have the knowledge to teach conventional golf and Natural Golf – and they teach nearly all of their novice golfers Natural Golf. It’s like another tool in their bag that makes their instructional expertise that much more customized. We use the analogy of swinging a Hammer to describe how to hold and swing a golf club on a Single Plane. That analogy carries over beautifully to describe many golf instructors. They now have another Hammer in their toolbox. Every student they teach gains potential benefit from the new tool learned by their Reinventing Natural Golf: What’s Next? instructor. One of our corporate goals is to put this new Hammer in 1000 instructor’s toolboxes in the next few years. Then they will have more tools to help make more happy golfers.

Ken Martin: It’s really a matter of effecting change in the demand area. There will be more demand for Natural Golf instruction and golf schools as the Moe Norman Golf Academy website grows into the #1 Golf Swing Website in the world so more instructors will be interested in becoming certified to teach it correctly to the growing audience of interested golfers.

To continue reading this article go to: www.moenormangolfacademy/magazine/february08/peterkeninterview.aspx

EASY OUT WITH THE SANDY

The distinctive functionality of the new Moe Norman Sandy wedge (formerly called the History Stick) has been a welcomed experience for many a Natural Golfer. Here is a quick review of the simple fundamentals for its use.Practice by drawing a line in the sand about 3 inches behind the ball and setup with the line in the center of your stance with the majority of weight on your lead foot and the clubface square to your target. Hold the clubhead above the line with your eyes focused on the line, as this is where you want to enter the sand.Your task is to “dig” the leading edge into the sand beginning on the line as pictured below.



The Sandy’s design allows the club to dig just deep enough into the sand to allow a cushion of sand to form between the ball and clubface. It is this cushion of sand that propels the ball forward and up out of the bunker. Practice with the line drill and then imagine the line when playing on the course to ensure a consistent contact point about 3 inches behind the ball. There is no simpler way to get the ball from bunker to green for a good chance at “up and down”…another satisfying Sandy! For more instructional tips, go to: www.moenormangolfacademy.org/instruction.aspx or www.moenormangolfacademy.org/magazine/february08/easyout.aspx
Buy the Wedge HERE: www.naturalgolf.com/ProShopProductDetail.aspx?CategoryID=100&ProductMasterID=604

South Africa — A Natural Golfer’s Nature Paradise

South Africa: A Natural Golfer's Nature Paradise

by Jerry Martin
Natural Golf Director of Travel
Your Tour Guide to South Africa

In 2006 I escorted a group of Natural Golfers for a 20 day tour to South Africa. As well as enjoying great golf, we discovered why South Africa’s natural beauty and wildlife leaves its visitors mesmerized, why it’s possible to afford its luxury and why it’s the golf and natural adventure capital of the world. The friendly people, rich culture and yes, great golf made this the unforgettable trip of a lifetime. Read on about our journey, one that changed us beyond our expectations. We started off in Cape Town, Mother City of South Africa, and the Western Cape, which is regarded as one of the most beautiful regions in the world. We took the tram to the top of the impressive Table Mountain, from which vantage point we could view the Twelve Apostles mountain range and the beautiful city spread out around us.

We played golf at Erinvale and Pearl Valley in the Winelands of Stellenbosch which is topographically similar in many ways to Napa Valley, California. Of course we did do a day of wine tasting since we had a ‘designated driver’, so a good time was had by all. Next we drove along the Garden Route, a scenic stretch of the southern coast of South Africa. It includes towns such as Mossel Bay, Knysna, Oudtshoorn, Plettenberg Bay and the town of George, home to the famous Fancourt Golf Resort. We stayed a few days to play the Links Course, home of the 2003 President’s Cup and the beautiful Montagu Golf Course.We also enjoyed a ride on the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe, South Africa’s last remaining passenger steam train along the ocean en route to play yet another great golf course, Pezula.

Similar to Pebble Beach, close to the ocean up on a cliff, the big difference is on Pezula there are baboons that come and take your golf ball!

Leopard Creek – an Incredible Course
From the ocean to the jungle, we then had the privilege of playing Leopard Creek, which is one of the most incredible golf courses in the world. Some parts of the golf course sit alongside Kruger National Park. The views are wild, to say the least. With crocodiles in the water between the ninth and 18th greens, and with the 13th green sitting about 50 feet above the bed of the Crocodile River, it was quite an adventure. We were the only group out that day. It was like having our own private country club. To continue reading more of this article go to: www.moenormangolfacademy.org/magazine/february08/southafrica.aspx

Moe's Dancin' the Green on the Big Screen

By Tim Graves, PGA
Graves Golf Academy

Memorialized on film, 2009 might be the year that the whole world is introduced to Moe Norman. Oscar award winning writer, Barry Morrow, famous for the film adaptation of Rain Man, has written the Moe Norman screenplay, currently titled Dance the Green, and along with Director George Gallo are working towards a goal of a widescreen release of 2009.

Canadian legend Moe Norman made his presence known by touring and teaching, all over the world. Most known for his uncanny ability to hit a golf ball straight every time, Moe’s golf swing was labeled “unorthodox, different, and downright weird”, but his genius for striking a golf ball could never be denied. Moe’s genius with a golf club was witnessed by hundreds of thousands throughout his lifetime and now a whole new generation of golfers will be introduced to him on the big screen.

Moe enjoyed much success as both an amateur and professional golfer. With 17 holes in one, three scores of 59, four scores of 61, and over 30 course records during his career, Moe dominated Canadian golf through the mid 20th century.

An unnaturally shy man, Moe shunned most public appearances. The ultimate showman with a golf club in his hand, Moe would hit drivers off of 6 inch tees, soda bottles, and play par 4 holes ‘backward’, hitting a wedge off the tee and a driver onto the green and still make par or better. After a brief stint on the U.S. PGA tour, these antics earned Moe a ‘dressing down’ by some members of the tour, and he left to never play in the U.S. competitively again. Moe’s accuracy with a golf ball earned him only a meager living until a Golf Digest article in 1995 was seen by executives at Titleist/Footjoy after which they paid Norman a stipend of $5,000 per month to be a spokesperson for their products.

The Graves Golf Academy is thrilled to have been chosen as the exclusive training facility for the lead actor(s) to swing like Moe. To date, multiple actors have been identified to play the role of Norman at his various life stages. Rumors are plentiful about the names of the actors, but as of the writing of this article, no specific names have been released. Needless to say, Morrow is planning on having actors that are "well known" to filmgoers worldwide.

The Graves Golf Academy has taught Norman's swing since the year 2000 and considers it the original single-axis or one-plane swing. Moe’s method is more compact and efficient than the conventional two-plane swing employed by most contemporary professionals.

Click Here For more articles on Moe Norman.

The 19th Hole

Lori Gertz
Editor and Publisher

Note: An estimated 1,700,000 people attempt to learn and play golf every year. It's a diverse population of juniors, men and women of varying backgrounds and demographic segments. The main function of the Moe Norman Golf Academy, which serves as a tribute to the most consistent ballstriker who ever lived, is to serve as an instructional resouce both for players and Certified Instructors. With PGA Member Ken Martin as "Keeper of the Swing" and developer of the curriculum at the helm of the organization, the "difficulty" barrier to entry into the game will be minimized if not completely removed.


Months before he purchased Natural Golf, Peter Lineal came to me as a consultant and friend and asked me to work with him to completely redefine a business philosophy for a company that struggled with identifying whether it was an instruction company or an equipment company for years. What we developed nearly a year ago is now being realized as a five year plan to introduce the Natural Golf Single Plane Swing to the world (the internet being the ideal venue) by giving away our greatest asset, the best swing in golf, the Natural Golf single plane swing.

As Chief Marketing Officer of Natural Golf, there is hardly a greater reward for me than to introduce the Moe Norman Golf Academy, whose mission to grow the enjoyment in the game by teaching the easiest swing in golf serves as a true legacy to its namesake.

The speed of what is fast becoming a rededication to the Natural Golf single plane swing, truly the easiest swing in golf whether approached with conventional experience or as a newbie, is awe-inspiring.

With Ken Martin, PGA Pro, Director of Instruction and Executive Director of the Academy at the forefront of clarifying what fundamentals of the single plane swing are integral to the swing’s integrity along with generous donations from Natural Golf, The Moe Norman Golf Academy serves as a non-profit platform for introducing the method to anyone interested in playing golf using the easiest swing.

The free downloadable instructional videos available to visitors who register have been categorized to help both explain the fundamentals of the swing as well as to address specific golf challenges. On the Moe Page, visitors will find a generous amount of background on the swing and method that made the legendary player, Moe Norman, one of the greatest ball strikers in the history of golf.

As a registered member, visitors will also be able to access 100’s of tips from Pro Golfers and Certified Instructors, as well as be able to identify and set up a school or lesson with an area instructor. Subscriptions to Natural Golfer Magazine are accessible throughout the site after which visitors will receive Clubhouse Membership access to all of the MNGA forums where they can speak directly with a Certified Instructor.

Visit the Academy weekly and watch the robust development of our content and video choices grow! Our dreams of creating a living museum of clips of our visitor’s golf successes and legendary Moe footage are certain to be realized in the first months of the New Year!

With Ken Martin leading the way, The Moe Norman Golf Academy and its active and influential Advisory Board will work toward providing a new and exciting recognition for the ease of the single plane swing and the fun of the game throughout the industry.

The excitement I feel about our overall vision and plan for sheparding Natural Golf into the future is woven through every project I oversee here at Natural Golf. Our team is united and our message is consistent – we are committed to teaching the #1 Easiest swing in golf! From all of us at Natural Golf to all of you….Visit us at http://www.moenormangolfacademy.org/ and welcome. Enjoy a whole new way of playing golf, and HAVE FUN!