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”!