Lesson No. 1 with John Cassidy, a 32-year-old teaching professional at Alderbrook Golf Club in Union, Wash. First impression: He makes sense. And he’s kind, fully realizing it’s not just my golf swing he holds in his teacher hands. Golf is important, and I’m fragile … he could crush me like … [Read more...]
The Craft
In this corner of this space, we consider less often the people who play golf and more often the people who teach the game, tend the courses, build and care for the equipment, and otherwise work to support and encourage golfers playing golf.
Teacher’s Corner: John Cassidy
BEEN THERE, tried that, found this, did that. At 32, John Cassidy is no old man. But he's been around. "I feel like I’ve spent a lot of time working and playing and learning a lot from a lot of different people," says Cassidy, a teaching professional at Alderbrook Golf Club in Union, Wash. "I … [Read more...]
Teacher’s Corner: Charlie Thurston
Today we introduce a new recurring feature in this space: Teacher's Corner. Our first subject is Charlie Thurston, a 45-year-old Colbert, Wash., golf pro profiled yesterday about his company, Pacific Northwest Golf and Wine Tours. CHARLIE THURSTON IS A TEACHER of golf, and when he … [Read more...]
Golf tours with tips and tippling
LAYING UP MIGHT BE the smart play on a given hole on a given day at a given golf course. Playing it safe, however, is not in the business plan for Charlie Thurston's entrepreneurial golf venture. Thurston, a 45-year-old PGA professional, recently fell victim to a downsizing at Spokane Country … [Read more...]
Have tool, will smoke: The one golf gadget you deserve
IT WOULD BE EASY to think of The Cigardian as a solution without a problem. You, because you smoke, already have a clip of some kind, or a notch cut in the leather of your bag, or something to hold your burning cigar … while you go putt, just long enough for the flame to go out. You, because … [Read more...]
A trophy worthy of the name
Whatever else anybody could say about the Grey Goatee Golf Association, it hasn't been much about artistry in its seven years of life. There are single-digit handicappers among us, and now and then somebody goes really low, by 3GA Tour standards. But most of us, most of the time, are as … [Read more...]
Anchor this: Inventor’s putting technique rises above debate
It used to be just an old-guy technique, something you might grasp at when all else failed with your putting stroke. Now young guys are using it, and winning with it, and the subject is a matter of international debate, compelling sports fans to learn words like “bifurcation.” Gee whiz, Craig … [Read more...]
The spin on negative ions
Now comes Paul Azinger on video, urging me to try a golf shirt that promises to make me run faster and jump higher … no, no, that’s PF Flyers, still making cool sneakers in throwback styles with a modern vibe ... It all begins to run together, out there in the socialsphere, but what I … [Read more...]
Range pickers keep the target moving
This wasn’t a “get every weed in the garden” assignment, this time, my first time … so I left a few range balls out there on the acreage at Tom’s Golf Center. You have, because you play golf, been at the practice range when the picker was on the beat, making back-and-forth, out-and-back and purely … [Read more...]
Swanson the teacher believes he can play a little, too
by Steve Valandra For Kris Swanson, the return to competitive golf as a professional is very much about the future – one where he lives life without regrets. “I read a little excerpt one time that a lot of people before they die don't ever regret the things they have done but rather regret the … [Read more...]
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