Fairways • March 2011
Improve Your Game at GolfTEC

by Ken Foody

If you ask Simon Mason of GolfTEC Salt Lake City, he'll tell you there's still one major disconnect in the retail golf world. "The combination of a full spectrum of golf instruction and custom club fitting in tandem isn't really done anywhere." Anywhere that is, but GolfTEC.

It's just one of several innovations that GolfTEC has come up with in the 12 years they've been around. I honestly didn't know who they were before I went up there, but after spending a morning with Simon and his staff at the new Cottonwood facility I have to say I was far more impressed than I ever expected to be.

"This is a completely results driven business," Simon shared. "We are the number one golf lesson franchise in the United States with a 95% success rate. We work with people from touring pros to those who have never hit a ball in their life. With our facility and equipment, the weather doesn't matter, daylight doesn't matter and we try very hard to create an environment where a student can feel comfortable and believe in what we can do for them."

Mason has hired three instructors to handle the all-important task of serving each golfer who walks in the door. Barry Schenk, Boykin Powers and Byron Casper – the "Killer B's" I have since dubbed them, are each exceptional instructors in their own right.

I spent most of my time with Barry and found him to be a nice guy with a lot of passion for teaching and a strong grasp of GolfTEC's exhaustive instructional materials and equipment. Boykin is certified by the PGA in instruction and Byron has an extensive teaching resume and golf pedigree. He's the son of the legendary Billy Casper and the author of the book "Billy Casper's Golf Tips."

The thing that impressed me the most was the way the three seemed so willing to work together, without any egos, for my benefit. Boykin and Byron popped their heads in several times to watch and add their two cents. It was a great learning collective all centered on me.

At the end of my time they asked me what I thought. I told them by far the coolest thing about it for me, was all the math. GolfTEC's system is based on a ton of science and technology. I went through their Swing Evaluation, Custom Driver Fitting, and Putting Lesson and was amazed at the depth of information they were able to gather and then use to help me pinpoint very specific areas to work on.

I am a techie. I love technology! I'm the guy with the V1 Analysis software on my laptop, my Flip HD camera in my pocket and tripod in my trunk. I am constantly filming my swing and then comparing them to the swings of the tour pros. When they showed me the heart of their system, I was hooked.

They have videos of thousands of tour players and defined a set of the most critical numbers in relation to players Hip Bend, Tilt, Turn, and Shoulder Bend Tilt Turn. They've defined what the proper ranges of angles are for the best contact, compression and consistency. Then they hook you up to a harness and belt to measure the exact same things in your swing. They have cameras situated around the room and a monitor right at your feet where you can see everything.

They put my swing up against Adam Scott's, my ideal swing, and were able to go frame by frame to see exactly where my swing starts to get off path. My setup position was pretty right on, but the second the numbers didn't match up, we stopped and Barry gave me some drills to make the exact corrections needed. The precision of their system is just staggering.

One of the coolest features is that every part of your lesson gets taped and uploaded for you to review on the GolfTEC website. If you'd like to see mine go to GolfTEC.com, log-in using GolfTEC ID "561-00-0095" and password "kenf." Right in the middle of the screen under Proven Path is WebLessons. You can see all the video, stills, analysis and drills we did together. They're always there for me to reference and you can literally have an entire library of your work at your fingertips.

Overall I have to say that I was impressed with the entire package GolfTEC Salt Lake City has to offer. They have a great facility, great technology and a fantastic staff. This is a place built to improve your game. If you're serious about wanting to get better I highly recommend spending some time with "The Killer B's" at GolfTEC.

Ken Foody is a free-lance writer and plays in many amateur golf events throughout Utah.