October 31, 2025 • 36 mins
We trace Noah’s path from a single pure strike to course records, college pressure, injury, and a pivot into coaching that led to a 20,000-square-foot training hub and a scalable player development model. Along the way, we unpack awards as access, mentors as multipliers, and the garage that built a movement.
• League play banter, skins, sushi eel, Golfzilla event
• Youth tournaments, 15-yard iron gains from shallower path
• First spark at Bear Creek, early records and confidence
• College ambitions, rejection fueling drive, Tiger-era inspiration
• Wrist surgery, shift to coaching, first-lesson philosophy
• Mentorship shaping teaching, relationship-first approach
• Ohio chapter, awards, youth programs, media access
• Boardroom setback that redirected the indoor vision
• Return to Oregon, backyard garage bays, demand surge
• Building the 20,000 sq ft facility and staff culture
• Operation 36, team awards, community impact
• Giving back through boards, universities, and partners
• Vision to scale Golf Garage to 50 locations
Bring the whole family down. Lots of candy, lots of fun. Four o’clock to 5:30.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:14):
Welcome to the My Golf Source Podcast.
Welcome to My Golf Source.
I'm Darren.
And I'm Noah.
What you been up to, man?
SPEAKER_02 (00:24):
Everything?
SPEAKER_01 (00:25):
Just golfing and door golf.
You did not win in league lastnight.
SPEAKER_02 (00:30):
No.
Some of us have to play a littlebit more in order to win in
league.
Did you play you played lastnight?
I did.
I shot even.
Did you get it?
Uh no, but we had there was anet zero next to us.
Nice.
A guy hold out for eagle withtwo pops.
SPEAKER_01 (00:45):
I birdied.
Birdie number six.
Which gave me a net eagle.
Nice.
SPEAKER_02 (00:52):
So did you skin?
I did.
How much did you make off of it?
SPEAKER_01 (00:56):
$47.
SPEAKER_02 (00:57):
Oh man.
So what are you up to after whatfour different months of league?
You're probably up to a couplehundred bucks.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Awesome.
So pretty close.
Yeah, that's perfect.
But does that pay your barbill?
No.
Okay.
Not even close.
(01:17):
Yeah, it's okay.
That's that's the problemgolfers have.
It pays the tip.
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (01:21):
Did you try any sushi last night?
I did.
I had eel for the first time.
How was it?
Amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (01:27):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (01:28):
Pan fried.
So it was cooked.
Right.
Um, you know, everybody saysthis.
It tasted like tender chicken.
Did you think it did?
Honestly.
I don't think it tastes liketender chicken.
I think it tasted like supertender chicken that falls apart
in your mouth.
SPEAKER_02 (01:45):
I like it if it's a little bit crispy and you've got
the sauce in there.
So I don't have to taste it andknow what I'm eating.
It's way better that way.
SPEAKER_01 (01:52):
It was hard to get over the mental thing of I'm
putting eel in my mouth.
SPEAKER_02 (01:56):
You're thinking of an eel in the water coming after
you, just like your golf balls.
SPEAKER_01 (01:59):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (02:00):
Freshwater eel.
What is that?
I don't know.
Let's not let's see.
SPEAKER_01 (02:03):
The only freshwater eel I know of is like the
electric eel in the Amazon.
The moray eel?
That's saltwater.
Oh.
SPEAKER_02 (02:09):
That's ocean buddy.
Oh, okay.
Well, I don't really study up onmy eels too often.
No.
SPEAKER_01 (02:14):
I'm just afraid of those because not your subject
in college.
SPEAKER_02 (02:18):
Yeah, I don't like snakes or eels.
They're kind of in the samefamily.
Speaking of that, we've got adinosaur out front today.
Did you see it?
SPEAKER_01 (02:25):
I saw it.
I took a picture of it.
It's like 25 feet tall.
SPEAKER_02 (02:28):
Oh, yeah.
We've got the uh golf retreattonight.
So kids are coming in, they geta trick-or-treat here for a few
hours.
We're gonna have some contests.
Um, it's gonna be awesome.
And golfzilla's only about 20feet tall.
So excited to see some of thekids try to take some swings at
it.
What time to what time?
Four o'clock to 5 30.
Lots of candy, lots of fun.
Bring the whole family down.
(02:48):
It's gonna be a good time.
We'll stop by.
Yeah.
Toby.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'll go home and get the kids.
We'll let we'll let Toby run acompetition.
He'd love that.
I bet he would.
Yeah.
He's he's sitting at super goodright now, kind of off topic.
Because last year, last week wehad him on the show.
Right.
And um, it was fun to interviewhim.
He did a great job, by the way.
He seemed like he was a seasonedveteran.
(03:10):
He's a little bit nervous, buthe was he's been watching dad a
lot on the show, probably.
Yeah, but it's pretty cool tosee the maturity, and he's
getting ready to play in sometournaments.
So I think you guys sign him upfor a couple of the winner
series.
SPEAKER_01 (03:22):
Uh yeah, tomorrow?
Quill point.
Yeah, tomorrow, quill point,Sunday, centennial.
Centennial.
SPEAKER_02 (03:30):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it'll be fun to see becausewhen's the last tournament he
played in was over the summer,probably.
Over the summer.
So and he's hitting it so muchfarther, so much better, so much
more confidence.
So it'll be really, really greatto see where he's at.
SPEAKER_01 (03:42):
So after my lesson with Ryan, I added 15 yards to
my irons.
No way.
Fifteen yards.
Fifteen yards.
What was the biggest difference?
Shallowing, being more shallowcoming in.
Yeah?
SPEAKER_02 (03:54):
So not over the top, not across, not over the top,
not across.
SPEAKER_01 (03:57):
I'm I'm coming in more shallow, better rotation.
Awesome.
Better turning.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (04:03):
Well, and if you look back at last winter when we
assessed you, right, there wassome separation issues and some
things.
So you've obviously been awareof it.
You make some small changes, andnow all of a sudden, same thing
is wrong, but now that you'veworked on some mechanics, right?
That's too far.
You need some uh blades that'llget you back to life here.
SPEAKER_01 (04:24):
Well, let's get earlier for those.
Okay, perfect.
I don't think I strike the ballthat well yet.
Oh, okay.
Whatever.
We'll get there.
So, anyways, just walkingthrough this facility today,
getting ready for your golfretreat tonight.
I was just wow, you know, hereyou are, brand new 20,000 square
(04:46):
foot high-tech golf facility.
Where did this all begin?
Not just your dream for thefacility, but where did it all
begin with golf?
SPEAKER_02 (04:56):
Yeah, that's that's a great question and a very,
very long story.
But in short, I played everyother sport growing up, and golf
was never on the radar.
My uncle played.
Um, I think I had a cousin thatplayed, and that was all that I
knew about golf at the time.
Um 1996, I believe it was, Iwent out to my uncle's house.
(05:20):
Um, and I remember making aswing with his golf club, which
was oversized length.
He was six foot four.
Can you believe that?
I'm only 5'7.
But he makes a swing, or I makea swing with it, and I literally
jabbed myself with the grip andI hit the ground and it hurt.
I'm like, I'm never doing thatagain.
About a year later, a uh afriend of mine was playing
(05:41):
little league baseball with me,and uh he said, Hey, I want you
to come to Bear Creek GolfCourse, and we're gonna go out
there and we're gonna pick upsome golf balls.
I had no clue what it meant, itjust meant that I was gonna go
hang out with a buddy and we goout there and we uh pick the
range.
Next thing you know, the ownercomes out and says, Hey, great
job.
Why don't you guys go play golftoday?
(06:01):
I'm like, Well, we don't haveany clubs.
So she gives us some rentalclubs.
We go out, we walk this parthree course.
You know, it's just like badshot after bad shot.
I mean, I'm a baseball player atthe time, I'm in season, and we
get up to the eighth hole, andI'll never forget this one golf
shot that I hit that absolutelyhook line and sinkered me.
Right.
I was like, it almost got to thegreen from 150.
(06:21):
I'm just like, okay, this isawesome.
So we get done, and the owner,Marla, um, comes back and says,
Hey, do you want to come backtomorrow and work?
And he couldn't, but I'm like,Yeah, absolutely.
This is awesome, and I'll giveyou golf again.
So lo and behold, it all startedby a buddy that played little
league baseball.
And um, I started working atBear Creek golf course pretty
(06:42):
much every day after school,under the table here and there,
maybe don't tell anybody.
Um, but I got free golf out ofit, and I would just play and
play and play and play.
And a year in, I was shootingthe course record at Bear Creek.
I was already shooting four andfive under par for nine holes.
How old were you?
I was uh 13 at that time.
So I had three hole and ones umwhen I was 13 in the same year
(07:03):
on the same hole, two and twodays of playing.
So it was kind of like, youknow, I was just hooked in
playing the game and I wasengulfed in it.
And I was rafting at a highlevel.
I was actually offered a job umto guide when I was 14.
And I turned it down because Istarted playing competitive
golf.
I'm like, well, I don't want toget injured.
I'm liking it so much, I want toplay on tour.
And Tiger Woods was the guy.
(07:25):
Oh my gosh.
I mean, he had won the masters afew years earlier.
Like, I remember being in frontof TV for it.
Yeah, so this is about 98, 99 atthis point.
I'm I'm just about to get intohigh school, so I'm like, I
don't wanna, I don't want to dothat.
And I had a really good highschool um, you know, four years.
I played parsley.
SPEAKER_01 (07:45):
You're not that much older than me.
SPEAKER_02 (07:47):
I graduated in 2002.
So, in short, you know, kind offast forwarding, it it really
just turned into passion for thegame, love for the game, wanted
to play on tour, um, played fouryears of college golf, team
captain at Pacific University,um, and loved every minute of
that.
I actually, my intent was not toplay division three golf.
My intent was to play divisionone.
(08:07):
Everybody wants to be, you know,I wanted Arizona State.
I wanted to be there.
And um I'll never forget that Ihad some success my freshman
year.
I was ranked in the top 50 inthe country between all three
divisions, um, ahead of SergioGarcia by a couple points on
scoring average, which waspretty cool to see.
Um, and I get a call fromUniversity of Oregon.
(08:29):
They wanted to um talk to meabout coming down to play.
It was the one school in thePac-10 at the time that didn't
call me or try to recruit me,which was weird being an
Oregonian.
And so I uh I go down there andmeet with the with the um coach,
and that was the one school Iwanted to go to because they had
landscape architecture.
So I go in there and um I'llnever forget within about five
(08:52):
minutes, coaches like, Hey,what's your major uh
architecture?
Oh, you can't do that and be onthe team.
And I'm like, Well, why not?
Oh, because we're gone too much.
So I kind of listened a littlemore and we were talking and I
kind of zoned out because I'mlike, somebody just told me that
I couldn't do something.
SPEAKER_01 (09:07):
And so you can't do two things at once.
SPEAKER_02 (09:10):
Yeah, essentially, right?
And so it was a great lesson tolearn that you know, I try not
to tell other people thatbecause I know how it made me
feel at that time.
And my only goal at that pointwas like, I'm just gonna prove
this guy wrong and I'm gonna dowhatever it is that it takes.
SPEAKER_01 (09:22):
It's a horrible thing to tell a college student.
SPEAKER_02 (09:24):
Yeah, and I think I've always been driven off of
that being a little bit smallerin um athletics, but always
driven to work harder thaneveryone else.
And I think that that's kind ofone of the things that sets me
apart and and kind of movingforward.
Um, I had a a dream of playingon tour, and that dream came to,
I don't want to say crashinghalt, but I had a ganglion cyst
(09:45):
in my wrist.
I had no clue what a cyst was.
I remember getting an MRIbecause I had it hurt every time
I went to the top of my golfswing.
And uh in short, it was like,okay, well, let's have surgery.
Did not get uh other thoughtsfrom other doctors, went right
under the knife, uh, ready to goto PT.
And the doctor's like, oh, youdon't need that.
(10:07):
So, okay.
So I'm I'm letting it basicallysit for almost two months, and
then I get out there and try tohit balls, and it hurts so bad.
Hurts to swing.
I'm like, wow, this this may notbe a thing.
I'm working at Centennial GolfClub now.
I'm an assistant golfprofessional.
This is right when they opened,right?
This is so I was one of theoriginal professionals when they
opened.
Yep.
(10:27):
I was there pre-opening.
Yeah.
So I graduated and and wentright down.
Um, but it was super odd to allof a sudden say, okay, I may
never play competitive golfagain.
And at that time, I had shot thecourse record at Centennial.
I was ready to go try to playsome some competitive stuff, did
a couple mini tour events.
And uh after that surgery, I'mlike, hey, this might not be it.
(10:49):
And uh immediately I'm like,what am I gonna do?
So teaching became um somethingI started to get into more so to
make some money.
I was like, hey, I'm a I'm apoor college kid.
We're living at home with 24,000debt.
Uh, minimum wage here isn'tgonna do the trick anymore.
What year was this?
This was 2006.
Okay.
And so I remember the very firstlesson that I gave turned into
(11:12):
me asking the assistant pro,what am I gonna teach this
person today?
And he's like, Well, you'llfigure it out when you get out
there.
And it's funny because I was sonervous going into it that I got
down there and um literally Ifigured it out, which I didn't
know what that meant until I gotinto the situation, which was
like, How are you supposed toknow ahead of time?
(11:33):
And so, like, my philosophy,fast-forwarding even more, has
been built solely off of thatfirst lesson.
SPEAKER_01 (11:39):
So you get done with college, you graduate college,
you get yourself a teachingprofessional position at a brand
new golf course in yourhometown.
Yes.
How cool is that?
What in the world led you toOhio?
SPEAKER_02 (11:54):
Yeah.
So, so backing up quickly, notexactly a teaching professional
role.
I was an assistant probing, thesales and marketing director,
tournament coordinator,assistant pro, and teaching on
the side.
So it was like, man, it that'sthat's what you do when you get
out of school.
You get used and abused, usedand abused, but that's okay.
I learned a lot in the process.
So, Ohio, um, you know, therewas one stop in between there
(12:16):
where I really learned how tocoach and teach.
And that was through a mentor ofmine, Al Cross, who was rated as
one of the best female golfinstructors in the country at
one point.
And he worked at the vintageclub, which is extremely
high-end in Palm Springs.
Um, and because of the knowledgehe imparted on me, being a big
fan of Ben Hogan, playing golfwith Ben Hogan, um, playing in
the senior PGA championship, heknew every aspect of the game
(12:39):
from the mental to the teachingand coaching, um, you know, and
knew how to build a relationshipfirst and foremost.
And he was the original head proat Illhee Hills Country Club,
which is where I was then thedirector of instruction.
So having mentors along the wayis really what, you know,
allowed my successes to takeshape.
And then the networking based onthose mentors and allowed me to
(13:00):
meet other people that got meinto positions like coaching at
Willamette University, um, nowSouthern Oregon University.
But then, you know, we werelooking to start a family.
And that's where we startedsaying we're three and a half
hours away from my parents.
Her family's in the Midwest inMichigan.
I have family in Ohio.
Let's let's kind of look around.
So um I got online that thisthis one night, and I found a
(13:24):
teaching job at a private clubin Cleveland, Ohio.
And I was an Indians fan at thetime, Cavs Browns.
You know, everyone says sorry tome for that one.
But so, in short, it was prettycool because the job opened,
these never open up on thewebsite I was on.
I called the pro the next day.
He's like, and I said, Are youstill looking for a director of
(13:44):
instruction?
He said, Actually, we are.
The one we hired ended upstaying at his job and we're
scrambling to find somebody.
So he's like, Can you send meyour resume right now?
I got a call back 10 minuteslater after I sent it.
Can you interview with us andthe president of the club
tomorrow?
And I'm like, Yeah, sure, whynot?
(14:04):
So I interview with thepresident of the club.
We talk for like an hour and ahalf with the head pro, um, talk
to the GM for a few minutes.
And about five minutes after Igot off the phone, the head pro
calls me back and says, uh, wewant to offer you the position.
And I'm like, I haven't even metyou yet.
So it was contingent on themflying me out to be part of
their opening day for the springbecause in Ohio there's snow.
(14:25):
And I'm like, I don't want to bein the snow, right?
I'm a golfer.
So that was the other thing Itold them was, I'll work five
months, but I'm going toArizona.
We had just bought a house downthere.
I'm like, wintertime Arizona,summertime Ohio.
That sounds great.
So seven years in Ohio, um, anda lot of friends and a lot of
amazing opportunities um workingwith the USGA national champion
(14:46):
at that time, the number onefemale junior golfer that I was
able to work with from the startin the state of Ohio that now is
finishing up at Penn State.
Um, a lot of other youthprogramming that I got to create
that was not even a thing at thefacility at the time.
So I was super fortunate to beat a an old 1923 all-Jewish
(15:07):
club, only one left in Ohio atthe time.
So super fortunate.
SPEAKER_01 (15:11):
So you were in Ohio 2014 through 2018?
2012 to 2019.
Okay.
You won a lot of awards in Ohio.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (15:23):
Tell me about that.
Um, yeah, uh like I said, Imean, I think the biggest thing
here was that I was I I neverthought of awards as a thing
because I love teaching golf.
And um I was fortunate enough towin Teacher of the Year two
times in um three years there.
(15:43):
And I don't know if that hadbeen done before.
And the first time I had won thePacific or the uh Northern Ohio
section teacher of the yearaward, I immediately got some
calls from PGA magazine and someother um some other sports um
telecasts.
So like I think it was likeSports Talk Ohio and things
(16:04):
where they were like, hey, uhbecause you won this award, we
want to invite you to this top50 coaches conference.
And then uh we want you to be onour our show and be with Jimmy
Hanlin, who's a reallywell-known person in Ohio and
you know, long drive guy, and hehas a show with Natalie Gulbas
and you know teach golf on theair a couple times.
And so all of a sudden, becauseof those awards, some doors
(16:27):
opened up.
Um, that really allowed me toaspire to being around the best
in the business.
SPEAKER_01 (16:32):
I was just gonna say awards, I mean, don't do
anything for your passion ofteaching, but they sure do help
when it comes to recognition,which comes to uh more robust,
attractive resume, whichultimately leads to more money.
SPEAKER_02 (16:47):
Yeah.
I mean, at the end of the day,you know, we're working to make
money, but I get to do somethingI love to make money, and I
think that's so important, um,you know, is finding something
that you love and you'repassionate about, and it doesn't
feel like work when you're doingthat.
SPEAKER_01 (17:01):
And ultimately cash flow is what opens up the door
to be able to build facilitieslike this.
SPEAKER_02 (17:07):
Yeah.
I mean, at the end of the day,it was a relationship, you know,
and I think that's kind of aunique thing when we when we
look at it.
And so going back to the Ohioside of it, um, you know, player
development was my biggestpassion.
So youth player development.
And I would just say umfortunately, I was able to win
the youth player developmentaward for the section while I
(17:29):
was there.
And it was solely because I hada really big youth following at
the time.
And um I just gave them so muchattention, and they were all
just amazing at how hard theyworked.
And so it wasn't it was morethem doing it and me being able
(17:50):
to sit back and say, hey, thisis what you need to do.
So it was pretty cool to be ableto be part of that and share
that with the club.
I feel like it took the club toa higher level too.
I think that was a really coolthing.
And then because of some ofthose awards, then I was also
able to apply for like a golfdigest award where um they ask
(18:12):
you to apply essentially, um, ora top hundred award um, you
know, within like golf worldrankings and things like that.
And so it is it's so crazy tothink about how that works.
I never knew how it worked atall because I didn't think to
care about it.
And then when it happened, thenall of a sudden you get into
this side of it where you canliterally call any teacher in
(18:36):
the world essentially, and youknow, just say, Hey, I'm I'm the
director of instruction here.
I'd love to catch up with you,or can I come watch you teach?
And you continue to get betterand better, and then all of a
sudden they know you and theymight be on a committee, and
because you reached out, so I,you know, I've I've shadowed so
many instructors all over theworld at this point.
When I was at St.
Andrews, in fact, um, on a trip,I went to their academy and
(18:59):
asked to shadow their coach, andthey let me just kind of sit and
watch on the range.
So is if they know you're a PGAprofessional, it's that little
brotherhood, so to speak, thatis part of it, right?
And um, you know, it's just beensuper, super fulfilling.
SPEAKER_01 (19:13):
So you're making waves in Ohio.
You're gaining a name foryourself.
Ultimately, I'm sure, you know,you mentioned before it's Ohio.
You don't like the winters, it'sit snows, it's icy, it's cold,
whatever.
So now you have a choice.
Do I go home to Oregon where itrains and maybe snows once in a
while, or do I go to Arizona?
(19:35):
Tell me about that decision andwhat what drove you back here to
Oregon.
SPEAKER_02 (19:38):
Well, this was the biggest decision I've ever had
to make.
Um, so I'm sitting in aboardroom and I'm trying to
build an indoor golf facility atBeachmont Country Club in
Cleveland.
We had the designs done, we hadit approved by the golf
committee, the pro, the GM,they're all on board.
They're all it's all a yes.
The board's a yes at this point.
They allowed me to bring anattorney into a private club
(19:59):
boardroom, which is kind ofunheard of.
And we go in there and I'msitting across, just like I am
with you, uh, the vice presidentof the club, and we were
friends.
He'd been on golf trips, I'dgiven him lessons, he was
positive about the whole thing.
We start talking, and I hear himsay, Noah, I'm trying to figure
out why we're doing this becauseyou're not gonna be here that
(20:20):
much longer.
And I said, Bruce, does thatmean I'm getting fired?
And I said, and I didn't let himanswer.
And I said, if you guys buildthis here, I will never leave
this facility.
I'm here for life.
And he said, No, you're gonna goon to better things.
And he's like, You're notgetting fired, but I'm just
like, so I go home to free.
(20:42):
Your heart just sank.
I the conversation when theyvoted then turned into a no
because of what he said, becausehe was the incoming president,
and I'm like, wow, all right,well, there goes, you know, that
all gets me choked up justhearing about that.
Yeah, so at that point we hadactually sold our Arizona house.
(21:04):
So we just had our house inOhio, and I go home and I I
looked at Kimberly.
I'm like, what are we doing?
What are we gonna do?
Your family's six hours away.
We have family here, but it'snot, you know, it's cousins and
second cousins, and they're indifferent parts of their life.
And I'm like, you know, wereally need to look at this.
So I had a job interview inFlorida at a super high-end
private, and I was a finalist,and I I ended up not going that
(21:28):
direction.
Um, and then I had a finalistposition or job interview um
with a club in New Jersey wherethey've hosted the president's
cup.
And that one I did want.
And I come to find that they hadalready pre-hired somebody
before the interview process,but they had to do the
informality.
I love it.
And I was like, oh, that'sthat's always nice.
And so then um I had this joboffer on the West Coast, um,
(21:52):
basic or job, uh, sorry,finalist on the West Coast.
And I had never heard of theclub.
It's called Laurent CanadaCountry Club.
Um, it's one of the mosthigh-end clubs in Silicon
Valley.
So they ended up flying me out,their entire board was in the
interview.
It was a three-hour-longinterview, and there were three
of us.
And I'm not supposed to knowthis, so I don't want to go too
into detail in case he'slistening.
(22:12):
Uh, but I did find out thatthere was one certification
separating us from the finaldecision.
Otherwise, I would have beenmoving down there.
And the problem was when I didthe math on what they were
offering and what the cost ofliving was in the area, my pay
increase was only 3% from whereI was in Ohio.
And I'm like, it wouldn't havebeen worth it anyway.
SPEAKER_01 (22:29):
No, for triple the cost of living.
SPEAKER_02 (22:31):
It was a million dollars for a starter house.
A starter house an hour away.
It was brutal.
So lo and behold, it was we'remaking our future at this point.
I gotta ask what was thatcertification?
SPEAKER_01 (22:45):
And do you have it now?
SPEAKER_02 (22:47):
Uh no.
So so I'm a TPI certified coach,but it was a TPI titleist
performance institute, golf,golf fitness, essentially,
right?
And I never got the second levelof it, and he had the second
level of it.
And to this day, I haven'tgotten it because I work
directly with a golf performanceexpert.
So there's no need for me tohave that level because I have a
(23:09):
team around me that has a higherlevel than that, and that's the
whole goal is surround yourselfwith better people, right?
Amen.
And so the Oregon connection wassimple because we did have two
kids at the time.
Emma and Jocelyn were born, andyou know, we weren't done yet.
So we're like, man, it would beso cool for grandma and grandpa
to actually experience theirgrandkids.
(23:30):
And so we ended up creating anopportunity in Southern Oregon
that had never been done before,um, and creating junior um and
adult player developmentprograms.
There was none growing up, itwas just a private lesson.
That's all you could really gethere.
And so um I brought in over 150different player development
programs to Southern Oregon andthen was able to um bring on a
(23:54):
staff that has now turned intothe ones you want to take these
lessons with.
They're incredible with Ryan,Jessica, Matt, Logan, right?
I mean, we've got some awesomeones, Casey, and then my wife's
doing Pilates, and then we havea physical therapist, right?
So, you know, that's that's theend game.
Um, and and the the ultimategoal is to get to that level.
(24:16):
So now we have this stair stepapproach that allows you to
start from the age of three, goto 93 in any way, shape, or form
you want, and there's no reasonnot to get better.
SPEAKER_01 (24:25):
What was priority one when you moved moved back to
Southern Oregon?
SPEAKER_02 (24:28):
Yeah, so it's interesting because there are
winters here, it's a little bitcold.
And so um we didn't have an wehad an outdoor facility, but no
indoor facility or anything thatwould allow the elements, you
know, to to stay away.
And when you're teaching, youdon't want to be rained on the
whole time.
And, you know, it's no funanyway.
It's pretty miserable.
So And here comes the story ofgolf group.
(24:50):
So we had a 525 square footgarage that was an outbuilding
that bordered a back alleyway.
I go to the city, I tell themwhat I want to do, I get a
permit, and I put up two indoorsimulators for the coaching
staff to teach in thewintertime.
Not only did we stay steady, weincreased our lessons because of
(25:11):
that facility in basically thislittle garage.
And it they were greatsimulators.
They're the same types oftechnology I'm using at the golf
garage now.
But what had happened was um twoseasons go by and you're
realizing that this is a realbusiness model.
And I had had some experiencewith indoor golf training in
(25:32):
Ohio because we had just an oldracquetball court turned into a
bay.
Um, and I had a launch monitorthat was terrible, and I did all
the stuff, and then my buddybuilt a five bay facility, one
of the first in the country, andhe was doing fine.
But I looked at it as like, weneed something more, we need the
training facility Mecca.
And my wife and I are sittingout and I said, I want to build
(25:55):
something, and I drew it on anapkin on a date we were having,
and it was 7,500 square feet atthat time.
SPEAKER_01 (26:01):
I gotta back up just a minute though.
Your golf teaching business isgrowing, you're bringing on
other PGA professionals to helpteach.
This is going on in a garage inyour in the backyard of your
personal home, and you've got awife and young kids at home.
How how did your wife deal withthat?
(26:23):
I know my my wife would be like,Nope, you're not inviting
strangers over to our backyard.
SPEAKER_02 (26:28):
Yeah, luckily our yard was set up perfectly to
where we could have some peoplecome in the back way, or it was
we had uh we had some protocolsto make sure the coaches were
walking people back becausethere were sometimes new student
assessments and you don't knowwho's coming in.
And um, you know,fast-forwarding a little bit,
what was really funny was whenwe did decide that golf garage
was going to become a reality,um, Kimberly said that, well, I
(26:51):
want to start teaching Pilatesagain.
She took a little hiatus becauseof the age the kids were.
And I said, Well, that's fine ifyou want to do that, you need to
create a clientele before youjust have this facility because
that's not the way we do it.
So I ended up building her aPilates studio on property.
SPEAKER_01 (27:05):
I always thought it should be called Pilates in the
Woodshed.
SPEAKER_02 (27:07):
Pilates in the Pilates in the Shed.
That's not bad.
So we had two businesses goingat the same time.
So not only did we have that, itwas crazy to think about the
cars leaving and going.
And good thing that most of ourneighbors were taking lessons.
Otherwise, I think uh theremight have been a problem with
the city at that point becausewe probably shouldn't have had
that many cars coming.
SPEAKER_01 (27:28):
So now it's only the founding members who actually
know where you live.
SPEAKER_02 (27:31):
Yeah, that's that's pretty much true.
And and we had to put up somesecurity cameras and stuff and
some gates too, but that's allright.
We did actually have somebody,uh, I think this happened twice
where they went to our houseafter the golf garage opened up.
And um, I think Google had anupdated address.
So they were late to thelessons, and then the next thing
you know, you get a call.
So it was pretty good.
(27:53):
But uh, but Kimberly did a greatjob of filling filling her
Pilates book as well.
And so she ended up havingpretty much a full studio when
she fur when we first opened.
SPEAKER_01 (28:02):
So tell me about the awards you've received here in
Oregon since you've been back.
SPEAKER_02 (28:06):
Yeah, I mean, most of these I consider these team
awards at this point becauseeveryone's just working so hard
um in all those playerdevelopment awards.
So we do a really cool programcalled Operation 36.
You start from the green workbackwards.
Um, and I was lucky enough to beon the forefront of that program
um in Ohio and helped um kind ofmove it into a different
(28:28):
direction by meeting the theguys that created that, Matt and
Ryan.
And so they have a top 50 award,and I have been fortunate enough
to win that three times in a rowto where they now have a master
award.
Um, and so I am now a top 50master PGA uh Operation 36
coach.
Um, you know, and that oneagain, it's just like the whole
(28:52):
team here is doing that, and I'mjust, you know, you know, the
owner, so I'm lucky enough toget it.
But because um of the number oftimes that I've won it, now
another coach within ourfacility can also be part of
that.
And so we've gotten nominatedagain.
So I'm really hopeful that umone of our coaches in the near
(29:12):
future is gonna be another oneof those top 50 because they
just do a great job.
What award means the most toyou?
Uh that's easy.
It's the Pacific Northwest YouthPlayer Development Award.
Um, growing up, like I said, inSouthern Oregon, not having any
player development andunderstanding how to get better.
(29:32):
Um You got that like four yearsago.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But that award, I was a finalistfor the national award.
So I was in the top two.
It came down to two of us again.
Certain things you're notsupposed to know.
You find out later.
SPEAKER_01 (29:46):
Um, I remember this story because I was involved
with you a little bit on thisone.
SPEAKER_02 (29:50):
Yeah, and and we made a video, we did a great
job, obviously did everything wecould do, and uh didn't end up
getting it, but did find outlater.
That it was it was kind of a uhyou know, pulling some straws um
when it came down to the vote.
So again, I don't need thatrecognition.
That one would have been anawesome milestone to get you
(30:12):
know the one award for the wholecountry of all 30,000 pros.
But just say, you know what, Igot second.
It's perfect.
I love it.
SPEAKER_01 (30:20):
You're I I say this in in in some ways, you're a
pretty low-key guy when you whenit comes to your personal life.
You're probably one of the mosthigh-strung people I've ever met
in my life.
When it comes to energy and yourand your social engagement, um,
I know you don't like to talk alot about these awards, but
these awards have clearly helpedpave a path for you to have
(30:44):
built what you've built today.
SPEAKER_02 (30:47):
Yeah, without question.
I would just say, you know,going into like Golf Range
Association of America, um, I'vebeen really fortunate they're
part of PGA magazine and and towin top 50 status in elite class
with them.
That is a relationship likemecca, PGA magazine and what
(31:08):
they do for the professionals,um, all the travel, all these
things.
So I've been super fortunatebecause of that, that I've
gotten invited to Pinehurstmultiple times, um, San Diego at
one of the best hotels they'veever built, most expensive one
in California per room.
Um, you know, being around tourplayers, being around top
coaches that have won thenational award, um, and being
(31:29):
able to call them on their cellphones, right?
So by getting these awards isputting me in the room.
And again, first time in theroom, you are so nervous.
You're like, I shouldn't behere.
This is crazy.
And then you find out how niceeveryone is, and that, you know,
you belong in the room just likeeveryone else.
And so it's it's just peoplehanging out and trying to get
better.
And it helps validate people whowant to be in the room with you.
(31:50):
A hundred percent.
And again, these relationships,um, because I was on the East
Coast, it was incredible becausewe could talk stories, and now
that I'm on the West Coast,right?
So you get, you know, the factthat I've moved around was
probably one of the best thingsI could have done, knowing that
if I would have stayed inOregon, um, same kind of thing
happened at Illahey, was theyweren't ready to build a
(32:11):
facility.
And I'm always looking at how doI get better?
SPEAKER_01 (32:14):
Isn't it amazing when you come back to a hometown
after being gone for a while?
The level of confidence you comeback with.
SPEAKER_02 (32:20):
Yeah, without question.
And and it's funny, it's it'syou come back and then you
realize how much people havechanged and what they're doing
and how many people have movedback to Medford that moved away
too.
I was gone for 12 years.
So to move back, um, and thenpeople find out you're back and
you're teaching golf, and thenthey're like, Remember when I
had you in fifth grade class?
Or, you know, teach is cool.
So it is.
(32:40):
It feels like home for sure.
There's nowhere else we want tobe.
We've renovated a house here.
Um, again, the the awards aresuper helpful and it's it's a
feather in the cap, but itspeaks volumes to the team that
is surrounding us here at GolfGarage.
The Golf Garage team is secondto none, and it allows me to go
(33:01):
out and continue to grow golf atthe level I want to grow it
through Southern OregonUniversity and creating that
program to being on committeesand boards now with Boys and
Girls Club, um, the OregonChapter PGA, the Pacific
Northwest section playerdevelopment.
So not only do you get awards,but you have to look at how are
you going to give back becauseyou're now looked at it maybe as
(33:22):
a leader differently because ofwhat you've done.
And so I've served on the boardof the Northern Ohio section
PGA.
And it wasn't even like aquestion when you got asked to
do it.
It was like, yeah, that soundsgreat.
What committee can I be on?
And so sometimes maybe, like yousaid, I do a little bit more
than maybe I should as far assaying yes.
But it's so fulfilling to do allthose things and and also being
(33:45):
active and engaged in thecommunity, like on the Southern
Oregon Sports Commission.
Without being on it, I wouldn'tknow what's going on.
And it allows um just a littlevoice in the room to say, wow,
what if we did this to help growgolf because I can, you know?
It's awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (33:59):
So I have to make it awkward and uncomfortable for
the last for the last part ofthe of the show, but um standard
for you.
You have built a program, afacility, a team that has
exceeded your wildest dreams.
What in the world could be next?
SPEAKER_02 (34:21):
There's a lot next.
There is a lot next.
We are going to take golf garage50 times over.
I'll say it right now, 50 timesover all over the country.
It's gonna happen.
We're working through a fewkinks on the back end and it's
gonna happen.
That's the easy part.
It's easy.
SPEAKER_01 (34:36):
But for you, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (34:37):
For me, it's more time, you know, more time with
family, um, continuing todevelop golfers, um, an online
presence of being able to coachanyone in the world, um, and
just continuing to get betterevery day, you know, that 1%
model of trying to get better,that 1%.
I still want to get better andbetter and better.
I want to play.
(34:58):
I have aspirations of playing insome national events, but making
my team better and better andbetter and allowing them to
accomplish their goals.
SPEAKER_01 (35:05):
Any accolades in your pursuit of?
SPEAKER_02 (35:10):
I mean, I'd love another shot at the National
Youth Player Development Award.
Uh, just I have a few friendsthat have won it.
Um, they actually were part ofmy resume or references, I
should say, on the resume when Idid it.
And they're so funny becausethey're like, oh, it's only a
matter of time before you'regonna get it.
And I'm like, you know what?
I don't really care.
But now that you asked thequestion, I would say that one
(35:32):
just because I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_01 (35:33):
Everybody wants what they don't have.
Yeah, and I always want whatthey can't have.
SPEAKER_02 (35:38):
Yeah, so I'm kind of like Tiger Woods at the Masters.
I just want to keep winningthose green jackets.
Yep.
So it's good.
But nope, like I said, kind ofin closing, I couldn't do it
without the team.
Love it.
SPEAKER_01 (35:49):
Pleasure as always, Noah.
SPEAKER_02 (35:50):
Yeah, buddy.
We'll see you next week.
Yeah, next week.
We uh I think we got Don Lawpotentially or Andy Miller, both
National Youth PlayerDevelopment Award winners.
Get those guys going.
SPEAKER_01 (36:01):
Love it, man.
Welcome to the My Golf Source Podcast.
Welcome to My Golf Source.
I'm Darren.
And I'm Noah.
What you been up to, man?
SPEAKER_02 (00:24):
Everything?
SPEAKER_01 (00:25):
Just golfing and door golf.
You did not win in league lastnight.
SPEAKER_02 (00:30):
No.
Some of us have to play a littlebit more in order to win in
league.
Did you play you played lastnight?
I did.
I shot even.
Did you get it?
Uh no, but we had there was anet zero next to us.
Nice.
A guy hold out for eagle withtwo pops.
SPEAKER_01 (00:45):
I birdied.
Birdie number six.
Which gave me a net eagle.
Nice.
SPEAKER_02 (00:52):
So did you skin?
I did.
How much did you make off of it?
SPEAKER_01 (00:56):
$47.
SPEAKER_02 (00:57):
Oh man.
So what are you up to after whatfour different months of league?
You're probably up to a couplehundred bucks.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Awesome.
So pretty close.
Yeah, that's perfect.
But does that pay your barbill?
No.
Okay.
Not even close.
(01:17):
Yeah, it's okay.
That's that's the problemgolfers have.
It pays the tip.
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (01:21):
Did you try any sushi last night?
I did.
I had eel for the first time.
How was it?
Amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (01:27):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (01:28):
Pan fried.
So it was cooked.
Right.
Um, you know, everybody saysthis.
It tasted like tender chicken.
Did you think it did?
Honestly.
I don't think it tastes liketender chicken.
I think it tasted like supertender chicken that falls apart
in your mouth.
SPEAKER_02 (01:45):
I like it if it's a little bit crispy and you've got
the sauce in there.
So I don't have to taste it andknow what I'm eating.
It's way better that way.
SPEAKER_01 (01:52):
It was hard to get over the mental thing of I'm
putting eel in my mouth.
SPEAKER_02 (01:56):
You're thinking of an eel in the water coming after
you, just like your golf balls.
SPEAKER_01 (01:59):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (02:00):
Freshwater eel.
What is that?
I don't know.
Let's not let's see.
SPEAKER_01 (02:03):
The only freshwater eel I know of is like the
electric eel in the Amazon.
The moray eel?
That's saltwater.
Oh.
SPEAKER_02 (02:09):
That's ocean buddy.
Oh, okay.
Well, I don't really study up onmy eels too often.
No.
SPEAKER_01 (02:14):
I'm just afraid of those because not your subject
in college.
SPEAKER_02 (02:18):
Yeah, I don't like snakes or eels.
They're kind of in the samefamily.
Speaking of that, we've got adinosaur out front today.
Did you see it?
SPEAKER_01 (02:25):
I saw it.
I took a picture of it.
It's like 25 feet tall.
SPEAKER_02 (02:28):
Oh, yeah.
We've got the uh golf retreattonight.
So kids are coming in, they geta trick-or-treat here for a few
hours.
We're gonna have some contests.
Um, it's gonna be awesome.
And golfzilla's only about 20feet tall.
So excited to see some of thekids try to take some swings at
it.
What time to what time?
Four o'clock to 5 30.
Lots of candy, lots of fun.
Bring the whole family down.
(02:48):
It's gonna be a good time.
We'll stop by.
Yeah.
Toby.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'll go home and get the kids.
We'll let we'll let Toby run acompetition.
He'd love that.
I bet he would.
Yeah.
He's he's sitting at super goodright now, kind of off topic.
Because last year, last week wehad him on the show.
Right.
And um, it was fun to interviewhim.
He did a great job, by the way.
He seemed like he was a seasonedveteran.
(03:10):
He's a little bit nervous, buthe was he's been watching dad a
lot on the show, probably.
Yeah, but it's pretty cool tosee the maturity, and he's
getting ready to play in sometournaments.
So I think you guys sign him upfor a couple of the winner
series.
SPEAKER_01 (03:22):
Uh yeah, tomorrow?
Quill point.
Yeah, tomorrow, quill point,Sunday, centennial.
Centennial.
SPEAKER_02 (03:30):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it'll be fun to see becausewhen's the last tournament he
played in was over the summer,probably.
Over the summer.
So and he's hitting it so muchfarther, so much better, so much
more confidence.
So it'll be really, really greatto see where he's at.
SPEAKER_01 (03:42):
So after my lesson with Ryan, I added 15 yards to
my irons.
No way.
Fifteen yards.
Fifteen yards.
What was the biggest difference?
Shallowing, being more shallowcoming in.
Yeah?
SPEAKER_02 (03:54):
So not over the top, not across, not over the top,
not across.
SPEAKER_01 (03:57):
I'm I'm coming in more shallow, better rotation.
Awesome.
Better turning.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (04:03):
Well, and if you look back at last winter when we
assessed you, right, there wassome separation issues and some
things.
So you've obviously been awareof it.
You make some small changes, andnow all of a sudden, same thing
is wrong, but now that you'veworked on some mechanics, right?
That's too far.
You need some uh blades that'llget you back to life here.
SPEAKER_01 (04:24):
Well, let's get earlier for those.
Okay, perfect.
I don't think I strike the ballthat well yet.
Oh, okay.
Whatever.
We'll get there.
So, anyways, just walkingthrough this facility today,
getting ready for your golfretreat tonight.
I was just wow, you know, hereyou are, brand new 20,000 square
(04:46):
foot high-tech golf facility.
Where did this all begin?
Not just your dream for thefacility, but where did it all
begin with golf?
SPEAKER_02 (04:56):
Yeah, that's that's a great question and a very,
very long story.
But in short, I played everyother sport growing up, and golf
was never on the radar.
My uncle played.
Um, I think I had a cousin thatplayed, and that was all that I
knew about golf at the time.
Um 1996, I believe it was, Iwent out to my uncle's house.
(05:20):
Um, and I remember making aswing with his golf club, which
was oversized length.
He was six foot four.
Can you believe that?
I'm only 5'7.
But he makes a swing, or I makea swing with it, and I literally
jabbed myself with the grip andI hit the ground and it hurt.
I'm like, I'm never doing thatagain.
About a year later, a uh afriend of mine was playing
(05:41):
little league baseball with me,and uh he said, Hey, I want you
to come to Bear Creek GolfCourse, and we're gonna go out
there and we're gonna pick upsome golf balls.
I had no clue what it meant, itjust meant that I was gonna go
hang out with a buddy and we goout there and we uh pick the
range.
Next thing you know, the ownercomes out and says, Hey, great
job.
Why don't you guys go play golftoday?
(06:01):
I'm like, Well, we don't haveany clubs.
So she gives us some rentalclubs.
We go out, we walk this parthree course.
You know, it's just like badshot after bad shot.
I mean, I'm a baseball player atthe time, I'm in season, and we
get up to the eighth hole, andI'll never forget this one golf
shot that I hit that absolutelyhook line and sinkered me.
Right.
I was like, it almost got to thegreen from 150.
(06:21):
I'm just like, okay, this isawesome.
So we get done, and the owner,Marla, um, comes back and says,
Hey, do you want to come backtomorrow and work?
And he couldn't, but I'm like,Yeah, absolutely.
This is awesome, and I'll giveyou golf again.
So lo and behold, it all startedby a buddy that played little
league baseball.
And um, I started working atBear Creek golf course pretty
(06:42):
much every day after school,under the table here and there,
maybe don't tell anybody.
Um, but I got free golf out ofit, and I would just play and
play and play and play.
And a year in, I was shootingthe course record at Bear Creek.
I was already shooting four andfive under par for nine holes.
How old were you?
I was uh 13 at that time.
So I had three hole and ones umwhen I was 13 in the same year
(07:03):
on the same hole, two and twodays of playing.
So it was kind of like, youknow, I was just hooked in
playing the game and I wasengulfed in it.
And I was rafting at a highlevel.
I was actually offered a job umto guide when I was 14.
And I turned it down because Istarted playing competitive
golf.
I'm like, well, I don't want toget injured.
I'm liking it so much, I want toplay on tour.
And Tiger Woods was the guy.
(07:25):
Oh my gosh.
I mean, he had won the masters afew years earlier.
Like, I remember being in frontof TV for it.
Yeah, so this is about 98, 99 atthis point.
I'm I'm just about to get intohigh school, so I'm like, I
don't wanna, I don't want to dothat.
And I had a really good highschool um, you know, four years.
I played parsley.
SPEAKER_01 (07:45):
You're not that much older than me.
SPEAKER_02 (07:47):
I graduated in 2002.
So, in short, you know, kind offast forwarding, it it really
just turned into passion for thegame, love for the game, wanted
to play on tour, um, played fouryears of college golf, team
captain at Pacific University,um, and loved every minute of
that.
I actually, my intent was not toplay division three golf.
My intent was to play divisionone.
(08:07):
Everybody wants to be, you know,I wanted Arizona State.
I wanted to be there.
And um I'll never forget that Ihad some success my freshman
year.
I was ranked in the top 50 inthe country between all three
divisions, um, ahead of SergioGarcia by a couple points on
scoring average, which waspretty cool to see.
Um, and I get a call fromUniversity of Oregon.
(08:29):
They wanted to um talk to meabout coming down to play.
It was the one school in thePac-10 at the time that didn't
call me or try to recruit me,which was weird being an
Oregonian.
And so I uh I go down there andmeet with the with the um coach,
and that was the one school Iwanted to go to because they had
landscape architecture.
So I go in there and um I'llnever forget within about five
(08:52):
minutes, coaches like, Hey,what's your major uh
architecture?
Oh, you can't do that and be onthe team.
And I'm like, Well, why not?
Oh, because we're gone too much.
So I kind of listened a littlemore and we were talking and I
kind of zoned out because I'mlike, somebody just told me that
I couldn't do something.
SPEAKER_01 (09:07):
And so you can't do two things at once.
SPEAKER_02 (09:10):
Yeah, essentially, right?
And so it was a great lesson tolearn that you know, I try not
to tell other people thatbecause I know how it made me
feel at that time.
And my only goal at that pointwas like, I'm just gonna prove
this guy wrong and I'm gonna dowhatever it is that it takes.
SPEAKER_01 (09:22):
It's a horrible thing to tell a college student.
SPEAKER_02 (09:24):
Yeah, and I think I've always been driven off of
that being a little bit smallerin um athletics, but always
driven to work harder thaneveryone else.
And I think that that's kind ofone of the things that sets me
apart and and kind of movingforward.
Um, I had a a dream of playingon tour, and that dream came to,
I don't want to say crashinghalt, but I had a ganglion cyst
(09:45):
in my wrist.
I had no clue what a cyst was.
I remember getting an MRIbecause I had it hurt every time
I went to the top of my golfswing.
And uh in short, it was like,okay, well, let's have surgery.
Did not get uh other thoughtsfrom other doctors, went right
under the knife, uh, ready to goto PT.
And the doctor's like, oh, youdon't need that.
(10:07):
So, okay.
So I'm I'm letting it basicallysit for almost two months, and
then I get out there and try tohit balls, and it hurts so bad.
Hurts to swing.
I'm like, wow, this this may notbe a thing.
I'm working at Centennial GolfClub now.
I'm an assistant golfprofessional.
This is right when they opened,right?
This is so I was one of theoriginal professionals when they
opened.
Yep.
(10:27):
I was there pre-opening.
Yeah.
So I graduated and and wentright down.
Um, but it was super odd to allof a sudden say, okay, I may
never play competitive golfagain.
And at that time, I had shot thecourse record at Centennial.
I was ready to go try to playsome some competitive stuff, did
a couple mini tour events.
And uh after that surgery, I'mlike, hey, this might not be it.
(10:49):
And uh immediately I'm like,what am I gonna do?
So teaching became um somethingI started to get into more so to
make some money.
I was like, hey, I'm a I'm apoor college kid.
We're living at home with 24,000debt.
Uh, minimum wage here isn'tgonna do the trick anymore.
What year was this?
This was 2006.
Okay.
And so I remember the very firstlesson that I gave turned into
(11:12):
me asking the assistant pro,what am I gonna teach this
person today?
And he's like, Well, you'llfigure it out when you get out
there.
And it's funny because I was sonervous going into it that I got
down there and um literally Ifigured it out, which I didn't
know what that meant until I gotinto the situation, which was
like, How are you supposed toknow ahead of time?
(11:33):
And so, like, my philosophy,fast-forwarding even more, has
been built solely off of thatfirst lesson.
SPEAKER_01 (11:39):
So you get done with college, you graduate college,
you get yourself a teachingprofessional position at a brand
new golf course in yourhometown.
Yes.
How cool is that?
What in the world led you toOhio?
SPEAKER_02 (11:54):
Yeah.
So, so backing up quickly, notexactly a teaching professional
role.
I was an assistant probing, thesales and marketing director,
tournament coordinator,assistant pro, and teaching on
the side.
So it was like, man, it that'sthat's what you do when you get
out of school.
You get used and abused, usedand abused, but that's okay.
I learned a lot in the process.
So, Ohio, um, you know, therewas one stop in between there
(12:16):
where I really learned how tocoach and teach.
And that was through a mentor ofmine, Al Cross, who was rated as
one of the best female golfinstructors in the country at
one point.
And he worked at the vintageclub, which is extremely
high-end in Palm Springs.
Um, and because of the knowledgehe imparted on me, being a big
fan of Ben Hogan, playing golfwith Ben Hogan, um, playing in
the senior PGA championship, heknew every aspect of the game
(12:39):
from the mental to the teachingand coaching, um, you know, and
knew how to build a relationshipfirst and foremost.
And he was the original head proat Illhee Hills Country Club,
which is where I was then thedirector of instruction.
So having mentors along the wayis really what, you know,
allowed my successes to takeshape.
And then the networking based onthose mentors and allowed me to
(13:00):
meet other people that got meinto positions like coaching at
Willamette University, um, nowSouthern Oregon University.
But then, you know, we werelooking to start a family.
And that's where we startedsaying we're three and a half
hours away from my parents.
Her family's in the Midwest inMichigan.
I have family in Ohio.
Let's let's kind of look around.
So um I got online that thisthis one night, and I found a
(13:24):
teaching job at a private clubin Cleveland, Ohio.
And I was an Indians fan at thetime, Cavs Browns.
You know, everyone says sorry tome for that one.
But so, in short, it was prettycool because the job opened,
these never open up on thewebsite I was on.
I called the pro the next day.
He's like, and I said, Are youstill looking for a director of
(13:44):
instruction?
He said, Actually, we are.
The one we hired ended upstaying at his job and we're
scrambling to find somebody.
So he's like, Can you send meyour resume right now?
I got a call back 10 minuteslater after I sent it.
Can you interview with us andthe president of the club
tomorrow?
And I'm like, Yeah, sure, whynot?
(14:04):
So I interview with thepresident of the club.
We talk for like an hour and ahalf with the head pro, um, talk
to the GM for a few minutes.
And about five minutes after Igot off the phone, the head pro
calls me back and says, uh, wewant to offer you the position.
And I'm like, I haven't even metyou yet.
So it was contingent on themflying me out to be part of
their opening day for the springbecause in Ohio there's snow.
(14:25):
And I'm like, I don't want to bein the snow, right?
I'm a golfer.
So that was the other thing Itold them was, I'll work five
months, but I'm going toArizona.
We had just bought a house downthere.
I'm like, wintertime Arizona,summertime Ohio.
That sounds great.
So seven years in Ohio, um, anda lot of friends and a lot of
amazing opportunities um workingwith the USGA national champion
(14:46):
at that time, the number onefemale junior golfer that I was
able to work with from the startin the state of Ohio that now is
finishing up at Penn State.
Um, a lot of other youthprogramming that I got to create
that was not even a thing at thefacility at the time.
So I was super fortunate to beat a an old 1923 all-Jewish
(15:07):
club, only one left in Ohio atthe time.
So super fortunate.
SPEAKER_01 (15:11):
So you were in Ohio 2014 through 2018?
2012 to 2019.
Okay.
You won a lot of awards in Ohio.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (15:23):
Tell me about that.
Um, yeah, uh like I said, Imean, I think the biggest thing
here was that I was I I neverthought of awards as a thing
because I love teaching golf.
And um I was fortunate enough towin Teacher of the Year two
times in um three years there.
(15:43):
And I don't know if that hadbeen done before.
And the first time I had won thePacific or the uh Northern Ohio
section teacher of the yearaward, I immediately got some
calls from PGA magazine and someother um some other sports um
telecasts.
So like I think it was likeSports Talk Ohio and things
(16:04):
where they were like, hey, uhbecause you won this award, we
want to invite you to this top50 coaches conference.
And then uh we want you to be onour our show and be with Jimmy
Hanlin, who's a reallywell-known person in Ohio and
you know, long drive guy, and hehas a show with Natalie Gulbas
and you know teach golf on theair a couple times.
And so all of a sudden, becauseof those awards, some doors
(16:27):
opened up.
Um, that really allowed me toaspire to being around the best
in the business.
SPEAKER_01 (16:32):
I was just gonna say awards, I mean, don't do
anything for your passion ofteaching, but they sure do help
when it comes to recognition,which comes to uh more robust,
attractive resume, whichultimately leads to more money.
SPEAKER_02 (16:47):
Yeah.
I mean, at the end of the day,you know, we're working to make
money, but I get to do somethingI love to make money, and I
think that's so important, um,you know, is finding something
that you love and you'repassionate about, and it doesn't
feel like work when you're doingthat.
SPEAKER_01 (17:01):
And ultimately cash flow is what opens up the door
to be able to build facilitieslike this.
SPEAKER_02 (17:07):
Yeah.
I mean, at the end of the day,it was a relationship, you know,
and I think that's kind of aunique thing when we when we
look at it.
And so going back to the Ohioside of it, um, you know, player
development was my biggestpassion.
So youth player development.
And I would just say umfortunately, I was able to win
the youth player developmentaward for the section while I
(17:29):
was there.
And it was solely because I hada really big youth following at
the time.
And um I just gave them so muchattention, and they were all
just amazing at how hard theyworked.
And so it wasn't it was morethem doing it and me being able
(17:50):
to sit back and say, hey, thisis what you need to do.
So it was pretty cool to be ableto be part of that and share
that with the club.
I feel like it took the club toa higher level too.
I think that was a really coolthing.
And then because of some ofthose awards, then I was also
able to apply for like a golfdigest award where um they ask
(18:12):
you to apply essentially, um, ora top hundred award um, you
know, within like golf worldrankings and things like that.
And so it is it's so crazy tothink about how that works.
I never knew how it worked atall because I didn't think to
care about it.
And then when it happened, thenall of a sudden you get into
this side of it where you canliterally call any teacher in
(18:36):
the world essentially, and youknow, just say, Hey, I'm I'm the
director of instruction here.
I'd love to catch up with you,or can I come watch you teach?
And you continue to get betterand better, and then all of a
sudden they know you and theymight be on a committee, and
because you reached out, so I,you know, I've I've shadowed so
many instructors all over theworld at this point.
When I was at St.
Andrews, in fact, um, on a trip,I went to their academy and
(18:59):
asked to shadow their coach, andthey let me just kind of sit and
watch on the range.
So is if they know you're a PGAprofessional, it's that little
brotherhood, so to speak, thatis part of it, right?
And um, you know, it's just beensuper, super fulfilling.
SPEAKER_01 (19:13):
So you're making waves in Ohio.
You're gaining a name foryourself.
Ultimately, I'm sure, you know,you mentioned before it's Ohio.
You don't like the winters, it'sit snows, it's icy, it's cold,
whatever.
So now you have a choice.
Do I go home to Oregon where itrains and maybe snows once in a
while, or do I go to Arizona?
(19:35):
Tell me about that decision andwhat what drove you back here to
Oregon.
SPEAKER_02 (19:38):
Well, this was the biggest decision I've ever had
to make.
Um, so I'm sitting in aboardroom and I'm trying to
build an indoor golf facility atBeachmont Country Club in
Cleveland.
We had the designs done, we hadit approved by the golf
committee, the pro, the GM,they're all on board.
They're all it's all a yes.
The board's a yes at this point.
They allowed me to bring anattorney into a private club
(19:59):
boardroom, which is kind ofunheard of.
And we go in there and I'msitting across, just like I am
with you, uh, the vice presidentof the club, and we were
friends.
He'd been on golf trips, I'dgiven him lessons, he was
positive about the whole thing.
We start talking, and I hear himsay, Noah, I'm trying to figure
out why we're doing this becauseyou're not gonna be here that
(20:20):
much longer.
And I said, Bruce, does thatmean I'm getting fired?
And I said, and I didn't let himanswer.
And I said, if you guys buildthis here, I will never leave
this facility.
I'm here for life.
And he said, No, you're gonna goon to better things.
And he's like, You're notgetting fired, but I'm just
like, so I go home to free.
(20:42):
Your heart just sank.
I the conversation when theyvoted then turned into a no
because of what he said, becausehe was the incoming president,
and I'm like, wow, all right,well, there goes, you know, that
all gets me choked up justhearing about that.
Yeah, so at that point we hadactually sold our Arizona house.
(21:04):
So we just had our house inOhio, and I go home and I I
looked at Kimberly.
I'm like, what are we doing?
What are we gonna do?
Your family's six hours away.
We have family here, but it'snot, you know, it's cousins and
second cousins, and they're indifferent parts of their life.
And I'm like, you know, wereally need to look at this.
So I had a job interview inFlorida at a super high-end
private, and I was a finalist,and I I ended up not going that
(21:28):
direction.
Um, and then I had a finalistposition or job interview um
with a club in New Jersey wherethey've hosted the president's
cup.
And that one I did want.
And I come to find that they hadalready pre-hired somebody
before the interview process,but they had to do the
informality.
I love it.
And I was like, oh, that'sthat's always nice.
And so then um I had this joboffer on the West Coast, um,
(21:52):
basic or job, uh, sorry,finalist on the West Coast.
And I had never heard of theclub.
It's called Laurent CanadaCountry Club.
Um, it's one of the mosthigh-end clubs in Silicon
Valley.
So they ended up flying me out,their entire board was in the
interview.
It was a three-hour-longinterview, and there were three
of us.
And I'm not supposed to knowthis, so I don't want to go too
into detail in case he'slistening.
(22:12):
Uh, but I did find out thatthere was one certification
separating us from the finaldecision.
Otherwise, I would have beenmoving down there.
And the problem was when I didthe math on what they were
offering and what the cost ofliving was in the area, my pay
increase was only 3% from whereI was in Ohio.
And I'm like, it wouldn't havebeen worth it anyway.
SPEAKER_01 (22:29):
No, for triple the cost of living.
SPEAKER_02 (22:31):
It was a million dollars for a starter house.
A starter house an hour away.
It was brutal.
So lo and behold, it was we'remaking our future at this point.
I gotta ask what was thatcertification?
SPEAKER_01 (22:45):
And do you have it now?
SPEAKER_02 (22:47):
Uh no.
So so I'm a TPI certified coach,but it was a TPI titleist
performance institute, golf,golf fitness, essentially,
right?
And I never got the second levelof it, and he had the second
level of it.
And to this day, I haven'tgotten it because I work
directly with a golf performanceexpert.
So there's no need for me tohave that level because I have a
(23:09):
team around me that has a higherlevel than that, and that's the
whole goal is surround yourselfwith better people, right?
Amen.
And so the Oregon connection wassimple because we did have two
kids at the time.
Emma and Jocelyn were born, andyou know, we weren't done yet.
So we're like, man, it would beso cool for grandma and grandpa
to actually experience theirgrandkids.
(23:30):
And so we ended up creating anopportunity in Southern Oregon
that had never been done before,um, and creating junior um and
adult player developmentprograms.
There was none growing up, itwas just a private lesson.
That's all you could really gethere.
And so um I brought in over 150different player development
programs to Southern Oregon andthen was able to um bring on a
(23:54):
staff that has now turned intothe ones you want to take these
lessons with.
They're incredible with Ryan,Jessica, Matt, Logan, right?
I mean, we've got some awesomeones, Casey, and then my wife's
doing Pilates, and then we havea physical therapist, right?
So, you know, that's that's theend game.
Um, and and the the ultimategoal is to get to that level.
(24:16):
So now we have this stair stepapproach that allows you to
start from the age of three, goto 93 in any way, shape, or form
you want, and there's no reasonnot to get better.
SPEAKER_01 (24:25):
What was priority one when you moved moved back to
Southern Oregon?
SPEAKER_02 (24:28):
Yeah, so it's interesting because there are
winters here, it's a little bitcold.
And so um we didn't have an wehad an outdoor facility, but no
indoor facility or anything thatwould allow the elements, you
know, to to stay away.
And when you're teaching, youdon't want to be rained on the
whole time.
And, you know, it's no funanyway.
It's pretty miserable.
So And here comes the story ofgolf group.
(24:50):
So we had a 525 square footgarage that was an outbuilding
that bordered a back alleyway.
I go to the city, I tell themwhat I want to do, I get a
permit, and I put up two indoorsimulators for the coaching
staff to teach in thewintertime.
Not only did we stay steady, weincreased our lessons because of
(25:11):
that facility in basically thislittle garage.
And it they were greatsimulators.
They're the same types oftechnology I'm using at the golf
garage now.
But what had happened was um twoseasons go by and you're
realizing that this is a realbusiness model.
And I had had some experiencewith indoor golf training in
(25:32):
Ohio because we had just an oldracquetball court turned into a
bay.
Um, and I had a launch monitorthat was terrible, and I did all
the stuff, and then my buddybuilt a five bay facility, one
of the first in the country, andhe was doing fine.
But I looked at it as like, weneed something more, we need the
training facility Mecca.
And my wife and I are sittingout and I said, I want to build
(25:55):
something, and I drew it on anapkin on a date we were having,
and it was 7,500 square feet atthat time.
SPEAKER_01 (26:01):
I gotta back up just a minute though.
Your golf teaching business isgrowing, you're bringing on
other PGA professionals to helpteach.
This is going on in a garage inyour in the backyard of your
personal home, and you've got awife and young kids at home.
How how did your wife deal withthat?
(26:23):
I know my my wife would be like,Nope, you're not inviting
strangers over to our backyard.
SPEAKER_02 (26:28):
Yeah, luckily our yard was set up perfectly to
where we could have some peoplecome in the back way, or it was
we had uh we had some protocolsto make sure the coaches were
walking people back becausethere were sometimes new student
assessments and you don't knowwho's coming in.
And um, you know,fast-forwarding a little bit,
what was really funny was whenwe did decide that golf garage
was going to become a reality,um, Kimberly said that, well, I
(26:51):
want to start teaching Pilatesagain.
She took a little hiatus becauseof the age the kids were.
And I said, Well, that's fine ifyou want to do that, you need to
create a clientele before youjust have this facility because
that's not the way we do it.
So I ended up building her aPilates studio on property.
SPEAKER_01 (27:05):
I always thought it should be called Pilates in the
Woodshed.
SPEAKER_02 (27:07):
Pilates in the Pilates in the Shed.
That's not bad.
So we had two businesses goingat the same time.
So not only did we have that, itwas crazy to think about the
cars leaving and going.
And good thing that most of ourneighbors were taking lessons.
Otherwise, I think uh theremight have been a problem with
the city at that point becausewe probably shouldn't have had
that many cars coming.
SPEAKER_01 (27:28):
So now it's only the founding members who actually
know where you live.
SPEAKER_02 (27:31):
Yeah, that's that's pretty much true.
And and we had to put up somesecurity cameras and stuff and
some gates too, but that's allright.
We did actually have somebody,uh, I think this happened twice
where they went to our houseafter the golf garage opened up.
And um, I think Google had anupdated address.
So they were late to thelessons, and then the next thing
you know, you get a call.
So it was pretty good.
(27:53):
But uh, but Kimberly did a greatjob of filling filling her
Pilates book as well.
And so she ended up havingpretty much a full studio when
she fur when we first opened.
SPEAKER_01 (28:02):
So tell me about the awards you've received here in
Oregon since you've been back.
SPEAKER_02 (28:06):
Yeah, I mean, most of these I consider these team
awards at this point becauseeveryone's just working so hard
um in all those playerdevelopment awards.
So we do a really cool programcalled Operation 36.
You start from the green workbackwards.
Um, and I was lucky enough to beon the forefront of that program
um in Ohio and helped um kind ofmove it into a different
(28:28):
direction by meeting the theguys that created that, Matt and
Ryan.
And so they have a top 50 award,and I have been fortunate enough
to win that three times in a rowto where they now have a master
award.
Um, and so I am now a top 50master PGA uh Operation 36
coach.
Um, you know, and that oneagain, it's just like the whole
(28:52):
team here is doing that, and I'mjust, you know, you know, the
owner, so I'm lucky enough toget it.
But because um of the number oftimes that I've won it, now
another coach within ourfacility can also be part of
that.
And so we've gotten nominatedagain.
So I'm really hopeful that umone of our coaches in the near
(29:12):
future is gonna be another oneof those top 50 because they
just do a great job.
What award means the most toyou?
Uh that's easy.
It's the Pacific Northwest YouthPlayer Development Award.
Um, growing up, like I said, inSouthern Oregon, not having any
player development andunderstanding how to get better.
(29:32):
Um You got that like four yearsago.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But that award, I was a finalistfor the national award.
So I was in the top two.
It came down to two of us again.
Certain things you're notsupposed to know.
You find out later.
SPEAKER_01 (29:46):
Um, I remember this story because I was involved
with you a little bit on thisone.
SPEAKER_02 (29:50):
Yeah, and and we made a video, we did a great
job, obviously did everything wecould do, and uh didn't end up
getting it, but did find outlater.
That it was it was kind of a uhyou know, pulling some straws um
when it came down to the vote.
So again, I don't need thatrecognition.
That one would have been anawesome milestone to get you
(30:12):
know the one award for the wholecountry of all 30,000 pros.
But just say, you know what, Igot second.
It's perfect.
I love it.
SPEAKER_01 (30:20):
You're I I say this in in in some ways, you're a
pretty low-key guy when you whenit comes to your personal life.
You're probably one of the mosthigh-strung people I've ever met
in my life.
When it comes to energy and yourand your social engagement, um,
I know you don't like to talk alot about these awards, but
these awards have clearly helpedpave a path for you to have
(30:44):
built what you've built today.
SPEAKER_02 (30:47):
Yeah, without question.
I would just say, you know,going into like Golf Range
Association of America, um, I'vebeen really fortunate they're
part of PGA magazine and and towin top 50 status in elite class
with them.
That is a relationship likemecca, PGA magazine and what
(31:08):
they do for the professionals,um, all the travel, all these
things.
So I've been super fortunatebecause of that, that I've
gotten invited to Pinehurstmultiple times, um, San Diego at
one of the best hotels they'veever built, most expensive one
in California per room.
Um, you know, being around tourplayers, being around top
coaches that have won thenational award, um, and being
(31:29):
able to call them on their cellphones, right?
So by getting these awards isputting me in the room.
And again, first time in theroom, you are so nervous.
You're like, I shouldn't behere.
This is crazy.
And then you find out how niceeveryone is, and that, you know,
you belong in the room just likeeveryone else.
And so it's it's just peoplehanging out and trying to get
better.
And it helps validate people whowant to be in the room with you.
(31:50):
A hundred percent.
And again, these relationships,um, because I was on the East
Coast, it was incredible becausewe could talk stories, and now
that I'm on the West Coast,right?
So you get, you know, the factthat I've moved around was
probably one of the best thingsI could have done, knowing that
if I would have stayed inOregon, um, same kind of thing
happened at Illahey, was theyweren't ready to build a
(32:11):
facility.
And I'm always looking at how doI get better?
SPEAKER_01 (32:14):
Isn't it amazing when you come back to a hometown
after being gone for a while?
The level of confidence you comeback with.
SPEAKER_02 (32:20):
Yeah, without question.
And and it's funny, it's it'syou come back and then you
realize how much people havechanged and what they're doing
and how many people have movedback to Medford that moved away
too.
I was gone for 12 years.
So to move back, um, and thenpeople find out you're back and
you're teaching golf, and thenthey're like, Remember when I
had you in fifth grade class?
Or, you know, teach is cool.
So it is.
(32:40):
It feels like home for sure.
There's nowhere else we want tobe.
We've renovated a house here.
Um, again, the the awards aresuper helpful and it's it's a
feather in the cap, but itspeaks volumes to the team that
is surrounding us here at GolfGarage.
The Golf Garage team is secondto none, and it allows me to go
(33:01):
out and continue to grow golf atthe level I want to grow it
through Southern OregonUniversity and creating that
program to being on committeesand boards now with Boys and
Girls Club, um, the OregonChapter PGA, the Pacific
Northwest section playerdevelopment.
So not only do you get awards,but you have to look at how are
you going to give back becauseyou're now looked at it maybe as
(33:22):
a leader differently because ofwhat you've done.
And so I've served on the boardof the Northern Ohio section
PGA.
And it wasn't even like aquestion when you got asked to
do it.
It was like, yeah, that soundsgreat.
What committee can I be on?
And so sometimes maybe, like yousaid, I do a little bit more
than maybe I should as far assaying yes.
But it's so fulfilling to do allthose things and and also being
(33:45):
active and engaged in thecommunity, like on the Southern
Oregon Sports Commission.
Without being on it, I wouldn'tknow what's going on.
And it allows um just a littlevoice in the room to say, wow,
what if we did this to help growgolf because I can, you know?
It's awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (33:59):
So I have to make it awkward and uncomfortable for
the last for the last part ofthe of the show, but um standard
for you.
You have built a program, afacility, a team that has
exceeded your wildest dreams.
What in the world could be next?
SPEAKER_02 (34:21):
There's a lot next.
There is a lot next.
We are going to take golf garage50 times over.
I'll say it right now, 50 timesover all over the country.
It's gonna happen.
We're working through a fewkinks on the back end and it's
gonna happen.
That's the easy part.
It's easy.
SPEAKER_01 (34:36):
But for you, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (34:37):
For me, it's more time, you know, more time with
family, um, continuing todevelop golfers, um, an online
presence of being able to coachanyone in the world, um, and
just continuing to get betterevery day, you know, that 1%
model of trying to get better,that 1%.
I still want to get better andbetter and better.
I want to play.
(34:58):
I have aspirations of playing insome national events, but making
my team better and better andbetter and allowing them to
accomplish their goals.
SPEAKER_01 (35:05):
Any accolades in your pursuit of?
SPEAKER_02 (35:10):
I mean, I'd love another shot at the National
Youth Player Development Award.
Uh, just I have a few friendsthat have won it.
Um, they actually were part ofmy resume or references, I
should say, on the resume when Idid it.
And they're so funny becausethey're like, oh, it's only a
matter of time before you'regonna get it.
And I'm like, you know what?
I don't really care.
But now that you asked thequestion, I would say that one
(35:32):
just because I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_01 (35:33):
Everybody wants what they don't have.
Yeah, and I always want whatthey can't have.
SPEAKER_02 (35:38):
Yeah, so I'm kind of like Tiger Woods at the Masters.
I just want to keep winningthose green jackets.
Yep.
So it's good.
But nope, like I said, kind ofin closing, I couldn't do it
without the team.
Love it.
SPEAKER_01 (35:49):
Pleasure as always, Noah.
SPEAKER_02 (35:50):
Yeah, buddy.
We'll see you next week.
Yeah, next week.
We uh I think we got Don Lawpotentially or Andy Miller, both
National Youth PlayerDevelopment Award winners.
Get those guys going.
SPEAKER_01 (36:01):
Love it, man.
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