Most golfers know they want to get better, but they don’t always know where to start. At Gulf Harbour, Head PGA Professional Josh Kirchner and Director of Golf Mark Doss say it begins before anyone steps up to the ball.
Before Josh does any teaching with a member, he wants to know who they are as a golfer. He asks about their goals, experience level, frustrations, and practice habits.
"The first lesson with a new member is really about building a complete understanding of the golfer, not just their swing," Josh says.
Physical limitations mean just as much. A lesson plan that ignores someone's back, hip, or knee history can work against them. "That really affects how they swing the golf club," Josh adds.
Mark approaches the first session the same way. "That first lesson is an assessment of that individual before you start instruction," Mark says. "We put together a program that works for their schedule."
When a member hits a plateau, or wants to know what's happening with their swing, Josh uses Gulf Harbour's Trackman simulator room.
"When you get on video and look at some of the data, you can really fine-tune things. You can see what's very inconsistent and try to change those things," Josh explains.
For Josh, the two most important data points are club path and face angle at impact. They account for most of what goes wrong with a shot.
"In order to get somebody to hit the ball solid, they have to have a negative attack angle. If you can get them to understand how to change that one data point, it's a real big game changer," he says.
Trackman can also help beginners."High handicappers get just as much, if not more, out of it than those people who are really good," Josh says. What Josh Tells Every Member
A lesson without follow-through practice rarely sticks.
"I don't like when somebody takes a lesson and goes right to the golf course. If you're making a swing change, it's hard to fully trust it," Josh explains. "I prefer somebody to sit at the range and work on it, that way they have the repetition to groove it."
Josh’s goal is to give each member something specific and achievable to carry forward. Using technology like Trackman accelerates that process. Without it, it’s mostly trial and error. With it, Josh can find the issue, show the data, and point a member directly at the fix.
Gulf Harbour's weekly formats—the Men’s Golf Association, the Ladies’ Golf Association, and the Ladies 9-Hole League—give members opportunities to apply what they've been working on.
The Ladies 9-Hole League is a good example. When Josh started at Gulf Harbour roughly 20 years ago, the group had 8 to 12 regular participants. Today, 160 to 180 members play every Tuesday.
"Every week before play, we do a quick half-hour free clinic for them. It gets the ones that want to improve a little more excited, gives them something to work on before they go out," Josh says.
Progress tends to show up in lower handicaps, better scores, and improved attitudes. "If that person comes back to you and they feel more confident, or you can tell just from speaking with them that they are more confident about their golf game, then you're on the right track," Josh says.
The members who see the most improvement are the ones who show up, put in the range work, and trust the process.
At Gulf Harbour, that process has a solid foundation behind it, two PGA professionals who know this membership, know this game, and build every lesson around the person standing in front of them.