If Ben Hogan dug his answers out of the dirt when honing his swing, it’s a good bet that many of today’s golfers seek help while standing on high-tech mats with cameras, lasers, launch monitors and other gadgetry nearby.
Even someone like me – who isn’t high-tech and cringes at the sight of my swing on video – knows that improvement often needs a helping hand. Or two. So when I got invited to check out the GolfTEC location in Huntington Beach, I was curious to see what might set its system apart from other lesson and fitting locations in the Southland. Plus, it’s only a half-mile from my apartment, so it couldn’t hurt, right?
Then I saw my swing. Ouch! If a typical camera adds 10 pounds, just think what high-tech cameras and thingamajigs can do to the 10 flaws I’ve nurtured over the years. The poor things never stood a chance.
“There’s no hiding on film,” said Thomas Howell, GolfTEC’s regional manager who tried to make me feel better after witnessing my slouched stance, over-the-top swing and reverse pivot thrown in for good measure. “But we see guys like you everyday. Golfers like you are in our lesson bays every day of the week.”
While that gave me a bit of comfort in a misery-loves-company sort of way, it also showed that GolfTEC’s model is catching on with the public. A recent release stated that a Scottsdale location that opened in late May was GolfTEC’s 200th site, with the 177 locations in the U.S. including seven in Los Angeles County, five in Orange County, three in San Diego County and one in Palm Desert.
The steady growth since 1995 shows a business model designed to last, with instruction centers that focus on lessons and fitting riding a wave of popularity in the past 10 years that have 25-handicappers thinking as much about playing with the right equipment as most scratch players do.
“We essentially build a game plan for who you are as a golfer right now, what your respective goals are and then what your commitment level is relative to those goals,” Howell said. “Then a plan is customized, with lessons, a video-based practice membership, cataloguing lessons online for review and, if the client wants, a look at fitting to see if their equipment is holding them back or no upgrade is needed.”
But swing upgrades remain the main focus, with Howell saying that 75 percent of GolfTEC’s clients come for lessons, which are available in a number of packages depending on whether you’re new to the game, an accomplished player or someone looking to go from a 15 handicap to a 10. Because of the equipment used, in addition to taking weather variables out of the picture, most GolfTEC locations are indoors, with Howell saying that the company continues to seek cooperative efforts with golf courses to set up “green grass locations” such as the one at Encinitas Ranch.
Regardless of practicing in or out or going for lessons or fitting, Howell believes that GolfTEC is in a good position as the game, equipment trends and our high-tech world move forward.
“We’re always looking for ways to become better, whether that’s investing in new cameras or lighting or individual performance centers,” he said. “But, at the same time, we’re also leading the way in innovation. Over the past 20 years we’ve had a chance to study and recently published a report that catalogued data points on golfers from elite players to 30-plus handicaps. We found direct correlations to handicap relative to very specific swing positions. So, do we evolve to the golf industry or are we helping the golf industry evolve? I’d say it’s much more the latter.”
