“Reverse every natural instinct and do the opposite of what you are inclined to do, and you will probably come very close to a perfect golf swing.” – Ben Hogan
Whack! A beautiful drive.
Whack! Another one.
Thud. Don’t ask.
Steve Berry, a 50-year-old electronics engineer, worked on his tee shots recently on the practice range at Arvada’s Indian Tree Golf Course. The results were rather inconsistent, not what Berry would like but about what can be expected of a mid-handicapper.
Berry makes solid contact much of the time, and with lessons from a golf instructor he might improve enough to score consistently in the upper 70s or low 80s. But Berry, who took a few lessons “a long time ago,” is content to play the way he does and try to work out things himself.
“I don’t see the need (for lessons),” he said. “But I’ve suggested them to my friends when they start shanking all over the place. They’re not interested. I don’t know, maybe there’s a little fear there.”
Berry and his buddies aren’t alone. Almost everybody along the Front Range knows somebody who enjoys skiing lessons but wouldn’t think of making an appointment with a golf instructor.
“Change is scary, and some golfers worry that lessons are going to make them get worse before they get better,” said Lana Ortega, a Highlands Ranch-based golf instructor ranked among the nation’s top 50 female teachers by Golf for Women magazine. “Why would anybody pay an instructor to get worse? My job is to get them playing better after our first lesson. The first thing I tell students after seeing their swing is, ‘This is going to be simple.’ That puts them at ease.”
For the summer golf season, The Denver Post asked Ortega and four other nationally recognized golf instructors to provide tips to players of all abilities. Each of the five teachers works at least part of the year in Colorado.
“I hear golfers who are concerned that the instructor is going to completely break down their swing and they’ll have to start over,” said Kathy Hart Wood, a Golf for Women top-50 instructor who will teach this summer at the new Cornerstone Club near Montrose. “So instead they get tips from everywhere, from books, from friends.
“The problem with that is they never get a foundation so they know what their swing is about and how to correct things when something goes wrong. That’s what a good teacher can provide.”
Mike McGetrick, ranked seventh among the nation’s instructors by Golf Digest, said he never tries to coerce anybody into taking lessons.
“Most golfers are just content with their game,” McGetrick said. “And they enjoy playing more than practicing. To me, golf is about enjoyment. If they like where they’re at, that’s fine.
“But I think they’d find it’s more fun to play better.”
Time for a lesson?
Golf professionals offer lessons at most courses, usually charging a fee by the half-hour or hour. Beginners might consider participating in group lessons, which can be less expensive. To find information about lessons and clinics in your area, go to and search by ZIP code.
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
FROM TEE TO GREEN: Area pros give advice for all handicap levels
