GOLF SCHOOL

GOLF SCHOOL
Story and photography
by Eric Anderson

Although some have said golf ruins a good walk there's no better game to get people out in the fresh air. And no sport has more social overtones: friendships are cemented and business deals consummated more often on a golf course than any place out of the office. As if recognizing this, many who are starting careers in law and business have shown interest in learning the game and getting it right from the very beginning. And more older golfers, now they are retired, are returning to a game they had to abandon when their working life was too hectic for the sport. In answer, golf schools have sprung up all over America to make it fun to go back to school for the most difficult game in the world.

Some schools such as Mount Snow, Vermont, depend on a resort location; some like Pinehurst, North Carolina, on a historical place rich in golf mystique; others like the John Jacobs' Golf Schools on the reputation of that famous golfer whose teaching programs have become so successful they now impudently wave the banner: "Welcome to the World's Best Golf School."

Jacobs, a former captain for the Ryder Cup team, started his golf school about a quarter century ago with Shelby Futch, the Teaching Editor at Golf Magazine, Now more than 100,000 students have passed through a school whose motto is: "We don't teach golf to people. We teach people ... to play golf."

Two years ago his school came to San Diego. Embracing a long-established successful formula it offers instruction over four or three days or the weekend. Students can commute or stay at nearby hotels which offer Jacobs' golfers special rates. Students arriving at the San Diego school typically vary from complete novices to experienced players. "Some come confused by tips they've found in golf magazines," says Gary Cliplef, one of the teaching professionals, "not realizing that sometimes a tip may work for only one person. We teach there's not one grip and there's not one swing that works for everybody. Here we're more interested in what happens to the ball at impact -- and why. Golf is a game of reaction -- for some the wrong reaction. Slicers, for example, react to the ball's flight and move their feet to change their stance instead of hitting straight with the club face."

The students, sitting in chairs before the driving range nod with uneasy agreement. They've heard that 90 percent of golfers slice their drives so they know Cliplef is talking about them. Ed Bowe, the head golf instructor, adds his comments to Cliplef's. "Ninety percent of the people we see, slice," he says, "because of a swing that makes the face of the club twist open. This is because when we look down at the ball we get an impression that the swing should go straight back and straight through. And it shouldn't."