Riverway Golf Course successfully hosted the 2014 LessonTrax PGA of BC Spring Seminar Presented by Golf Trends and Golf Pride.

The two-day event, which ran Feb. 17 and 18, featured great presentations from Bandon Dunes Director of Communications, Erik Peterson; Scott Kolb and Winston Michell of Fresh Golf Solutions; Brian Manzella on Teaching with Radar and Golf Swing Science & 20 Questions – What would you teach if you knew…; and a full day presentation from Fred Shoemaker on Extraordinary Golf.

The seminar opened with Peterson, who enlightened members with his experiences of Bandon Dunes from a Marketing and Public Relations standpoint. He highlighted the Bandon Guest Services Experience, and how the resort continually strive to exceed expectations of their guests, day in and day out. Peterson had many attendees in the Riverway Clubhouse already planning their first or next trip to Bandon Dunes.

Peterson was followed by Kolb and Michell's informative presentation on how golf professionals should always be working on their brand and image as they continue with their career. Kolb presented the case study of Victoria Golf Club’s hiring process of their first Head Professional in decades and then Kolb and Michell took the members through some “best practices” of preparing your career for future steps in the industry. The longtime friends then touched on points from resume preparation, to public appearances, to networking opportunities, to playing. With over 40 years of combined golf industry experience, Kolb & Michell offered insight into what it takes to prepare for the next big interview.

After a spectacular lunch, the team at LessonTrax hosted an informative seminar, attended by approximately 50 people, on all their offerings. LessonTrax, which signed on as Title Sponsor of the Spring Seminar, had a beautiful information booth at Riverway for both days of the seminar.

After lunch on Monday, straight from Louisiana, was presenter Brian Manzella, a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher, member of the PGA of America for 24 years and PGA Kentucky Section Teacher of the Year in 2003. In 1987, he began a long tutelage under renowned instructor Ben Doyle, and in 1987, began a long teacher-student relationship with PGA Champion David Toms which continues today.

Brian’s presentations on “Teaching with Radar and Golf Swing Science” and “20 Questions – What would you teach if you knew…” left PGA of BC members with a new level of understanding from one of the world’s best.

On Tuesday, Fred Shoemaker spent the whole day talking about Extraordinary Golf: The Art of the Possible.

For more than 30 years, Shoemaker has been quietly transforming the way the game is thought of and taught. 

Fred has spent most of his career - over 41,000 lessons, and thousands of golf schools and workshops - helping people overcome the obstacles that prevent them from discovering and expressing their potential.

Shoemaker's presentation started with asking members what they thought was possible in their lives and golf careers. His fundamental approach includes these words of wisdom:

We’ve all had times when we felt that anything was possible, that life seemed limitless and fundamental change was within our reach.   Yet, we often find ourselves right back in old grooves in our games and teaching.

At the heart of learning is our relationship to change. And while accelerated development is available to all of us, some seem to access it more than others. Using demonstrations and inquiry, Fred Shoemaker will explore the dynamics of change and, how to cultivate it.  He’ll touch on…

• The source of change and new actions
• Learning how to learn, and the roles of presence and awareness;
• How to create a safe environment
• What is concentration and how we can grow it in our games, moment by moment
• How to review a video, and the role of discovery, failure and experience in learning
• How to deal with self-doubt and pressure, and other acts of self-sabotage
• Bridging the gap between what the student feels and what’s real
• Natural fundamentals, and drawing out effective mechanics

Shoemaker deftly incorporated hands-on demonstrations with audio-visual presentations.

After another great lunch from Riverway and a Question-and-Answer session with the LessonTrax team, Shoemaker continued with his presentation on Tuesday afternoon.

Shoemaker touched on the differences between coaching and teaching, with his thoughts on these subjects:

Imagine being in learning encounters so powerful and nurturing that each day and each encounter is an exciting adventure, a discovery that renews both you and your students. That is the possibility of coaching. 

Fred Shoemaker will share a coaching and learning paradigm designed to provide access to more satisfying, effective and transformational engagements.  Using demonstrations and inquiry, he’ll explore fundamental questions such as…

• What is coaching?
• What is the structure of coaching—requests, roles, responsibilities and conditions for satisfaction?
• What empowering learning means and how to handle the breakdowns of learning
• How to enroll students in being responsible for their learning and how to guide self-coaching
• How to create an environment that brings out high performance.
• The value of experience vs. information and concepts

The PGA of BC would like to thank all the sponsors and presenters for a hugely successful 2014 Spring Seminar and commends Riverway Golf Course and its Host Professional, Hal Eremko, for helping us put together such a fantastic event.

The next Education Series event is on Monday, March 3 at The Harvest in Kelowna. To register, please click here