Looking for some recommendations. Son, living in Johnston and an ISU Grad, has decided to take up golf. Told him my experience was needed some advice and lessons from a good teacher before he developed too many bad habits. Reluctant to teach him and had to give up the game a few years ago (arthritis in shoulders) I am not the one tp do so, but am capable of supplementing some reasonable lessons. I learned the game in Illinois and Ohio, so am not familiar with DM and their golf resources. Any recommendations for good lesson opportunities?
Golf Learning Question
- Thread starter cysmiley
- Start date
I went to Mark Egly with my son. Nice guy and a top notch teacher by all accounts. My swing is apparently a disaster, but I'm too old to change lol.
Golf lessons, Des Moines Golf Driving Range, practice, Baseball lessons, Golf instruction
Mark Egly Golf Instruction and Des Moines Driving Range: Golf Lessons Des Moines, Baseball Lessons, Individual and Group Coaching, Golf Driving Range, Golf Instruction, Baseball Hitting Instruction, Mark Egly, Golf Instructor, PGA Golf Professional, Mark Egly Sports
markegly.com
Tell him to practice with only his wedges and putter. That should be 90% of training. As long as you don’t **** up a drive and you can’t chip and putt you’ll be solid.
Is he reasonable, though? I’m betting Ken is on the higher end of the cost spectrum. Don’t get me wrong…Ken Schall knows his ****. If he is affordable, you’d be hard pressed to find someone in the DSM area who can top him, but I’m guessing you can get a damn good lesson from others at a fraction of the cost. Just a hunch though. I might be wrong.
It was a little spendy, but he would probably get you squared away in a couple of lessons with grip/stance and then it's all on you to practice...
This is it right here. A few teaching videos, some playing videos to catch on to the rules/flow of the game. Good to go.
I have played golf off and on since I was in junior high. I have never taken a lesson and have a ton of bad habits from never taking lessons and swinging inefficiently my whole life.. I have watched quite a few lessons on YouTube over the past couple years, spent quite a bit of time on the range, and have gotten substantially better. I've moved from playing bogey golf to shooting around 80 pretty consistently. I don't play enough to get a handicap, but I would guess I'm right around a 9 and before I was around an 18. I've found that for me, focusing on a couple of small things in my swing has really improved my consistency. I would also suggest actually getting fit for clubs. I feel like that has helped me out quite a bit in the consistency department as well.
Last edited:
I did the dumb thing of getting fit before getting lessons so now my clubs match my **** swing, but whatever at this point. Tbh I love my new irons and wedges, it's the long clubs I have problems with.
I need to get lessons and practice to get better. Indoor golf place around here has a lump sum you can pay to have basically unlimited simulator time during the summer, I'm tempted to do that and just hit hit hit...but I still need lessons. Would I have a worse time getting good coaching since I'm left handed, and I doubt any coaches around here are? I get that the fundaments are basically the same, just flipped and all, but it's just weird learning from someone who can't give you a live example/visually show you what it should look like.
I need to get lessons and practice to get better. Indoor golf place around here has a lump sum you can pay to have basically unlimited simulator time during the summer, I'm tempted to do that and just hit hit hit...but I still need lessons. Would I have a worse time getting good coaching since I'm left handed, and I doubt any coaches around here are? I get that the fundaments are basically the same, just flipped and all, but it's just weird learning from someone who can't give you a live example/visually show you what it should look like.
Being a lefty should be no problem for any certified pro/instructor.
I've heard really good things about Sarah War at West Grand Golf. I think she would be a pretty good starter for the basics.
www.westgrandgolf.com
West Grand Golf | Lessons
West Grand Golf is Central Iowa's premier driving range and miniature golf course
www.westgrandgolf.com
I would add that I would start off with some very basic mechanics, and slowly add things from there. I got into a kick a couple years ago of watching and reading way too many golf videos and articles, and my swing thoughts became a mess. Had a checklist of thirty random things swirling in my mind, and my game went to hell.
I pared it down to only 2 or 3 and my game got back on track.
I pared it down to only 2 or 3 and my game got back on track.
+1 on Sarah WardI've heard really good things about Sarah War at West Grand Golf. I think she would be a pretty good starter for the basics.
West Grand Golf | Lessons
West Grand Golf is Central Iowa's premier driving range and miniature golf course
Her prices seem reasonable and she's very good with beginners.
I know others recommended youtube but for a new golfer, I'd highly recommend taking a few in person lessons.
I think having that initial instruction will give you a good base set of knowledge. Then you can switch to online videos.
^^^ This!!I went to Mark Egly with my son. Nice guy and a top notch teacher by all accounts. My swing is apparently a disaster, but I'm too old to change lol.
Golf lessons, Des Moines Golf Driving Range, practice, Baseball lessons, Golf instruction
Mark Egly Golf Instruction and Des Moines Driving Range: Golf Lessons Des Moines, Baseball Lessons, Individual and Group Coaching, Golf Driving Range, Golf Instruction, Baseball Hitting Instruction, Mark Egly, Golf Instructor, PGA Golf Professional, Mark Egly Sportsmarkegly.com
Mark Egly is quirky but a very nice guy, his driving range recently added Toptracer technology as well which is the only place I've ever seen it in Iowa. If you bring up Iowa State he'll tell you he taught both Hoiberg and Joel Lanning in his next sentence lol.
For someone more advanced check out Mark Atchison at Des Moines Golf & CC, he used to be the pro at Coldwater in Ames and certainly has ties to Iowa State. He's won teaching pro of the year multiple times.
For someone more advanced check out Mark Atchison at Des Moines Golf & CC, he used to be the pro at Coldwater in Ames and certainly has ties to Iowa State. He's won teaching pro of the year multiple times.
Agreed. Keep it very simple. Focus on a couple things and do those correctly every time. At some point it will become second nature and you can start adding more things slowly.
