My New Calling?

As some of you may know from a presentation I gave at WAIS a few years ago, I grew up across the street from the 13th fairway of the Old Del Monte golf course, the oldest golf course west of the Mississippi. I used to sneak into the swimming pool at the adjacent Hyatt House, the site of the very first WAIS annual meeting in 1970. It is likely if not probable that I was swimming in the pool illegally while Charles Dotter was chatting with Josef Rosch at that very meeting.

Golf, despite its proximity to our house, was of no interest to me. In fact, the 13th fairway was more useful to us neighborhood kids as a place to set up a baseball diamond after dinner. If a late golfer teed off on the 13th, we’d run off the fairway and then reconvene on our diamond after the golfer had played through. Pebble Beach, perhaps the most famous golf course in the world, was a few miles away but it might as well have been a thousand for all it really interested me.

Fast forward to my medical school days in Cleveland, filled with muggy summers and frigid gray winters, ironically where I learned to love the game thanks to a few of my housemates. Because golf was an event around which to socialize, it wasn’t hard to mostly give up the game later when our kids were growing up. I still played but without any idea of actually improving.

A few years ago, I decided I wanted to improve and play to a single digit handicap so I bought new clubs for the first time. I spent a lot of time practicing (one of the very few upsides of the pandemic) and eventually achieved my goal. 

When I left USC without any plans for formal employment, one of the vocations I did consider was being a golf teacher. It made sense that I should place an ad on Craigslist:

My qualifications: A. nearly 30 years as a professor and teacher at the University of Colorado, Northwestern University, and University of Southern California. I love to teach and I'm good at it. B. My handicap is usually in the single digits. I love golf and I really enjoy watching people improve and also enjoy the game.

Here's the deal: I'll give you a 30-40 minute lesson. I'll even provide the range balls. If you like your lesson, you can pay me up to $20. If you don't like your lesson, pay me nothing. No judgment- I'll definitely enjoy it even if you don't. 

No catches, no gimmicks, and no commitments. I'm doing this in the spirit of helping folks enjoy the game more. Combining teaching with my favorite sport is a win-win.

My first lesson was with Tom, a retiree, and his wife, Donna. A bogey golfer, Tom was a little frustrated with the loss of distance from his consistent fade (left to right curve). In about 30 minutes, we had fixed his fade and had him hitting a very nice draw (right to left curve). Tom was laughing out loud on the range, delighted with every shot. And I got a huge charge out of his success, like seeing an IR fellow complete their first TIPS without any help. Tom handed me $20 at the end and couldn’t have been happier. Me, I couldn’t stop smiling- I felt really good about the experience and wanted to give his money back. He wouldn’t take it. And I wouldn’t trade anything for the joy of seeing Tom smile after a good shot.