After 25 years of playing golf without any instruction outside of high school level coaching, Andrew had never had a lesson. In order to reach the next step and become a better golfer, he felt it was time to spend some time with an instructor. Find out why we chose to go with golf instruction at Walt Disney World Golf.
Getting Started
I asked around the golf community including the company whom I got fitted for new clubs at and the instructors at Disney Golf came up multiple times. Since moving to Orlando, we have played quite a few rounds of golf at the Walt Disney World courses. One reason is due to having Oak Trail, the 9-hole walking course, included with our Annual Pass. The second is that the three 18-hole courses are fun to play and always in good shape. So going with their instruction made sense.
Before we get into the lessons, here is a little bit about my golf game. I started playing when I was around 13 when my parents gifted me a set of golf clubs for Christmas. I became hooked instantly and played as often as possible, even hitting balls into a net in my parent’s backyard. I played on the high school and college golf teams, graduating college with a single digit handicap. Outside of some coaching at the high school level (the college golf team coach knew nothing about golf but we were required to have a coach), I had never received any formal lessons.
About Disney Golf Instruction
Walt Disney World Golf Instruction offers all types of lessons, including 45-minute lessons, 1/2 & full day golf schools, video analysis, group lessons, on course playing lessons, and corporate clinics and team building activities.
The half day lesson includes putting, chipping, pitching, and full swing fundamentals. It also includes video swing analysis and a custom club fitting opportunity. The full day lesson includes everything above plus a course management discussion and 9 holes on one of Disney’s championship golf courses.
Special discounted Instructional rates are available for Military members, Junior golfers, Disney Vacation Club® Members, Florida Residents, as well as Disney Cast Members!
The Disney Golf Instructors
Michael Schlager
Michael served as a Senior Instructor and the Director of Short Game School at the Academy of Golf at PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. During his tenure, he not only had the opportunity to work with thousands of golfers, he was also exposed to a teaching philosophy unlike any other in the golfing world.
Michael's primary goal is to raise his students' level of enjoyment through game improvement. His innovative teaching style is unique in the industry, and the results are immediate and maintainable.
Mike is a fully certified Class A Member of the PGA of America and excels in the role of Teaching Professional. His teaching methodology is based on having a sound setup and properly balanced weight shifts to allow the body to move the club as efficiently as possible.
Before working at Walt Disney World® Golf, Mike worked in Japan for 5 years where he became fluent in Japanese, and excelled in an all Japanese team setting. He has also spent a short amount of time in Australia, working at a top public course just north of Sydney.
Mike Byrnes
Mike is a fully certified Class A Member of the PGA of America and excels in the role of Teaching Professional. He continues to grow his teaching skills and knowledge through observations of fellow teaching pros and his PGA training. His teaching methodology is based on having a sound setup and properly balanced weight shifts to allow the body to move the club as efficiently as possible.
Before working at Walt Disney World® Golf, Mike worked in Japan for 5 years where he became fluent in Japanese, and excelled in an all Japanese team setting. He has also spent a short amount of time in Australia, working at a top public course just north of Sydney.
Mike enjoys introducing new golfers of all ages to the game in a fun and stress free environment as well as helping current golfers achieve their playing goals. His strengths lie in his laid-back and sincere attitude to ensure the student always has a magical experience.
My Lessons
I took three separate 45 minute lessons, all with Michael, concentrating on different parts of my game during each of these sessions. The first lesson we worked on consistent and effortless ball striking. Michael was able to relate the baseball swing (I am very familiar with baseball as I played through college) which made understanding the new swing moves much easier.
The second lesson began at the chipping green next to the Palm driving range. My chipping is notoriously bad, especially considering my handicap. Michael was able to take the move taught during the full swing lesson and incorporate that into my chipping swing.
The third lesson was held on the massive putting green right behind the clubhouse. After hitting two putts, Michael made two small changes (grip and stance) that have made my putting drastically better.
Once I get more comfortable and consistent with these changes, my plan is to occasionally work with Michael to make a few tweaks to start really refining everything. Until then, the confidence in my game has grown and I have hit quite a few shots over the last few months that surprised me in that they were ordinarily ones that I wasn’t able to execute in the past but could now. Basically, I always really enjoyed playing golf, but Michael has made it that much more fun!
My Experience
I have hit more range balls and worked harder on my game during the last few months than I ever have. The good news is this is starting to really pay off and I was surprised with the immediacy of the results. While my handicap has only gone down by about 0.4 (4.0 to 3.6) in the 4 months since starting lessons, I find shooting in the low-mid 70’s a lot more effortless and my misses are much better.
Outside of learning new swing patterns, there is also a learning curve when it comes to club distances. Because of these swing changes, I have a new appreciation and understanding of what a truly well struck shot feels like and find that I am hitting my irons further with more regularity.
Something happened to my mindset ever since beginning golf lessons and that is I feel like I am playing golf for the both of us. What I mean is that I sometimes feel like I am letting Michael down if I don’t play well. This is a very odd mindset considering my playing poorly has no impact on Michael, it just feels like he put the effort in to make me a better golfer and therefore I need to get better. On a positive note, I believe this mindset is also making me work harder and the results are really starting to show.
Obviously my results may differ from someone with a different handicap but I do believe golfers of all abilities can benefit from golf lessons which will most likely lead to more enjoyment.
I plan on updating this post as the months go by with what I hope will be a continuing improvement of my skills, consistency, and handicap. Stay tuned…
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