PART IV

Continued from blog entry – “Interview Archive . . . PART III”

CWGM:  You are a NCAA National Champion, Director of Instruction at one of the finest golf facilities in the Northeast and the Metropolitan PGA Section Teacher of the Year. What is next?

TP:  I went  to college to play college golf with no one expecting me to win the NCAA in any division. I came to Westchester Country Club through the good graces of John Kennedy and got elected Metropolitan PGA Section Teacher of the Year. I am grate­ful for all those things. What ever happens next, happens. I am very happy at Westchester Country Club. It has become my home. I have never had a job as teacher anywhere that has lasted as long as here. Being a golf professional and playing  professional has shown me that golf requires a vagabond lifestyle, constant travel. So being at Westchester Country Club for eight years is certainly a record for me. I do not have any plans for going anywhere. I have a business at Orange County National in Orlando, Florida that keeps me busy during the winter months. When I return to Westchester Country Club each Spring I am pretty fresh and ready to get right into things again.

CWGM:  For our readers whose swings you may never see, give them your best golf tip.

TP:  Most everybody plays golf out of balance. Commercials and advertising tells you that the long drives, oversized clubs and added distance are what is important. All this implies that golfers do not have to be in balance and that the golf swing depends on quality contact and certain other things without being in balance. Most people start out of balance in their set up and proceed to stay out of balance in their golf swing. Based on my teaching philosophy, I believe balance is a fundamental and keeping people in balance in set up and showing them what a balanced finish looks like is essential. If you do not finish your golf swing in balance, you started your golf swing out of balance and you should check that.