THE PRO FILE
THE PRO FILE
RUMINATIONS ON GOLF AND LIFE
Scott Szymoniak, PGA Professional General Manager, Fort Collins Country Club, Fort Collins, CO
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AT 15, I KNEW JUST PICKING RANGE BALLS AND BEING THERE FROM DAY ONE THAT I WANTED TO BE IN THE GOLF BUSINESS.”
irst Golf Memory: I was 7, and my dad took me to Burnham Woods on the South Side of Chicago. It was actually a place where Al Capone used to play golf. I have an uncle who is a golf pro, and he made me my first golf club—which was a cut-down Jack Nicklaus Master 6-iron. And the combination of getting that club and my dad taking me to go play was what got me started in the game. Aha! Golf Moment: My first job was when I was in high school, 15 years old, and I got a work permit. I started picking range balls at Sand Creek Country Club in Chesterton, Indiana, and I knew just picking range balls and being there from day one that I wanted to be in the golf business. One Thing You Tell All Your Students: I always say that you need to make practice as realistic as possible. Golf is different than, say, football or baseball in that your practice field, the driving range, is different from the one you play the game on. And when you have an opportunity to practice on the golf course, that’s the best place to do it. Best Day on the Course: It was 2005. I was standing on the first tee of St. Andrews at the same time Jack Nicklaus was coming up to the 18th green in his last British Open. I was actually coaching a player who was in the field, so I got a credential that got me inside the ropes. I watched Jack finish up and the crowd go nuts over him. That is by far my best moment on a golf course. Are Golfers Eternal Optimists or Masochists? That depends on the golfer. (Laughter.) But I would say the majority of golfers are eternal optimists by all means. In an entire round of golf, all it takes is one good shot to bring them back again. Favorite Golf App: Nike Golf 360o. It does just about everything as far as game improvement goes. It tracks your score; it gives you all kinds of data and charts and graphs about your stats. It has a bunch of
information on physical fitness and different exercises and drills to do for your body type. It’s also an avenue for communication with other people in the Nike organization. It also enables you to film your golf swing from the phone and diagnose it with lines and compare it against other Nike tour athletes. Pretty nifty. The Job: I love the variety of things I get to do and the challenge of trying to make sure every member is happy, as well as the challenge of trying to make sure the club is relevant to every member. I enjoy sports in general, so in my recent move to Colorado, I have the ability to work in tennis, golf, swimming and fitness— everything we do here. I’m also looking forward to the golf ball flying another 15 yards in altitude! Daddy’s Girls: I have two daughters: Taylor, 7, and Avery, 5. And believe it or not, I like taking them shopping at the mall. I have dropped quite a bit of money at a stored called Justice. Their golf right now consists of playing partial holes. Like any 5- or 7-year-old, what they enjoy most is riding in the cart. I go out with them in the evenings, and they love seeing the deer that come out. I haven’t given them any formal instruction. I just kind of let them take to the game at their own speed. The funny thing is, they actually have