Sea Island Life Magazine Fall/Winter 2013 | Page 31

Davis Love III, front, partnered with McGladrey in 2010 to raise funds for his namesake charity. supporters to make a pledge for every birdie made during the four rounds of The McGladrey Classic. This year, there are 37 participating charities. fundraising events related to The McGladrey Classic go above and beyond the - a tradition of staging a community concert event on the Wednesday night before the performed at the inaugural concert. This year’s act is country superstar Toby Keith. the davis love foundation. “There are so many great events going on and oyster roasts to our live Under the Oaks concert on Wednesday night,” love says. “i think my favorite part is being able to ing southern hospitality that the Golden isles has to offer.” 19,400 attendees in 2010, 23,400 in 2011, Matt Kuchar, lucas Glover, Jim furyk and Webb simpson compete for The McGladrey Classic trophy. Visit mcgladreyclassic.com for details. Darius Rucker performed at the 2011 tournament. THE GO-TO PLACE FOR PROS AND AMATEURS ALIKE Sea Island’s Golf Learning Center is well known in golf circles for its top-notch instruction, state-of-theart technology and, of course, phenomenal practice resources. So it’s not uncommon to see PGA TOUR pros come in for help with their swing, an equipment tuneup or just to practice their game. While the Golf Learning Center is not open during The McGladrey Classic, some of its students may be playing in the tournament. Players like Davis Love III, Brandt Snedeker, Charles Howell III, Zach Johnson, Ben Crane won The McGladrey Classic Matt Kuchar, Lucas Glover and Jonathan Byrd have in 2011. sought to better their game from the staff, which is led by Golf Learning Center Director of Instruction Todd Anderson. “I’ve kind of taught a little bit of everything to tour pros, including the full swing, the short game and putting,” Anderson says. “And there are always some mental parts involved. I don’t think you can teach golf without touching the mental side of the game a little bit, such as how to approach shots and how they should be thinking. ... I basically teach all aspects of the game.” Despite being among the best in the world, these tour pros don’t cease trying to become even better, and Anderson’s keen eye for swing mechanics and communication help them achieve their goals. “From a teaching standpoint, I’m trying to give them awareness of what they need to do to be successful as a player … help them understand who they are as a player and what they need to do to improve in the various parts of their game,” Anderson says. “Over the years, the players I worked with come back and tell me that they still do a drill or work on something we worked on when they were students here. Hopefully we made some kind of an impact on them that they applied to their game in the long term.” PGA TOUR pro Harris English is a huge fan of the facility. “I have worked with them for a couple of years now, and have learned a lot,” English says. “Plus, they have everything there you could ever want as a golfer. There is [equipment to] simulate every hitting situation. There are so many good chipping greens and putting greens, too. It is truly unlike any other practice facility I have ever been to.” 30 sea isl and life | fall/WinTeR 2013/14 SI2_McGladrey_3pages.indd 30 9/17/13 3:25 PM