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

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