By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
Dan Shelden is a graduate of Marquette University, where he earned a Finance degree before working for TransUnion for more than four years. He then started working in golf, splitting time between Illinois and Florida while pursuing PGA Membership. He worked in outside operations, was an assistant professional and soon discovered that teaching was his passion. In 2018, Shelden became the PGA of America Director of Instruction at Ruth Lake Country Club in Hinsdale, Illinois.
“I have had a lot of great mentors along the way,” he adds, “but the biggest influence on my career was Mike Carbray. Mike and I run an indoor studio together in the winter, and he was the one who pushed me to become a full-time instructor.”
Shelden has since earned the 2020 Illinois PGA Section Youth Player Development Award and was a 2024 Golf Range Association of America (GRAA) Top 100 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional.
“I got my start in golf as a caddie when I was 12 years old,” Shelden says. “I didn’t know much about the game and figured if I was going to work as a caddie in the summer, I better learn the game. My dad had a set of clubs, but only played a handful of times a year. So, one of my older cousins, who was also a caddie, took me golfing for the first time and introduced me to playing the game. My foray into the game coincided with Tiger Woods’ professional debut in 1996. Tiger would become so important for golf at that time, and he’d play a huge role in my involvement in the game.”
Shelden credits his ten years as a caddie at Midlothian Country Club, a private club on the South Side of Chicago, with being an important aspect of his becoming a golf professional. Caddying provided him with knowledge of the game and sparked his passion and interest in the golf industry. Today, in addition to his Director of Instruction role at Ruth Lake, Shelden has been running the Journey 2 Better Golf Studio in the winter since 2016.
“At Ruth Lake Country Club, we run a lot of junior golf programs,” Shelden explains. “We have over 200 junior golfers and start them at age five with our Little Linkers Program. We focus on fun, colorful drills and games that create excitement for golf but also prepare them for our nine-week junior camp. This camp covers all areas of the game in a beginner format, highlighted by more fun drills and games, as well as contests to start introducing competition. As their skills improve and they continue to grow in the game, they transition into our PGA Jr. League.”
Shelden says they have two different leagues with four teams in each league. There’s a league for 8-10-year-olds and one for 10-13-year-olds. PGA Jr. League is the youth golfers’ first true opportunity to display their skills while teaming up with other juniors in competition. Shelden’s PGA Jr. League practices incorporate more on-course play, rules and etiquette, as well as a more in-depth understanding of full-swing fundamentals.
Shelden runs an advanced program known as his Lakers program that is designed to incorporate team lessons and practices for kids who want to participate in a higher level of competition like high school and college. The Lakers program is run like college golf practices, where all players are given different tasks (putting, short game, full-swing) that must be completed by the end of practice. These junior golfers play team competitions against neighboring clubs to give them experience playing their own ball and competing.
Shelden’s Journey 2 Better Golf winter class meets weekly for 20 weeks and is conducted in small-group instruction and skills competition format. Each class meets for 90 minutes with half of that time focused on swing fundamentals, improving overall body awareness, balance and coordination, swing positions, club speed, ball control, chipping/pitching skills and putting skills. The second half of the class contains a “mission of the day” skills test and competition that enforces what the students learned and practiced in the first half of the class. These juniors golfers work both independently and as a team to accomplish the given mission. Each game or skill is awarded points on completion, and each class allows the students to work for maximum points. The points are calculated with each class, and a year-end Journey 2 Better Golf Champion is awarded.
“As an instructor who works with a lot of junior golfers, the biggest trend I see advancing is golf professionals working alongside fitness professionals. This team approach is great for tailoring programs to each individual. It not only boosts performance but also reduces the risk of injury and extends golf careers. Knowing how a person moves is very instrumental in developing a golf swing that fits them,” Shelden concludes.
For more information about Dan Shelden and his programming that is Bringing New Golfers to the Range, log on to his website today!
