By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
The rolling green fairways and fresh air of golf weren’t always the primary attraction to the game for PGA of America Golf Professional Michael Wenzel. However, a soft-serve ice cream cone often was. Wenzel’s dad got him into golf when Michael was eight or nine years old. They’d go to Old Wayne Golf Club in West Chicago to play, and they’d practice at Green Valley Driving Range in Hanover Park.
“We’d hit golf balls, and afterward I’d get a soft serve ice cream cone – usually either chocolate or vanilla – that kind of got me hooked on playing golf,” Wenzel remembers. “We’d ride on the golf cart and I’d get a Snickers bar when we were done for the day. There were sprinklers on at the time of day we’d be out there, so I got good at dodging the cascading water, except on really hot days when I’d let the droplets catch me.”
Wenzel played Illinois Junior Golf Association (IJGA) events as a youth and developed his skills. Wenzel played baseball, basketball and golf in high school, but got cut from the golf team during his freshman year at Augustana College, a four-year school in Rock Island, Illinois. He made the team as a sophomore, filling the 13th and final spot on the team.
He worked at Indian Lakes in Bloomingdale, Illinois, where he “kept the locker room as clean as possible.” He would, however, get his shot working in the golf shop.
During high school, Wenzel worked at Cantigny Golf, where Lou Solarte, PGA would not only hone Wenzel’s golf swing for a future career in golf but equip him with life skills that would be even more valuable.
“He was the one who had the biggest influence on me in the game,” Wenzel decries. “He helped me become the player that I am, as well as the professional that I have become in golf.”
Wenzel took a job at Kemper Lakes and took the Playing Ability Test while there, attaining his Class A PGA Membership in 2006. He gravitated toward teaching and coaching and celebrates 20 years at Heritage Oaks Golf Club in Northbrook, Illinois this year, where he is the PGA of America Director of Golf Instruction.
“We have a big program and a good team of professionals who collaboratively make it a success,” Wenzel says. “Our junior golf programming includes indoor training during the winter, and range and on-course play during the golf season.”
He says the most important factor in administering a successful junior golf program is that you and your team have a love, passion and energy for the sport, and genuinely take an interest in people on their journey into the game. After all, it can be a difficult task to learn at first; however, with the right guidance and support from family and friends, anyone can become a golfer.
“My goal has always been to take the complexities of the game and make them simple for people to understand and perform, making it fun whether they are a recreational or competitive golfer,” Wenzel explains. “Competitive golfers can often get too wrapped up in getting better and lose perspective on why they started playing the game in the first place and how fun it truly is. Celebrating great shots and great rounds is very important versus dismissing the accomplishments and being too focused on improvement.”
Wenzel says they start their juniors as young as three years old. They have a house league that’s a step up from the clinics, giving juniors some competitive experience, and PGA Jr. League to promote the team golf concepts. In fact, PGA Jr. League participation has grown from barely two dozen players just a few years ago to 65 junior golfers in 2023 and almost 90 golfers this year. With a Par 3 course, a nine-hole course and an 18-hole layout, there are many opportunities to get his youth golfers on the field of play. After all, as a former baseball and basketball player, Wenzel understands the importance of practicing where you play to better enable golfers to fall in love with the game. He also has a youth travel team for nine to 13-year-olds that plays against other clubs in the area. With JV and varsity squads, Wenzel is providing those next-level opportunities that motivate his most dedicated junior golfers to play and practice and improve as much as they can.
Wenzel runs in-house golf camps all summer long and PGA Junior camps, as well. He uses Trackman technology in his instruction when appropriate to help the older or more skilled players break down their swing and attain the numbers needed to gauge progress. He uses U.S. Kids Player Pathway books to structure his young junior instruction and offers LPGA*USGA Girls Golf as well.
Wenzel and his team host three-day Get Golf Ready sessions with adults and ensure they get their participants on the course during the last session. Wenzel knows how important it is to break down the barriers to entry in golf, particularly the intimidation factor that new golfers, women and juniors often face. He makes the game fun and inviting, not much different than his father did for him several decades ago with an ice cream cone and a candy bar.
As a result of his efforts at Heritage Oaks Golf Club, Wenzel and his team had 1,250 participants in all of their programs in 2023. Students are encouraged to play golf on the course as often as possible. In fact, the kids of his Future Stars clinics (ages 5-11) are encouraged to play one round of golf a week on their Par 3 course on Saturdays and Sundays. “We have coaches out there to help them take their game from the range to the course,” he adds.
Wenzel says his goal has always been to make the game of golf fun and to leave the game better than he found it. He takes pride in creating opportunities that he never had or that weren’t available when he was a kid.
He makes playing the game more comfortable for his adult students by teaching them such basics as how to drive a cart, where to drive and park and how to keep the game moving. He’s breaking down barriers and making the game enjoyable for all through Get Golf Ready programming.
The thrill for him is helping students play better, breaking 100, 90, 80 or even 70 for the first time. For him, it’s important to introduce new skills and have a mix of self-practice time and competition. “Sometimes students aren’t ready for competition, as they feel self-conscious, so we play games in team formats to keep it fun and keep everyone involved,” he adds.
According to Wenzel, “The key to being a great coach and instructor is to be positive and encouraging and to see the best in our students, versus pointing out all their flaws and having them feel like we are judging them. Building skills, being able to see and play shots and helping students learn how to do what they are trying to achieve to reach their goals is what teaching and coaching are all about. People come to me thinking they are broken and need to be fixed. I reassure them they have a great swing and can play this game and enjoy it. My job is to help them focus on what is most important or what to refocus on to play better. Thinking too much can be detrimental to performing at a high level.”
