By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
Julieta Stack is a four-time Golf Range Association of America (GRAA) Top 100 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional and a Top 50 U.S. Kids Junior Coach. She grew up on the 6th hole of the Brigantine Golf Links, located on a barrier island just north of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
“My parents played golf,” she says, “and my father was quite an accomplished athlete, so I guess he passed the golf gene on to me. However, I found the game far too slow and frustrating when I was young and preferred faster-paced activities.”
Stack says it wasn’t until her early 20s that she really got interested in the game of golf.
“I believe that experience helps me as a teacher now,” she adds, “as I recognize when a junior is bored or frustrated and can work with them so they develop some solid fundamentals that will come back to them later in life.”
Stack attended Florida State University, where she was a javelin thrower. She didn’t begin playing golf until her junior year when she transferred to American University in Washington, D.C. – there, she enrolled in Golf 101. She took a job at East Potomac Golf Links picking the range a few evenings a week to make some extra money, as well as for the golf privileges. She credits her participation in javelin, marathon running, basketball and other sports for helping her take to the game quickly.
Today, Julieta Stack is the LPGA Director of Instruction at the Baltimore Golf Academy at Pine Ridge Golf Course in Lutherville, Maryland. Check out its website and you’ll see a variety of instructional and league programming for adults and juniors, group clinics, private lessons and even health and golf fitness classes that include mental game and yoga training. We’ll make sure we highlight the fitness aspect of the Baltimore Golf Academy programming in our sister publication Golf Fitness Monthly in the near future.
“I’ve been diving into AI to develop in-depth curricula for students and various classes,” Stack explains. “Creating a curriculum has never been easy for me; but having an intelligent assistant (ChatGBT) helps me organize my ideas for classes, practices and long-term development for players. It has made quite a difference.”
Stack says she’s seen big game improvement from many of her players using Sportsbox AI. It’s helped her become a better instructor, and she appreciates the online seminars that help keep her learning.
“Combining Sportsbox AI with Toptracer at our range, and utilizing tools like Mizuno’s Shaft Optimizer have helped the overall quality of my coaching,” she boasts.
Stack says there have been dozens of coaches and teachers over the years who have helped her find her way. “Boo Pergament and Joe Henry back in Atlantic City gave me an understanding of how important fundamentals are in any sport, combined with hard work, determination and how out of that comes confidence,” she says. “It’s not a secret formula, but I’ve just kept applying that to whatever challenge I face and try to share that with my junior golfers. Over time, my mentors have come from all walks of life and have helped me become a better listener, leader and thinker. Now my personal trainers, PTs, close friends, family and our team at Pine Ridge Golf Course are the people I lean on to help keep me healthy and excited about the future.
That future includes AI on the tech and learning side, as well as to help streamline business processes that save time and money. She says it’s important to learn how AI can help you and make you more creative.
Also, as golf fitness continues to grow into a vital aspect of player development in golf, Stack emphasizes the importance of recovery and finding experts in your area – PTs, personal trainers, yoga teachers, etc. “Let them help your players,” she advises.
This is part of building a community. After all, people are yearning for connection.
“When people feel truly welcomed, you put them at ease. When you genuinely care about them, they return, and they bring their family and friends. The shiny new thing at your course may attract people initially, but when you build community spirit, you become rich in ways you never imagined,” she concludes.
