By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
Stacy Miller-Arndt was introduced to the game of golf by her dad when she was just seven years old. He taught her how to play when they were members of Denton Country Club in Denton, Texas and Falconhead Country Club in Burneyville, Oklahoma. Their family would play golf together every weekend at either club as they were all golfers with low handicaps.
“My brother Clay and I would play and practice every summer at Denton Country Club with fellow juniors,” Miller-Arndt recalls. “Clay always pushed me to be better every day. I remember putting competitions every night, where the loser had to wash the nightly dinner dishes. I washed a lot of dishes, but became a better putter.”
Miller-Arndt decided that golf was the game for her when she was 11 after playing in her first national junior golf tournament, the Women’s Western Junior at Lakeway Country Club in Austin, Texas. After qualifying for the first flight, she won her first match against a 17-year-old senior on the 18th hole. After that experience, she found a passion and a drive to become even better at the game.
Stacy Miller-Arndt attended Oklahoma State University, where she participated on the women’s golf team from 1990-1995. Her first golf-related job was working for the Northern Texas PGA Junior Tour with Barry Rodenhaver as a summer intern, helping to set up and run the junior golf tournaments. After this internship experience, she knew she wanted to teach juniors and work in the golf industry.
“I became a professional in 1995, eventually earning my LPGA Class A membership,” she says. “My resume includes assistant professional roles at the Country Club of Woodmore from 1995-1997 and TPC at Avenel from 1997-1999.”
Miller-Arndt is the Junior Golf Director and LPGA Teaching Professional at Congressional Country Club, a position she’s held since 1999. We believe in athletes first and golfers second. If we can build an athlete, then we will have a golfer for his or her whole life.
“John Lyberger, PGA, and Michael Leemhuis, PGA, knew that I was interested in growing the game of golf and wanted to work with juniors,” Stacy boasts fondly. “This led them to hire me at Congressional for the Junior Golf Director position.”
One of Miller-Arndt’s most popular junior programs is a 45-minute Early Birdies Class for 3-4-year-olds. We hold three 6-week sessions each spring, summer and fall with the first part of the class being an obstacle course with a focus on throwing, jumping, running, hopping and balance. The second part of class involves hitting golf balls from within their hula hoops. For safety, the juniors stay in their hula hoops, and they end the class with a sweet treat.
One of their popular ladies’ programs is our four-week short game class. It’s a week focused on 50 yards and in. We host three sessions each spring, summer and fall, with each week introducing a new topic including putting, sand, distance wedges and finesse wedges. Miller-Arndt says her women golfers love this class since it covers an area of the game that they don’t practice enough or truly understand the correct way to hit the shot.
Miller-Arndt uses Trackman and Swing Catalyst during her lessons, as most golfers, young and old, like to see the progression of their golf swings on video. She says it helps them learn faster and understand the concepts being discussed. At the end of the lesson, they receive a video with feedback and a personal practice plan.
“I believe that junior golf and girls’ golf are the future of the game,” Miller-Arndt says. “The game is exploding due to the excitement of these young golfers. In fact, our club gives our juniors many opportunities to learn, practice, play and compete through classes, camps, on-course programs, tournaments and individual lessons. We encourage them to participate in Drive, Chip and Putt, U.S. Kids Tournaments, Peggy Kirk Bell Tournaments and Middle Atlantic PGA Section events.”
