By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
It’s that time of year again when PGA and LPGA teaching professionals and coaches submit their applications for the Golf Range Association of America (GRAA) Top 100 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional honors that are doled out each winter. With 100 annual winners in this category and currently 52 Elite Growth of the Game Teaching Professionals who have earned the initial honor more than five times, our roster of award-winning golf professionals is ever-growing. That’s why we implemented this new monthly feature in 2024 that highlights our new winners. Grover Justice, the PGA of America Director of Instruction at the Bluegrass Golf Academy in Lexington, Kentucky is one such winner.
Grover Justice was the 2022 Kentucky PGA Section Teacher of the Year after winning the Section’s Assistant Player and Player of the Year awards on several occasions and being named to Golf Digest’s list of The Best Teachers in Kentucky multiple times.
“My first experience in golf was on a family vacation to Myrtle Beach when I was 12 years old,” Justice tells us. “My dad took one of my brothers and me to a Par 3 course. My brother was in college already and neither of us had ever played the game before.”
Justice says his dad caddied as a junior and played a few rounds a year when he was younger.
“Both of them wore me out that day, and as a competitive person, it lit a spark for me to play the game,” he added. “Dad joined Green Meadow Country Club in Pikeville, Kentucky that summer, and I played daylight to dark all summer long.”
Justice was fortunate to have a great PGA of America Golf Professional, Luther Minor, teach him the game during those early years in golf.
“Luther hired me in the summers and taught me at an early age about the business side of golf,” Justice recalls. “By the time I graduated high school, I had assisted in every facet of the golf business – tournaments, outings, junior camps, merchandising, club repair, cart fleet maintenance etc.).”
Justice played collegiate golf at the University of Kentucky, where he won five individual tournaments. He played professional golf for six years, one of those years as a member of what is now the Korn Ferry Tour (buy.com at the time).
“During this time I had the opportunity to work with many great golf instructors,” Justice remembers. “My journey and experiences have been as an assistant golf professional, head professional, teaching professional and now the owner of the Bluegrass Golf Academy.”
Justice says working as a golf instructor for the last 14 years has been very rewarding. He appreciates the opportunity to teach people the great game of golf so they can play for a lifetime.
“Whether it’s someone who has never picked up a club before, a professional player, or anyone in between, I enjoy sharing my love for the game with each individual I teach,” Justice says proudly. “At Bluegrass Golf Academy, we have created a coaching membership and practice facility for all skill levels. Our middle school and high school programs are designed for competitive golfers, with the program consisting of group sessions, private instruction, practice facility access and TPI fitness training. The kids train 12 hours a month with supervised coaching, and we create a competitive environment to train and test our players using Trackman, Foresight GC3, Gears 3D and force plates to measure each player and their progress.”
Since the pandemic, the number of players coming into the game has been incredible. Most clubs in the Lexington area have a waiting list to join, and public courses are seeing record rounds. Justice believes we’ll continue to see more indoor facilities and the development of par 3 facilities to help serve these new golfers.
“I think the PGA of America Golf Professional’s knowledge will continue to grow and we’ll better understand the ‘why’ with the enhancement of technology and AI,” he concludes.
For more information on the Bluegrass Golf Academy, check out its website today!
