By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
You never know where your passion for the game of golf will come from. Take Madelyn Neidhardt, for instance. This PGA of America Associate Professional and 2023 Golf Range Association of Americas (GRAA) Top 100 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional had always been involved in one sport or another, but golf was low on her list of priorities. Then she started working at World of Golf in Florence, Kentucky, and it fueled a passion for the game that she didn’t even know she had.
“Working at the facility, I started playing with some of the shift managers, got my own set of clubs and was hooked soon after that,” she explains.
Neidhardt knew as a kid that her passion for athletics would lead to her working in sports, but she never knew how. When the season came to a close for the independent baseball team that she was working for, she started looking at other sports teams and facilities in her area and discovered World of Golf, managed by renowned Kentucky golf professional Ralph Landrum, PGA, an Elite GRAA Growth of the Game Teaching Professional.
“I started working in our concession stand,” she says, “and worked my way up the ladder – front counter, shift manager and even general manager, before leaving to pursue my Master’s Degree in Sports Administration from the University of East London in the UK. Upon returning, I began to work with PGA Master Professional Ralph Landrum on teaching and coaching. Ralph would become my mentor.”
At World of Golf, beginners and juniors are Neidhardt’s bread and butter. She takes great joy in helping someone enjoy the game of golf as much as she does. In fact, World of Golf, a long-time GRAA Top 50 Stand-Alone Facility, hosts an LPGA*USGA Girls Golf program that has grown to over 150 girls in peak season. Neidhardt also hosts one-off experience days in the off-season.
“One of our Girls Golfers, who is only in 7th grade, has gone on to become one of the best golfers for her age in our area and has earned her way to play at Pinehurst twice with various tournaments,” Neidhardt boasts. “Seeing her develop a love for the game, the drive to compete and the ability to win, has been beyond inspiring and is what drives me to keep going.”
Neidhardt and her students are fortunate to have a multitude of technologies to use in their instructional programming and engagement together, including Golfzon simulators, TrackMan, Toptracer, SAM PuttLab and V1 Video software. This allows her more advanced golfers to dive into the details and analyze the numbers they need to see their golf swings develop. It also enables her beginners to practice their swings with fun game modes that keep them engaged and interested.
“Technology is so deeply rooted in the golf industry and in our society that these high-tech amenities and teaching tools will continue to rule the roost,” she says. “In terms of instruction going forward, the PGA Modern Coach Development Model is the future of golf. People are generally more comfortable in small groups with friends and family, and it enables the coaches and instructors to create a better work/life balance.”
For more information on what Madelyn Neidhardt has in the works at World of Golf, log on to the facility’s website today!
