By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
The Golf Range Association of America (GRAA) Awards highlight the growth of the game efforts of golf coaches from coast to coast. Some professionals have earned our awards several times. Some are even considered Elite Growth of the Game Teaching Professionals. While some are garnering the accolades for the first time. 2024 was just that for Matt McCrady, the Co-Director of Instruction at Bluegrass Golf Academy in Lexington, Kentucky.
McCrady was a young child when he got his start in golf, learning from his uncle Mike Thomas, who was the Head Golf Professional at Madisonville (KY) Country Club. As McCrady got older, he continued to learn from his uncle and played many rounds of golf with his dad.
With no golf program at his high school, McCrady didn’t play competitive golf during his formative teenage years, which put him behind the 8-ball as he entered college at the University of Kentucky.
With fewer junior tournaments and tours when he was growing up, as there are now, McCrady is grateful for the many great PGA of America Golf Professionals who have helped him get to where he is today.
“Chris Boysel gave me my first shot in the business,” he says, “while Larry Ward and Brad Bachand helped me understand the business and teaching side of golf. Grover Justice now allows me to learn from him, run Bluegrass Golf Academy (BGA) and make it as successful as we can as a team.”
As the Co-Director of Instruction at BGA, McCrady enjoys a 10,000-square-foot indoor facility with five Trackman bays, a technology/fitting bay, an indoor putting green and a gym. Their roster of students includes players from professional tours across the globe, as well as individuals who’ve never touched a club before.
“We currently have a membership of 165 golfers who take three lessons a month with me, Grover Justice or our third coach, Matthew Head. They also use our facility as a practice hub, enjoying 50 minutes per session in a Trackman bay that has high-speed video and a wide variety of training aids and tools,” McCrady explains. “We take a lot of pride in our programming and the technology implemented here at BGA. This includes the five Trackman bays already mentioned, high-speed video, Gears Golf 3D motion capture, Smart2Move force plates and a custom fitting center that has over 2,500 combinations to fit any player at any skill level. This technology renders a clear picture of each player’s golf swing, enabling us to provide the most accurate information on what they need to do to improve.”
BGA has a very successful junior golf program that has produced six Division I commits, two individual state champions and a Ms. Kentucky Golf in the past two years alone. They have several other junior golfers still in the program who have college offers and bright futures. With this stable of young golfers ready to carry the game forward, McCrady sees golf continuing to grow. After all, golf is cool now…and it’s fun. And with a more diverse customer base than ever, golf courses are more welcoming to new players.
This popularity extends year-round, as McCrady also believes that we’ll continue to see off-season practice and play at indoor facilities continue to flourish. Sure, they’re fortunate to have good golf weather in Kentucky for upwards of eight months each year, but McCrady sees the value in offering an indoor venue to receive instruction and play courses (albeit virtually) throughout the cold winter months, and the industry couldn’t agree more.
