Bob Usher

Please indicate past awards won/recognitions:
GRAA Top 100 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional, Other (Indicate specific awards below in 3-a)

Other awards won:
a. 2022 GRAA Top 100 Growth of the Game Teacher b. 2022 GFAA Award Winner – On Course Category c. 2022 GRAA Top 50 Range – Private Category d. 2022 Southwest Florida Chapter PGA Player Development Award e. 2021 GRAA Top 100 Growth of the Game Teacher f. 2021 Southwest Florida Chapter PGA Youth Development Award g. 2021 US Kids Golf Top 50 Master Kids Coach h. 2020 GRAA Top 100 Growth of the Game Teacher i. 2019 US Kids Top 50 Junior Coach j. 2018 US Kids Top 50 Junior Coach k. 2012 Southwest Florida Chapter PGA Junior Golf Leader l. 2012 Boardroom Magazine Recognition In Junior Golf

Total number of individual lessons given per year:
Male: 600 Male Lessons / 113 Different Men
Female: 400 Female Lessons / 63 Different Women
Junior: 250 Junior Lessons / 45 Different Kids

Total number of individual clinics given per year:
150 Hours of Schools, Clinics, Junior Camps, Free Member Lady Clinics, Free Employee Lady Clinics, and Free Employee Clinics.

Please indicate any Growth of the Game initiatives your facility/academy has launched over the past year (please give specifics on such programs):
a. GRAA – Bob Usher, Jr. A Multi-Award-Winning Second-Generation PGA Professional
b. GFAA – March 2023, Working Together for Your Members
c. PGA Magazine, June 2023, Keep Enhancing Your Education and Communication
d. PGA Best Practices: Educate, Communicate and Collaborate for Best Results, July 2023
e. PGA Best Practices: Use social media to Foster Mentorships In a New Way, July 17th 2023
f. PGA Best Practices: Host Golf Schools with Guest Instructors, August 14th, 2023
The Articles I have published are examples of growth of the game initiatives and strategic development to enhance my reputation as an instructor and create value for the facility. Hosting golf schools with accomplished instructors is a great way to gain expert knowledge and experience in the teaching field. I hosted golf schools with Putting Expert Mike Shannon, Short Game School with Dr. Rob Neal and a day of lessons using his technology of measuring the biomechanics of golfer’s swings. This was very valuable and showed me how I can become more of an expert using K Vest Technology when teaching. His technology with sensors is very advanced and he showed me ways of using the k vest technology to enhance my lessons using the device. Another school I did was with 2009 PGA National Teacher of the Year Mike Bender. After the teachers leave the students will do follow-up lessons with me and my team. After paying the guest coaches I made $32,395 in instruction and my fellow coaches earned $10,000. We generated a total of $67,575 in revenue.
Other fun ways of creating growth of the game initiatives are using new range technology to enhance the driving range. Ball Launch monitors are growing in popularity in teaching and now those companies are installing that technology on the practice range. Companies such as Top Tracer, Trackman, and In Range our to name a few. We recently installed In Range. With this technology our members can download an app to get yardages and see where that ball is going. The technology is very easy to use, and the members now ask me questions about ball data that they can receive from practice. This has given me an opportunity to grow my clientele and show my expertise.
Getting creative with hosting Glow Golf Events on the practice range. I will host some Glow Golf Events during the holidays, and this gives me a chance to meet family members visiting during the holidays. This has led to my acquiring more students during the holidays that are younger. During the summer months when it’s slower in South Florida, I will get emails and text messages asking for advice from these new students. It has me doing Zoom lessons now. This is a great way to stay busy during the wet and hot summer months. 2. Get Golf Ready is my most successful – In the last couple of years with the growth in golf we have had a lot of beginners joining the club. I really enjoy teaching beginners the game of golf and everything it encompasses from Golf swing development, equipment, course management, and history of the game. New members that are new to the game are excited to play and learn everything about it. I am bringing more families to the game and becoming the family golf coach. More participation in tournaments and rounds of golf are certainly up but most of all the whole family is participating.
Special Needs Golf Program – Over the years I have earned a reputation of being able to connect to students at any level. I started teaching kids with special needs. These children and some adults can’t communicate like you and I can. I have created fun games that are easy to follow and we use targets that are colored pool noodles. I set up on the range colored pool noodles and that becomes the target zone. Based on the colored target zone, the student can earn points or advance on the game board that I have created that day. I show them how to hold a club and aim a club face to advance through the target zone. A lot of the kids will discover how to make the ball go to the appropriate zone. I don’t have to say too much and will let them discover how to make the ball curve or go straight. I will use pool noodles with an alignment stick to show how the club works, I also use an oversize club iron I purchased from a training aid company to demonstrate with a basketball as the golf ball. This became very popular throughout the club and the feedback was very positive. Now I get adults with their grandkids on vacation that have learning disabilities to sign up during the holidays along with kids on a weekly basis. Autism has many levels as my son is autistic. They are extremely gifted and learn different ways. I love spending time with autistic children and it has helped me become a better teacher.
Game Base Learning – Ball Launch Monitor Companies such as Trackman have developed into more of a golf course simulator company. With over 100 golf courses to play they have also added games. The games are unique video game style for full swing, chipping and have recently added putting. These games have grown in popularity. These has paved the way for game base learning for golfers. I started using this with Trackman for Juniors and Kids with Special Needs. I posted the fun we were having on Instagram and the parents loved it. They asked if they could play some of the games I was using during the lessons. For example; if we are working on short game we would use one of the games called Bullseye. Bullseye is a game you can hit closer to the pin for points. Play against yourself or another golfer, coach, etc.
You can pick the desired distance you hit from. The gaming aspect in golf practice has blown up and I’m taking advantage of it. We just recently installed a golf simulator on the practice range and the members can use their own phone or tablet to log in and play games or just practiced using the ball launch technology. This is the future of practice ranges to get people to practice longer with technology to entertain them while they are doing it.

Please share any programming you have made to keep your customers & students engaged:
Social Media, if used correctly can be a positive tool for helping you grow your business. I use Instagram to help market my brand Bob Usher Golf. What is nice about Instagram is when I post something to my account, that post will automatically be posted on Facebook also. Some of our members still use Facebook and don’t have Instagram accounts. This way there is an audience out there that can still see my post. I am very respectful of people’s privacy and will ask if I can post something involving them, especially with children you must ask the parents. Can’t be too careful. Some parents are very sensitive to this. I will post golf lessons I have conducted; this way people can see themselves and get there 15 minutes of fame and others can see my style and method of teaching. I will also post congratulations to my students on tournament wins or personal accomplishments. I also like to post golf trips I do with my family, staff, and students. I have posted trips to Pinehurst, Bay Hill, and many others. I also posted some family trips that I have done highlighting some of my hobbies so people can get to know me on a different level. Not just a teacher but people can see through social media what type of person I am. I have 340 posts and can’t wait to post more. Some of my favorite posts are working alongside other instructors. I personally love posting things with Mike Bender when we do golf schools together and when I visit his academy in Lake Mary, Florida.