Brian Varsey

Please indicate past awards won/recognitions:
Golf Digest Best in State, Other (Indicate specific awards below in 3-a)

Other awards won:
South Florida PGA Southern Chapter teacher of the year, US Kids Top 50 Honorable Mention 4 times, nominated for NJPGA teacher of the year 5 times

Total number of individual lessons given per year:
Male: 500
Female: 250
Junior: 250

Total number of individual clinics given per year:
50

Please indicate any Growth of the Game initiatives your facility/academy has launched over the past year (please give specifics on such programs):
I am the Director of Instruction at both Essex Fells CC in the summer, and Lost City GC in the winter. At both facilities I have a weekly email that goes to the membership with a video ‘tip of the week’, as well as a schedule of all upcoming clinics, and educational articles about long term improvement and motor skill learning. The videos are all on my YouTube page, @brianvarsey. The weekly email keeps people informed of things coming up, as well as, keeps them interested in improving and continuing to play on a regular basis.
I put together a Destination 36 program for the Ladies at Essex fells, which was my version of Operation 36, and had 25 different ladies take part. At Lost City I started Short Game Saturdays which is every other Saturday for 4 people and have had over 50 people attend. I’m an Aimpoint certified instructor and have taught 45 people in the last year, almost 400 since I became certified.
I do weekly men’s and ladies clinics that have brought out over 100 different students in the past year. All these different programs connect with people from different demographics which helps me grow the game for the entire membership.
Lost City has very few Juniors, last year I started a bi-weekly Junior clinic which brought out over 30 different juniors over the season.
During any slow time I always walk the range to give pointers to members, played in a dozen Pro-ams with students, and continue to work on my game and compete in Section and State tournaments. This year I qualified and competed in the PGA Sr National Club Pro Championship. I finished tied for 35th and am the first alternate to play in the Sr PGA Championship in May. I teach our Head Professional, Brian Gaffney, at Essex Fells. He made the cut in this years Sr US Open and last year won the NJPGA Section Championship. Our success keeps the members engaged and wanting to spend time with us at the golf course.

Please share any programming you have made to keep your customers & students engaged:
I purchased Smart2Move 3D force plates last year to have a new way to collect data to connect with more students and to keep current students engaged. Over time the data, combined with TrackMan data, shows any changes or improvements we’ve made so we can reconcile the difference.
I do coaching programs that cover every aspect of the game, especially short game and on course scoring. I give students who do a coaching program a copy of the Rick Jensen book ‘Easier said than done’. This little gift helps students learn, makes them feel special and motivates them to play and practice more often.