Gene Bakkum

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

Other awards won:
2021 NCPGA Player Development Award; 2022 NCPGA Youth Player Development Award; 2022–23 Golf Digest Best in State – California; 2023 NCPGA Player Development Award; 2024 NCPGA Youth Player Development Award; 2024 NCPGA Professional Development Award; 2024 U.S. Kids Golf Top 50 Coach; 2025 U.S. Kids Golf Top 50 Coach; 2026–27 Golf Digest Best in State – California

Total number of individual lessons given per year:
Male: 200
Female: 50
Junior: 150

Total number of individual clinics given per year:
120

Please indicate any Growth of the Game initiatives your facility/academy has launched over the past year (please give specifics on such programs):
In 2026, ELEVATE Golf Academy sustained the momentum of our prior growth-of-the-game work while significantly expanding the scale and depth of our junior development pathway.
Our largest expansion came through ELEVATE Summer Camps. After operating four weeks the previous summer, we expanded to seven weeks in 2026 and welcomed more than 300 junior golfers. Participation regularly exceeded 40 campers per week. To support that growth while maintaining a safe, energetic and personal learning environment, we hired and developed a staff of more than 16 coaches. The result was not simply more camp capacity; it created more opportunities for young golfers to enter the game and more opportunities for developing coaches to learn how to teach and lead.
For the first time, we also created two Advanced Camp weeks in partnership with coaches from the University of California, Berkeley golf programs. This gave returning and more experienced juniors a next step beyond traditional camp. Players worked on purposeful practice, scoring, tournament preparation, course management and on-course decision-making while learning from experienced collegiate-level coaches. The response was extremely positive and reinforced our belief that growth of the game requires a pathway that continues after a player's first introduction.
Access remained central to that pathway. Through our partnership with Drive4Change, 23 junior golfers received scholarship opportunities across summer camps and school-year training. The most important part of that number was the continuity of support. Several scholarship players attended three or four weeks of camp, while others were able to progress into our new Advanced Camp. Rather than viewing a scholarship as a one-time introduction, we used scholarship support to remove financial barriers at multiple stages of a player's development: introduction, repeat participation, advanced programming and year-round training.
We also sustained our commitment to free introductory access. In spring 2026, we again hosted a large complimentary clinic and introduction-to-golf day that brought approximately 150 children through free instruction. Repeating an event of this scale is important to us because it creates a broad, welcoming front door to the game and feeds the longer-term development opportunities available through ELEVATE.
Our adaptive-golf work continued as well. In April, we partnered with the U.S. Adaptive Golf Alliance (USAGA) on a clinic connected to the NorCal Adaptive Championship at Sierra View. The clinic provided adaptive athletes with instruction, connection and preparation in a championship environment and continued our broader commitment to creating golf opportunities that adapt to the athlete.
School golf remains another important entry and retention pathway. I completed my 10th season coaching middle-school golf at Seven Hills. The team won the league championship for the first time, and Seven Hills players captured both the boys' and girls' individual league titles. Those results were rewarding, but the larger impact is the long-term connection school golf creates between students, teammates, families, instruction, camps and competitive opportunities.
Across all of these programs, our 2026 focus was sustained growth rather than growth for growth's sake. Seven weeks of camp, 300+ junior participants, 16+ coaches, two first-ever Advanced Camp weeks, 23 scholarship-supported players receiving repeat and year-round opportunities, approximately 150 children receiving free introductory instruction, continued adaptive-golf outreach, and a championship middle-school season all support the same objective: create more entry points into golf and then give players a reason and an opportunity to stay.

Please share any programming you have made to keep your customers & students engaged:
At ELEVATE Golf Academy, we believe introducing someone to golf is only the first step. Our programming is intentionally designed so players can see and access a next step: from introduction, to repeat participation, to skill development, to on-course play, to competition and, ultimately, leadership.
Our seven-week summer camp calendar became the center of that pathway in 2026. More than 300 juniors participated, with 40+ campers during many weeks. Newer golfers learned through games-based stations, team challenges and age-appropriate skill development. Returning players could build on prior camp experiences rather than starting over each summer.
For players ready for a greater challenge, we introduced two Advanced Camp weeks with Cal coaches. These weeks allowed juniors to remain within the ELEVATE community while progressing into more sophisticated work on scoring, course management, tournament preparation and purposeful practice. Creating this next level was especially important for players who had grown through our introductory and intermediate programming and needed a reason to remain engaged.
Drive4Change helps ensure that financial circumstances do not interrupt that progression. In 2026, 23 players received scholarship opportunities across summer camp and school-year training. Some scholarship players attended three or four weeks of camp, and others advanced into Advanced Camp. That repeat access is a meaningful retention metric for us: the objective is not simply to say that a young person tried golf, but to provide enough coaching, repetition, community and opportunity for that player to begin identifying as a golfer.
During the school year, team-based training, on-course coaching, individualized practice plans and performance tracking keep students connected to measurable goals. Our middle-school program at Seven Hills provides another example of the value of long-term engagement. In my 10th season coaching the program, Seven Hills earned its first league championship while players won both the boys' and girls' individual league titles.
We continue to use technology and feedback to make improvement visible. GC Quad, Swing Catalyst, LiveView Golf, video feedback, on-course stat tracking and personalized next-step plans help players understand what they are working on and why. For younger golfers, games-based learning and team challenges keep skill development fun and social.
Inclusive programming is also an important part of engagement. Our April clinic with USAGA at the NorCal Adaptive Championship at Sierra View extended our adaptive-golf work into a championship environment, providing instruction and community around competition.
Finally, engagement extends beyond the student. Expanding to seven weeks of camp required more than 16 coaches, creating a larger teaching team and additional opportunities for mentorship and coach development. Families remain connected through camps, school golf, training, play opportunities and the broader ELEVATE community.
Our goal is not simply to fill a lesson book. It is to build an ecosystem in which a golfer can enter through a free clinic or first camp, return for additional weeks, receive scholarship assistance when needed, progress into advanced training, play on a school team or in competition, and eventually become a mentor or leader for the next group of golfers.