John Platt

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

Other awards won (if provided):
NCAA Division II/III National Coach of the Year, Illinois section Youth Player Development award, Illinois section Junior golf leader

Total number of individual lessons given per year:
Male: 800
Female: 400
Junior: 1000

Total number of individual clinics given per year:
25

Please indicate any Growth of the Game initiatives your facility/academy has launched over the past year (please give specifics on such programs):
During the 2024 season I hosted two high school coach’s clinics. I invited local high school coaches to attend a one-day seminar. These seminars included instruction on how to conduct better practices, teach them some new drills for their players and gave them ideas how to coach their players better on the course. After the morning session I offered a lunch and then myself and 3-5 of the other pros at Mistwood Golf Club played 18 holes with them in the afternoon. All the coaches loved the seminar and look forward to the 2025 clinics.

Another program was after the PGA Junior League season, we had so many kids who wanted to keep playing so we did our own version of a fall league, basically following the same format as PGA junior league. The kids enjoyed playing with and against their friends and parents also had fun watching driving around in carts to help speed of play. After the season we had all the parents and players for a pizza party and discussed with the parents are plans for the 2025 season!

Please share any programming you have made to keep your customers & students engaged:
Our instructors at Mistwood Golf Club are fortunate to have the ability to teach year-round as we continue our coaching inside the Mistwood Golf Dome. One of our best programs is called the CAP junior program (Competitive Athletic Program) started in 2015. The program has 3 levels, CAP JV (players with intermediate skills), CAP (players who are good high school players looking to play college golf) and CAP APPEX (players who are accomplished looking to play D1 golf). These programs start in November and end at the golf course May 30th. They are held Monday thru Thursday nights from 4-8 with three classes each night and the APPEX players also come on Saturday mornings from 7-9 and 9-11. All aspects of the game are covered including speed and mental game training. The total number of players in CAP last year was 80 and this winter looks to be around 100. The success of the program has been fantastic. This past year we had players participate in the USGA Junior Am, PGA World Championships, North/South Junior Am and qualify for the upcoming USGA women’s four ball. We also had AJGA winners and 28 of the students qualified for this year’s IHSA state finals with 4 top six finishes and last year’s state champion.