Robert Dickman

Please indicate past awards won/recognitions:
PGA Section Teacher of the Year, GRAA Top 100 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional, Golf Digest Best in State

Other awards won:

Total number of individual lessons given per year:
Male: 700
Female: 200
Junior: 200

Total number of individual clinics given per year:
40

Please indicate any Growth of the Game initiatives your facility/academy has launched over the past year (please give specifics on such programs):
Robert Dickman

Robert Dickman
FROM LESSON TO LIFELONG GOLFER: THE GOLF ENGAGEMENT PATHWAY

Golf has experienced extraordinary growth, but we believe the
industry's next challenge is not simply attracting new golfers—it is
keeping them engaged in the game. National Golf Foundation research
reports that 29.1 million Americans played on a golf course in 2025
and 3.3 million were beginners. Yet only about one in four beginners
ultimately becomes a committed golfer.

That challenge has helped shape one of our academy's primary
growth-of-the-game initiatives during the past year: From Lesson to
Lifelong Golfer: The Golf Engagement Pathway.

Our philosophy is simple: instruction should not end when the lesson
ends. Improvement creates confidence, but golfers also need
relationships, playing opportunities and a pathway into the golf
community if they are going to remain active participants.

Our academy serves golfers from private clubs, public courses and
facilities throughout the greater Chicago golf market. Because our
students come from many different facilities, we are uniquely
positioned to help connect each golfer with appropriate playing
opportunities—not only at our facility, but wherever they play.

We actively learn each player's experience level, goals and home
facility and then help identify the appropriate next step into the
game. For a new golfer, that might mean an introductory social league
such as Spark Golf or another low-pressure playing opportunity. As
confidence and ability increase, we encourage participation in men's
and women's leagues, club events, championships and tournaments
appropriate to the player's skill level.

Importantly, we follow up. We ask students how their event went,
discuss what they experienced under actual playing conditions and
incorporate those experiences into future coaching. Rather than
viewing instruction and playing as separate activities, we create a
continuing cycle:

Learn → Play → Reflect → Improve → Play Again.

We also intentionally create golf relationships. When we identify
students of similar ability, personality or goals who do not have
regular playing partners, we introduce them and help form groups. This
addresses one of golf's significant barriers: having someone with whom
you feel comfortable playing.

Our small-group playing experiences typically include four or five
similarly skilled golfers accompanied by a coach. Some evening
sessions use a scramble format, allowing players to remain together,
enjoy the social side of golf and experience a variety of shots and
situations without the pressure of individual scoring. These sessions
help bridge the gap between practicing on the range and feeling
comfortable on the golf course.

For juniors, we don't believe in creating tournaments simply to create
more programming. Illinois already has an excellent junior competitive
structure. Instead, our role is to help families navigate that pathway
intelligently—selecting events appropriate to the player's ability,
establishing a balanced tournament schedule, managing development and
recovery periods, and preparing players for goals such as earning a
position on their high-school golf team.

Ultimately, our growth-of-the-game philosophy is built around
retention through improvement, engagement, relationships and
opportunity. We don't simply want someone to take golf lessons. We
want to walk alongside that golfer as they become more confident, find
people to play with, participate at their home facility, compete when
appropriate and ultimately develop a lifelong relationship with the
game.

Please share any programming you have made to keep your customers & students engaged:
PROGRAMMING DESIGNED TO KEEP CUSTOMERS AND STUDENTS ENGAGED

As I mentioned in my video, my career has evolved from serving as
Director of Golf at two of the country's outstanding facilities, to
becoming a performance coach, and now to what has become my greatest
professional passion: growth of the game—helping golfers become fully
engaged, lifelong participants in the sport.

An important influence in that evolution has been my nearly five years
of involvement with the GRAA and the relationships and conversations
that have come from it. Through discussions in Pinehurst and beyond
with the outstanding professionals associated with PGA Magazine and
GRAA, one message has particularly stayed with me: for most golfers,
the experience is roughly 85% golfer, fun and engagement, and 15%
performance.

That perspective has helped change the way I coach. Performance
matters tremendously—people enjoy golf more when they improve—but
great instruction alone isn't enough. We coach the golfer, not simply
the golf swing.

That philosophy now drives our entire student-engagement process—from
the New Student Assessment before they arrive, to the way we welcome
them, conduct the lesson, design their individual practice program,
communicate between lessons and follow their experiences on the golf
course.

Before a new student ever arrives, they complete our New Student
Assessment. I learn about their golf background, goals, previous
instruction, physical limitations, frustrations and what they most
want to accomplish. When they arrive, our academy environment is
clean, organized and completely prepared—the technology and equipment
are ready before they step onto the tee.

Whenever possible, I personally meet the student in the parking lot
and drive them to our academy tee. That short ride is surprisingly
important. Because I have already reviewed their assessment, we can
immediately talk about their game, their goals and often things we
have in common. It helps eliminate intimidation and tells the golfer,
“You matter, and I am prepared for you.”

CREATING INDEPENDENT GOLFERS

During instruction, I don't simply tell students what to do. I
continually ask questions: Where are you trying to send the club?
Where should the club contact the ground? Why do you think that ball
went right or left? What did you feel?

My objective is to develop golfers who understand their own game and
gradually become their own best coach.

We give students simple drills they can reproduce independently, often
requiring nothing more than two tees or an alignment stick. More
importantly, each student's practice is connected to their individual
goals through a personalized practice card.

These cards can include putting, short-game and full-swing work, but
they go beyond mechanics. We incorporate performance and
skill-development challenges so golfers learn to transfer improved
technique into actual golf performance.

THE LESSON DOESN'T END WHEN THE LESSON ENDS

This may be the most important part of our engagement program.

Students send me pictures of impact tape, practice cards, swing videos
and other feedback from their practice. I review them and respond.
They receive lesson videos and are encouraged to communicate about
their progress between sessions.

That creates a continuous coaching cycle:

Assess → Learn → Practice → Report → Coach → Play → Evaluate → Repeat

If someone tells me they are playing in a tournament, league event or
club championship, I make note of it. I want to know how they
performed and what they learned. We discuss it afterward and use that
experience to help determine what comes next.

The relationship therefore isn't lesson → goodbye → next lesson. It is
an ongoing coaching relationship.

Maintaining that level of personal engagement with a student base that
has grown to approximately 1,300 golfers requires considerable effort,
but I believe it is one of the most important things we do. Students
recognize when someone genuinely remembers their goals, follows their
progress and cares about their experience.

Our goal isn't simply to retain a customer. Our goal is to develop a
golfer who stays engaged with the game. When we accomplish the second,
the first usually takes care of itself