Sarah Bidney

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 awards won (if provided):
’18-’19 Golf Digest’s Best Young Teacher in America – ’22-’23 & ’19-’20 Golf Digest’s Best Teachers in State (Iowa) – 3-time Iowa PGA Section Teaching Professional of the Year – 3-time Iowa PGA Section Youth Player Development award winner – 6-time GRAA Elite Member Status Top 50 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional – Master Top 50 Operation 36 Coach – 7-time U.S. Kids Golf Honorable Mention Top 50 Kids Teacher

Total number of individual lessons given per year:
Male: 100 45 min male individual lessons
Female: 80 45 min female individual lessons
Junior: 200 30-60 min junior individual lessons

Total number of individual clinics given per year:
I have held 375 classes/clinics/golf events this year with over 200 for juniors and over 150 for adults. I still have a few more weeks of programming left along with indoor clinics beginning in November/December.

Please indicate any Growth of the Game initiatives your facility/academy has launched over the past year (please give specifics on such programs):
In 2015 I became the first Director of Instruction at Wakonda Club in Des Moines, Iowa. I grew the program to record attendance and loved my time growing the game there. Unfortunately, Wakonda underwent a renovation that closed the facility for almost a year and resulted in a large loss of membership. Due to the significant impact this membership loss would have on my programming and revenues in 2023 and beyond, I began looking for a new facility. In mid-February I became the first ever Director of Instruction at Hyperion Field Club in a northwest suburb of Des Moines. I had 6 weeks to market and launch my suite of programming to the membership and I am quite pleased to say there was tremendous turnout and this season has been just as busy as my previous years at Wakonda Club. I was so happy the membership was eager for quality programming! My junior programming filled in and I grew their previous numbers from 160 to 245 youth participants! With zero Adult programming in the past, the 77 adult participants this year is a wonderful number! In addition to the number of participants in programs, this year I have had over 3,000 visits to the club due to my programming and lessons.

This year at Hyperion I was able to introduce Future 36ers (ages 4-6 years old), Operation 36 (ages 7+), my Leading Edge Elite program (7th grade through High School age), Adult Performance Coaching, as well as Adult Operation 36 were also well attended! All programs are offered Spring, Summer, Fall and soon to be Winter with a new indoor simulator space I’m having added to the facility! We also continued the summer camp-style program they have always offered – I made a few tweaks and it was also well-received by the membership!

Please share any programming you have made to keep your customers & students engaged:
All of the programs I have in place keep my students engaged – I have made a deliberate effort in the last 5-6 years to move from the private lesson model to group programming/coaching. I no longer want to see a student for 45 minutes and not see them again on a regular basis. My members at Wakonda Club and now at Hyperion Field Club have come to expect to register in a longer program with more time together to see actual results. In addition, I am creating an environment that is social fand fun, which is very engaging, and of course they are learning and understanding their pathway to improvement. I continue to see beginner students using the facility more and making their own tee times, I’m hearing success stories from my established golfers that they’re scoring better and enjoying the game more. Long term player development programs are keeping my students engaged. The Operation 36 program has been a game changer as far as keeping juniors engaged, this was the 8th year I have directed this program and as far as student engagement goes, they love it! They love the on-course events and the levels of curriculum. They definitely love the skill point chips and incentives throughout the program as well as the prize parties I run at the end of each semester. 4 parties in total each year – loads of smiles and fun! The parent engagement is also huge with training them to be “caddies” and being part of their child’s journey!

Besides the improved programming, I also use CoachNow to provide recaps and session notes to help guide their practice. I have a private Hyperion Field Club Operation 36 Facebook group to keep parents updated and provide shout outs to personal best scores/yardage division passers. I use social media heavily to share these shout outs – please visit Sarah Bidney, PGA on Instagram and Facebook and @DSMGolfLessons on X (formerly Twitter) to see how I reward my students for reaching their goals. Seeing students at a minimum of once a week really helps to build the relationship and trust needed to really help someone grow and develop in this game.

Lastly, I have tried hard to have student engagement and make an impact outside of Hyperion Field Club. I am currently wrapping up my second term on the Board of the Iowa PGA Section/Junior Golf Co-Chair – this has been a great experience as we created two online seminars for our strong junior tour program connecting our kids with John Dunnigan and Dr. Rick Jensen. In addition, I was also on the planning committee for the 2022 Women’s Golf Summit and was on a panel for the summit which took place on May 22. So not only have I served my membership and the Des Moines area, but I am trying to have a larger reach through the Iowa PGA Board and Women’s Golf Summit. I was invited to present at the 2022 Iowa PGA Assistants Teaching and Coaching Summit, which was great fun. I have also been asked to be the first mentor for Teaching and Coaching for our Iowa Assistants Association and look forward to being a go-to for our young professionals. I also volunteered with the VA to provide online private lessons to veterans last winter/spring and was asked to help with a GIVE (Golf for Injured Veterans Everywhere) clinic in a suburb of Des Moines. Helping to keep injured veterans engaged with golf through these volunteer opportunities has been wonderful.