Scott Shapin

Please indicate past awards won/recognitions:
GRAA Top 100 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional

Other awards won:
2017 Mid-Atlantic PGA Section Assistant Professional of the Year, 2011 Southwest PGA Section Assistant Professional of the Year

Total number of individual lessons given per year:
Male: 375
Female: 375
Junior: 100

Total number of individual clinics given per year:
75

Please indicate any Growth of the Game initiatives your facility/academy has launched over the past year (please give specifics on such programs):
Golf at Pine Lake looked a little different this year; we started a complete golf course renovation in the middle of June 2023 which is scheduled to last until July 2024. The lack of golf course meant I needed to find new ways to keep our members engaged and golfing while the renovation was underway. This meant reimagining existing programs and implementing new initiatives to keep our growth of the game momentum going even during the shutdown.

Junior Golf: Determined to find a way to keep our junior members engaged this summer, we decided to partner with TopGolf for our summer junior golf clinics this year. We hosted over 50 kids for a 6-week series of one and half hour long clinics utilizing the TopGolf facility. The fun atmosphere of TopGolf kept the kids engaged and excited about golf and the parents appreciated the out-of-the-box approach to allow their juniors to stay connected to the game.

Pine Lake has a significant number of junior golfers competing on their high school teams. As the Director of Instruction, many of these juniors are my students. I offer to run and host a short game school for any of the teams my students are a part of. The short game school consists of 45 minutes of putting instruction and drills followed by 45 minutes spent on chipping instruction and drills. The West Bloomfield High School boys team joined me in the Spring and left super excited about what they learned and went on to have one of their best finishes of the year in their next event.

Travel: A year without a golf course is an excellent opportunity for our members to explore and try new courses. Our golf course renovation was not a surprise, so I was able to start the planning for this period well in advance (18 months in advance for our biggest trip) to host a variety of golf travel experiences for the members. In total, I have arranged six trips for 2023 with another four planned for the beginning of 2024. These trips targeted all areas of the membership including two couples’ trips, one ladies’ trip and three men’s trips accounting for well over $200,000 being infused into the golf travel industry.

One trip that stands out as an exemplar of how golf travel is an excellent tool for continuing to grow the game and creating lifelong participants was the ladies’ trip to Arcadia Bluffs. Most of the ladies attending this trip started in our 3-holers program just a year or two prior, progressed to the 9-holers league and were now going on a 3-day golf trip. We are already planning next year’s trip.

The growth generated through golf trips is more than just the dollars spent during the trips; it is also the investment in new apparel, new equipment, and lessons that are taken in preparation. It is also the core memories that are created that keep the members connected to the game and each other. After every trip, two things happen without fail: (1) the members that participated in the trip want to know “where are we going next?!?”, and (2) those that didn’t go on the trip want to know how they can be added to the next one. I already have trips planned for next year that include Casa de Campo, Streamsong, Harbor Shores, and Pinehurst.

Travel Impact by Numbers:
57 of the 73 trip participants take lessons with me
Casa de Campo: 14 members, $42,000
Arcadia Bluffs: 14 members, $20,000
Ireland: 18 members, $103,000
Treetops: 14 members, $16,000
Las Vegas: 4 members, $13,200
Streamsong: 8 members, $28,000

**The numbers represented above were the base prices of the trip. This does not include airfare or additional spending while at these destinations.

Lessons: Part of the course renovation includes a new range and short game area; this left me with no outdoor teaching space. We currently do not have an indoor teaching/practice facility at our club, so, we rented an off-site indoor facility to house our two Trackman simulators. This allowed me to keep teaching and offer the members a place to practice. I was also fortunate enough to be able to use a local club’s short game area for putting, chipping, and bunker lessons.

During the winter, to encourage members who had not tried lessons before to become more engaged in their development, I offered free 30-minute lessons to members who had not previously taken lessons with me. Surprisingly, only five people took advantage of this offer. However, they all turned into regular students.

Please share any programming you have made to keep your customers & students engaged:
Weekly Women’s Clinics: 35 clinics (weekly) averaging 4 students per session
The weekly clinics were twice a week during the winter on our simulators and once a week during the season. We covered all topics.

Putting Clinics: 2 clinics, averaging 4 students per session
One-hour clinic focusing on the three putting skills, speed, face control, and green reading. Each student received a brochure with the class material as well as practice methods and games.

Wedge Clinics: 2 clinics, averaging 4 students per session
The one-hour clinic focused on wedges and how to control distance. Each student built their wedge matrix that they could keep in their bag.

Chipping Clinics: 2 clinics, averaging 6 students per session
The one-hour clinic focused on the fundamentals of chipping, including club selection and distance control. Each student received a brochure with the class material.

3-Hole Women’s League: 1 session (5 weeks per session) 14 students
This league is designed for new players and runs for five weeks. Each week starts with a 30-minute clinic on a specific topic. Players then play 3 holes followed by dinner.

Help, I have to Play Golf Today! Clinic: 5 clinics, 6 students
The Help, I Have to Play Golf Today! Clinic takes place one hour prior to our women’s evening league. This clinic allows me to accommodate more students looking for a lesson right before they play. Most are my regular students looking for a quick swing check.

Drive, Chip, and Putt Series: 1 session (4 clinics per session) averaging 12 students
This clinic focused on the three aspects of the competition. Each clinic had a teaching component and a competition component. The final clinic was a mock competition.