Tony Brooks

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

Other awards won:
PGA Presidents award 2006 and 2009. Palm Desert’s “Best Golf Instructor” 2022

Total number of individual lessons given per year:
Male: 375
Female: 275
Junior: 800

Total number of individual clinics given per year:
500

Please indicate any Growth of the Game initiatives your facility/academy has launched over the past year (please give specifics on such programs):
I have launched a few new programs this year. I have launched our “CUB” program which is a development program for children under 5 years old, and works as a feeder program for our established development program for 5-15 years old. We cater to their parents with our established Adult development program. In total we I saw 250 new players come into this game who never touched a club, and I managed to convert a majority of these new players into golfers, and also provided a place for them to utilize the host facility, and introduce golf to their extended families.

I have also aligned with the Ernie Els Foundation for Autism, and now host ASD programming for children and adult who suffer from development disorders. I have been trained within the Ernie Els GAMEON curriculum and currently am the 3rd facility in CA to host this programming.

I worked with the city of San Diego to introduce and run their PLAY golf program over the Summer where I would go to 2 recreation centers over the course of a 12 week program and bring golf to the inner city students. 95% of these students never played golf, and we used SNAG golf equipment and introduced them to the game. It was amazing to introduce this game to students who by no other means would have had the opportunity to do so, and see the light bulbs of success go on.

Please share any programming you have made to keep your customers & students engaged:
I also designed and published our “Skills Application” which features 12 levels and offers 350 skill development skills to complete. Each level needs a certain skill count to complete, and our student earns XP points to be placed on our leaderboard for our in house skills challenges, and our in house tournaments. This application caters to the new player as well as a comparable D1 collegiate skill and so far is a huge hit with our students as it helps them practice correctly and see improved results.

We have our CUB (0-4 years), Junior (5-15 years) and adult (16 and over) program which I teach in class structured 4-1 ratio classes. I have 25 classes a week, and provide family programs where the entire family can also come to class together and learn the game together. We introduce them to the golf course by taking them once a week as a group to the course, where many, if not all, have never been. In the course classes we help guide them on how to check in, reserve a tee time, where to go, and how to play the game so they can feel confident enough to play on their own.

I run the /r GolfSwing forum on Reddit with over 52,000 users where we assist new players in swing and game development. I also host our YouTube channel with 2k subscribers and go over the cause and effect of the golf swing for educational purposes in a light hearted and fun manner. https://www.youtube.com/@liongolfacademy