My Golf Source
Attention Golf Enthusiasts! Level up your golf game with hosts Darren Penquite and Noah Horstman, PGA as they keep you up to date on the latest trends, equipment, training aids and more. Learn tips and tricks from PGA Professionals to lower your score and grow your love for the game of golf.
My Golf Source
One Shot, Three Hole-In-Ones, And A Lifetime Devoted To Growing The Game
We trace Noah’s path from a single pure strike to course records, college pressure, injury, and a pivot into coaching that led to a 20,000-square-foot training hub and a scalable player development model. Along the way, we unpack awards as access, mentors as multipliers, and the garage that built a movement.
• League play banter, skins, sushi eel, Golfzilla event
• Youth tournaments, 15-yard iron gains from shallower path
• First spark at Bear Creek, early records and confidence
• College ambitions, rejection fueling drive, Tiger-era inspiration
• Wrist surgery, shift to coaching, first-lesson philosophy
• Mentorship shaping teaching, relationship-first approach
• Ohio chapter, awards, youth programs, media access
• Boardroom setback that redirected the indoor vision
• Return to Oregon, backyard garage bays, demand surge
• Building the 20,000 sq ft facility and staff culture
• Operation 36, team awards, community impact
• Giving back through boards, universities, and partners
• Vision to scale Golf Garage to 50 locations
Bring the whole family down. Lots of candy, lots of fun. Four o’clock to 5:30.
Welcome to the My Golf Source Podcast. Welcome to My Golf Source. I'm Darren. And I'm Noah. What you been up to, man?
SPEAKER_02:Everything?
SPEAKER_01:Just golfing and door golf. You did not win in league last night.
SPEAKER_02:No. Some of us have to play a little bit more in order to win in league. Did you play you played last night? I did. I shot even. Did you get it? Uh no, but we had there was a net zero next to us. Nice. A guy hold out for eagle with two pops.
SPEAKER_01:I birdied. Birdie number six. Which gave me a net eagle. Nice.
SPEAKER_02:So did you skin? I did. How much did you make off of it?
SPEAKER_01:$47.
SPEAKER_02:Oh man. So what are you up to after what four different months of league? You're probably up to a couple hundred bucks. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. So pretty close. Yeah, that's perfect. But does that pay your barbill? No. Okay. Not even close. Yeah, it's okay. That's that's the problem golfers have. It pays the tip. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01:Did you try any sushi last night? I did. I had eel for the first time. How was it? Amazing.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Pan fried. So it was cooked. Right. Um, you know, everybody says this. It tasted like tender chicken. Did you think it did? Honestly. I don't think it tastes like tender chicken. I think it tasted like super tender chicken that falls apart in your mouth.
SPEAKER_02:I like it if it's a little bit crispy and you've got the sauce in there. So I don't have to taste it and know what I'm eating. It's way better that way.
SPEAKER_01:It was hard to get over the mental thing of I'm putting eel in my mouth.
SPEAKER_02:You're thinking of an eel in the water coming after you, just like your golf balls.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Freshwater eel. What is that? I don't know. Let's not let's see.
SPEAKER_01:The only freshwater eel I know of is like the electric eel in the Amazon. The moray eel? That's saltwater. Oh.
SPEAKER_02:That's ocean buddy. Oh, okay. Well, I don't really study up on my eels too often. No.
SPEAKER_01:I'm just afraid of those because not your subject in college.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I don't like snakes or eels. They're kind of in the same family. Speaking of that, we've got a dinosaur out front today. Did you see it?
SPEAKER_01:I saw it. I took a picture of it. It's like 25 feet tall.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah. We've got the uh golf retreat tonight. So kids are coming in, they get a trick-or-treat here for a few hours. We're gonna have some contests. Um, it's gonna be awesome. And golfzilla's only about 20 feet tall. So excited to see some of the kids try to take some swings at it. What time to what time? Four o'clock to 5 30. Lots of candy, lots of fun. Bring the whole family down. It's gonna be a good time. We'll stop by. Yeah. Toby. Yeah. Yeah. I'll go home and get the kids. We'll let we'll let Toby run a competition. He'd love that. I bet he would. Yeah. He's he's sitting at super good right now, kind of off topic. Because last year, last week we had him on the show. Right. And um, it was fun to interview him. He did a great job, by the way. He seemed like he was a seasoned veteran. He's a little bit nervous, but he was he's been watching dad a lot on the show, probably. Yeah, but it's pretty cool to see the maturity, and he's getting ready to play in some tournaments. So I think you guys sign him up for a couple of the winner series.
SPEAKER_01:Uh yeah, tomorrow? Quill point. Yeah, tomorrow, quill point, Sunday, centennial. Centennial.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yeah. So it'll be fun to see because when's the last tournament he played in was over the summer, probably. Over the summer. So and he's hitting it so much farther, so much better, so much more confidence. So it'll be really, really great to see where he's at.
SPEAKER_01:So after my lesson with Ryan, I added 15 yards to my irons. No way. Fifteen yards. Fifteen yards. What was the biggest difference? Shallowing, being more shallow coming in. Yeah?
SPEAKER_02:So not over the top, not across, not over the top, not across.
SPEAKER_01:I'm I'm coming in more shallow, better rotation. Awesome. Better turning. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Well, and if you look back at last winter when we assessed you, right, there was some separation issues and some things. So you've obviously been aware of it. You make some small changes, and now all of a sudden, same thing is wrong, but now that you've worked on some mechanics, right? That's too far. You need some uh blades that'll get you back to life here.
SPEAKER_01:Well, let's get earlier for those. Okay, perfect. I don't think I strike the ball that well yet. Oh, okay. Whatever. We'll get there. So, anyways, just walking through this facility today, getting ready for your golf retreat tonight. I was just wow, you know, here you are, brand new 20,000 square foot high-tech golf facility. Where did this all begin? Not just your dream for the facility, but where did it all begin with golf?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's that's a great question and a very, very long story. But in short, I played every other sport growing up, and golf was never on the radar. My uncle played. Um, I think I had a cousin that played, and that was all that I knew about golf at the time. Um 1996, I believe it was, I went out to my uncle's house. Um, and I remember making a swing with his golf club, which was oversized length. He was six foot four. Can you believe that? I'm only 5'7. But he makes a swing, or I make a swing with it, and I literally jabbed myself with the grip and I hit the ground and it hurt. I'm like, I'm never doing that again. About a year later, a uh a friend of mine was playing little league baseball with me, and uh he said, Hey, I want you to come to Bear Creek Golf Course, and we're gonna go out there and we're gonna pick up some golf balls. I had no clue what it meant, it just meant that I was gonna go hang out with a buddy and we go out there and we uh pick the range. Next thing you know, the owner comes out and says, Hey, great job. Why don't you guys go play golf today? I'm like, Well, we don't have any clubs. So she gives us some rental clubs. We go out, we walk this par three course. You know, it's just like bad shot after bad shot. I mean, I'm a baseball player at the time, I'm in season, and we get up to the eighth hole, and I'll never forget this one golf shot that I hit that absolutely hook line and sinkered me. Right. I was like, it almost got to the green from 150. I'm just like, okay, this is awesome. So we get done, and the owner, Marla, um, comes back and says, Hey, do you want to come back tomorrow and work? And he couldn't, but I'm like, Yeah, absolutely. This is awesome, and I'll give you golf again. So lo and behold, it all started by a buddy that played little league baseball. And um, I started working at Bear Creek golf course pretty much every day after school, under the table here and there, maybe don't tell anybody. Um, but I got free golf out of it, and I would just play and play and play and play. And a year in, I was shooting the course record at Bear Creek. I was already shooting four and five under par for nine holes. How old were you? I was uh 13 at that time. So I had three hole and ones um when I was 13 in the same year on the same hole, two and two days of playing. So it was kind of like, you know, I was just hooked in playing the game and I was engulfed in it. And I was rafting at a high level. I was actually offered a job um to guide when I was 14. And I turned it down because I started playing competitive golf. I'm like, well, I don't want to get injured. I'm liking it so much, I want to play on tour. And Tiger Woods was the guy. Oh my gosh. I mean, he had won the masters a few years earlier. Like, I remember being in front of TV for it. Yeah, so this is about 98, 99 at this point. I'm I'm just about to get into high school, so I'm like, I don't wanna, I don't want to do that. And I had a really good high school um, you know, four years. I played parsley.
SPEAKER_01:You're not that much older than me.
SPEAKER_02:I graduated in 2002. So, in short, you know, kind of fast forwarding, it it really just turned into passion for the game, love for the game, wanted to play on tour, um, played four years of college golf, team captain at Pacific University, um, and loved every minute of that. I actually, my intent was not to play division three golf. My intent was to play division one. Everybody wants to be, you know, I wanted Arizona State. I wanted to be there. And um I'll never forget that I had some success my freshman year. I was ranked in the top 50 in the country between all three divisions, um, ahead of Sergio Garcia by a couple points on scoring average, which was pretty cool to see. Um, and I get a call from University of Oregon. They wanted to um talk to me about coming down to play. It was the one school in the Pac-10 at the time that didn't call me or try to recruit me, which was weird being an Oregonian. And so I uh I go down there and meet with the with the um coach, and that was the one school I wanted to go to because they had landscape architecture. So I go in there and um I'll never forget within about five minutes, coaches like, Hey, what's your major uh architecture? Oh, you can't do that and be on the team. And I'm like, Well, why not? Oh, because we're gone too much. So I kind of listened a little more and we were talking and I kind of zoned out because I'm like, somebody just told me that I couldn't do something.
SPEAKER_01:And so you can't do two things at once.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, essentially, right? And so it was a great lesson to learn that you know, I try not to tell other people that because I know how it made me feel at that time. And my only goal at that point was like, I'm just gonna prove this guy wrong and I'm gonna do whatever it is that it takes.
SPEAKER_01:It's a horrible thing to tell a college student.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I think I've always been driven off of that being a little bit smaller in um athletics, but always driven to work harder than everyone else. And I think that that's kind of one of the things that sets me apart and and kind of moving forward. Um, I had a a dream of playing on tour, and that dream came to, I don't want to say crashing halt, but I had a ganglion cyst in my wrist. I had no clue what a cyst was. I remember getting an MRI because I had it hurt every time I went to the top of my golf swing. And uh in short, it was like, okay, well, let's have surgery. Did not get uh other thoughts from other doctors, went right under the knife, uh, ready to go to PT. And the doctor's like, oh, you don't need that. So, okay. So I'm I'm letting it basically sit for almost two months, and then I get out there and try to hit balls, and it hurts so bad. Hurts to swing. I'm like, wow, this this may not be a thing. I'm working at Centennial Golf Club now. I'm an assistant golf professional. This is right when they opened, right? This is so I was one of the original professionals when they opened. Yep. I was there pre-opening. Yeah. So I graduated and and went right down. Um, but it was super odd to all of a sudden say, okay, I may never play competitive golf again. And at that time, I had shot the course record at Centennial. I was ready to go try to play some some competitive stuff, did a couple mini tour events. And uh after that surgery, I'm like, hey, this might not be it. And uh immediately I'm like, what am I gonna do? So teaching became um something I started to get into more so to make some money. I was like, hey, I'm a I'm a poor college kid. We're living at home with 24,000 debt. Uh, minimum wage here isn't gonna do the trick anymore. What year was this? This was 2006. Okay. And so I remember the very first lesson that I gave turned into me asking the assistant pro, what am I gonna teach this person today? And he's like, Well, you'll figure it out when you get out there. And it's funny because I was so nervous going into it that I got down there and um literally I figured it out, which I didn't know what that meant until I got into the situation, which was like, How are you supposed to know ahead of time? And so, like, my philosophy, fast-forwarding even more, has been built solely off of that first lesson.
SPEAKER_01:So you get done with college, you graduate college, you get yourself a teaching professional position at a brand new golf course in your hometown. Yes. How cool is that? What in the world led you to Ohio?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So, so backing up quickly, not exactly a teaching professional role. I was an assistant probing, the sales and marketing director, tournament coordinator, assistant pro, and teaching on the side. So it was like, man, it that's that's what you do when you get out of school. You get used and abused, used and abused, but that's okay. I learned a lot in the process. So, Ohio, um, you know, there was one stop in between there where I really learned how to coach and teach. And that was through a mentor of mine, Al Cross, who was rated as one of the best female golf instructors in the country at one point. And he worked at the vintage club, which is extremely high-end in Palm Springs. Um, and because of the knowledge he imparted on me, being a big fan of Ben Hogan, playing golf with Ben Hogan, um, playing in the senior PGA championship, he knew every aspect of the game from the mental to the teaching and coaching, um, you know, and knew how to build a relationship first and foremost. And he was the original head pro at Illhee Hills Country Club, which is where I was then the director of instruction. So having mentors along the way is really what, you know, allowed my successes to take shape. And then the networking based on those mentors and allowed me to meet other people that got me into positions like coaching at Willamette University, um, now Southern Oregon University. But then, you know, we were looking to start a family. And that's where we started saying we're three and a half hours away from my parents. Her family's in the Midwest in Michigan. I have family in Ohio. Let's let's kind of look around. So um I got online that this this one night, and I found a teaching job at a private club in Cleveland, Ohio. And I was an Indians fan at the time, Cavs Browns. You know, everyone says sorry to me for that one. But so, in short, it was pretty cool because the job opened, these never open up on the website I was on. I called the pro the next day. He's like, and I said, Are you still looking for a director of instruction? He said, Actually, we are. The one we hired ended up staying at his job and we're scrambling to find somebody. So he's like, Can you send me your resume right now? I got a call back 10 minutes later after I sent it. Can you interview with us and the president of the club tomorrow? And I'm like, Yeah, sure, why not? So I interview with the president of the club. We talk for like an hour and a half with the head pro, um, talk to the GM for a few minutes. And about five minutes after I got off the phone, the head pro calls me back and says, uh, we want to offer you the position. And I'm like, I haven't even met you yet. So it was contingent on them flying me out to be part of their opening day for the spring because in Ohio there's snow. And I'm like, I don't want to be in the snow, right? I'm a golfer. So that was the other thing I told them was, I'll work five months, but I'm going to Arizona. We had just bought a house down there. I'm like, wintertime Arizona, summertime Ohio. That sounds great. So seven years in Ohio, um, and a lot of friends and a lot of amazing opportunities um working with the USGA national champion at that time, the number one female junior golfer that I was able to work with from the start in the state of Ohio that now is finishing up at Penn State. Um, a lot of other youth programming that I got to create that was not even a thing at the facility at the time. So I was super fortunate to be at a an old 1923 all-Jewish club, only one left in Ohio at the time. So super fortunate.
SPEAKER_01:So you were in Ohio 2014 through 2018? 2012 to 2019. Okay. You won a lot of awards in Ohio. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Tell me about that. Um, yeah, uh like I said, I mean, I think the biggest thing here was that I was I I never thought of awards as a thing because I love teaching golf. And um I was fortunate enough to win Teacher of the Year two times in um three years there. And I don't know if that had been done before. And the first time I had won the Pacific or the uh Northern Ohio section teacher of the year award, I immediately got some calls from PGA magazine and some other um some other sports um telecasts. So like I think it was like Sports Talk Ohio and things where they were like, hey, uh because you won this award, we want to invite you to this top 50 coaches conference. And then uh we want you to be on our our show and be with Jimmy Hanlin, who's a really well-known person in Ohio and you know, long drive guy, and he has a show with Natalie Gulbas and you know teach golf on the air a couple times. And so all of a sudden, because of those awards, some doors opened up. Um, that really allowed me to aspire to being around the best in the business.
SPEAKER_01:I was just gonna say awards, I mean, don't do anything for your passion of teaching, but they sure do help when it comes to recognition, which comes to uh more robust, attractive resume, which ultimately leads to more money.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, you know, we're working to make money, but I get to do something I love to make money, and I think that's so important, um, you know, is finding something that you love and you're passionate about, and it doesn't feel like work when you're doing that.
SPEAKER_01:And ultimately cash flow is what opens up the door to be able to build facilities like this.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, it was a relationship, you know, and I think that's kind of a unique thing when we when we look at it. And so going back to the Ohio side of it, um, you know, player development was my biggest passion. So youth player development. And I would just say um fortunately, I was able to win the youth player development award for the section while I was there. And it was solely because I had a really big youth following at the time. And um I just gave them so much attention, and they were all just amazing at how hard they worked. And so it wasn't it was more them doing it and me being able to sit back and say, hey, this is what you need to do. So it was pretty cool to be able to be part of that and share that with the club. I feel like it took the club to a higher level too. I think that was a really cool thing. And then because of some of those awards, then I was also able to apply for like a golf digest award where um they ask you to apply essentially, um, or a top hundred award um, you know, within like golf world rankings and things like that. And so it is it's so crazy to think about how that works. I never knew how it worked at all because I didn't think to care about it. And then when it happened, then all of a sudden you get into this side of it where you can literally call any teacher in the world essentially, and you know, just say, Hey, I'm I'm the director of instruction here. I'd love to catch up with you, or can I come watch you teach? And you continue to get better and better, and then all of a sudden they know you and they might be on a committee, and because you reached out, so I, you know, I've I've shadowed so many instructors all over the world at this point. When I was at St. Andrews, in fact, um, on a trip, I went to their academy and asked to shadow their coach, and they let me just kind of sit and watch on the range. So is if they know you're a PGA professional, it's that little brotherhood, so to speak, that is part of it, right? And um, you know, it's just been super, super fulfilling.
SPEAKER_01:So you're making waves in Ohio. You're gaining a name for yourself. Ultimately, I'm sure, you know, you mentioned before it's Ohio. You don't like the winters, it's it snows, it's icy, it's cold, whatever. So now you have a choice. Do I go home to Oregon where it rains and maybe snows once in a while, or do I go to Arizona? Tell me about that decision and what what drove you back here to Oregon.
SPEAKER_02:Well, this was the biggest decision I've ever had to make. Um, so I'm sitting in a boardroom and I'm trying to build an indoor golf facility at Beachmont Country Club in Cleveland. We had the designs done, we had it approved by the golf committee, the pro, the GM, they're all on board. They're all it's all a yes. The board's a yes at this point. They allowed me to bring an attorney into a private club boardroom, which is kind of unheard of. And we go in there and I'm sitting across, just like I am with you, uh, the vice president of the club, and we were friends. He'd been on golf trips, I'd given him lessons, he was positive about the whole thing. We start talking, and I hear him say, Noah, I'm trying to figure out why we're doing this because you're not gonna be here that much longer. And I said, Bruce, does that mean I'm getting fired? And I said, and I didn't let him answer. And I said, if you guys build this here, I will never leave this facility. I'm here for life. And he said, No, you're gonna go on to better things. And he's like, You're not getting fired, but I'm just like, so I go home to free. Your heart just sank. I the conversation when they voted then turned into a no because of what he said, because he was the incoming president, and I'm like, wow, all right, well, there goes, you know, that all gets me choked up just hearing about that. Yeah, so at that point we had actually sold our Arizona house. So we just had our house in Ohio, and I go home and I I looked at Kimberly. I'm like, what are we doing? What are we gonna do? Your family's six hours away. We have family here, but it's not, you know, it's cousins and second cousins, and they're in different parts of their life. And I'm like, you know, we really need to look at this. So I had a job interview in Florida at a super high-end private, and I was a finalist, and I I ended up not going that direction. Um, and then I had a finalist position or job interview um with a club in New Jersey where they've hosted the president's cup. And that one I did want. And I come to find that they had already pre-hired somebody before the interview process, but they had to do the informality. I love it. And I was like, oh, that's that's always nice. And so then um I had this job offer on the West Coast, um, basic or job, uh, sorry, finalist on the West Coast. And I had never heard of the club. It's called Laurent Canada Country Club. Um, it's one of the most high-end clubs in Silicon Valley. So they ended up flying me out, their entire board was in the interview. It was a three-hour-long interview, and there were three of us. And I'm not supposed to know this, so I don't want to go too into detail in case he's listening. Uh, but I did find out that there was one certification separating us from the final decision. Otherwise, I would have been moving down there. And the problem was when I did the math on what they were offering and what the cost of living was in the area, my pay increase was only 3% from where I was in Ohio. And I'm like, it wouldn't have been worth it anyway.
SPEAKER_01:No, for triple the cost of living.
SPEAKER_02:It was a million dollars for a starter house. A starter house an hour away. It was brutal. So lo and behold, it was we're making our future at this point. I gotta ask what was that certification?
SPEAKER_01:And do you have it now?
SPEAKER_02:Uh no. So so I'm a TPI certified coach, but it was a TPI titleist performance institute, golf, golf fitness, essentially, right? And I never got the second level of it, and he had the second level of it. And to this day, I haven't gotten it because I work directly with a golf performance expert. So there's no need for me to have that level because I have a team around me that has a higher level than that, and that's the whole goal is surround yourself with better people, right? Amen. And so the Oregon connection was simple because we did have two kids at the time. Emma and Jocelyn were born, and you know, we weren't done yet. So we're like, man, it would be so cool for grandma and grandpa to actually experience their grandkids. And so we ended up creating an opportunity in Southern Oregon that had never been done before, um, and creating junior um and adult player development programs. There was none growing up, it was just a private lesson. That's all you could really get here. And so um I brought in over 150 different player development programs to Southern Oregon and then was able to um bring on a staff that has now turned into the ones you want to take these lessons with. They're incredible with Ryan, Jessica, Matt, Logan, right? I mean, we've got some awesome ones, Casey, and then my wife's doing Pilates, and then we have a physical therapist, right? So, you know, that's that's the end game. Um, and and the the ultimate goal is to get to that level. So now we have this stair step approach that allows you to start from the age of three, go to 93 in any way, shape, or form you want, and there's no reason not to get better.
SPEAKER_01:What was priority one when you moved moved back to Southern Oregon?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so it's interesting because there are winters here, it's a little bit cold. And so um we didn't have an we had an outdoor facility, but no indoor facility or anything that would allow the elements, you know, to to stay away. And when you're teaching, you don't want to be rained on the whole time. And, you know, it's no fun anyway. It's pretty miserable. So And here comes the story of golf group. So we had a 525 square foot garage that was an outbuilding that bordered a back alleyway. I go to the city, I tell them what I want to do, I get a permit, and I put up two indoor simulators for the coaching staff to teach in the wintertime. Not only did we stay steady, we increased our lessons because of that facility in basically this little garage. And it they were great simulators. They're the same types of technology I'm using at the golf garage now. But what had happened was um two seasons go by and you're realizing that this is a real business model. And I had had some experience with indoor golf training in Ohio because we had just an old racquetball court turned into a bay. Um, and I had a launch monitor that was terrible, and I did all the stuff, and then my buddy built a five bay facility, one of the first in the country, and he was doing fine. But I looked at it as like, we need something more, we need the training facility Mecca. And my wife and I are sitting out and I said, I want to build something, and I drew it on a napkin on a date we were having, and it was 7,500 square feet at that time.
SPEAKER_01:I gotta back up just a minute though. Your golf teaching business is growing, you're bringing on other PGA professionals to help teach. This is going on in a garage in your in the backyard of your personal home, and you've got a wife and young kids at home. How how did your wife deal with that? I know my my wife would be like, Nope, you're not inviting strangers over to our backyard.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, luckily our yard was set up perfectly to where we could have some people come in the back way, or it was we had uh we had some protocols to make sure the coaches were walking people back because there were sometimes new student assessments and you don't know who's coming in. And um, you know, fast-forwarding a little bit, what was really funny was when we did decide that golf garage was going to become a reality, um, Kimberly said that, well, I want to start teaching Pilates again. She took a little hiatus because of the age the kids were. And I said, Well, that's fine if you want to do that, you need to create a clientele before you just have this facility because that's not the way we do it. So I ended up building her a Pilates studio on property.
SPEAKER_01:I always thought it should be called Pilates in the Woodshed.
SPEAKER_02:Pilates in the Pilates in the Shed. That's not bad. So we had two businesses going at the same time. So not only did we have that, it was crazy to think about the cars leaving and going. And good thing that most of our neighbors were taking lessons. Otherwise, I think uh there might have been a problem with the city at that point because we probably shouldn't have had that many cars coming.
SPEAKER_01:So now it's only the founding members who actually know where you live.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's that's pretty much true. And and we had to put up some security cameras and stuff and some gates too, but that's all right. We did actually have somebody, uh, I think this happened twice where they went to our house after the golf garage opened up. And um, I think Google had an updated address. So they were late to the lessons, and then the next thing you know, you get a call. So it was pretty good. But uh, but Kimberly did a great job of filling filling her Pilates book as well. And so she ended up having pretty much a full studio when she fur when we first opened.
SPEAKER_01:So tell me about the awards you've received here in Oregon since you've been back.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, most of these I consider these team awards at this point because everyone's just working so hard um in all those player development awards. So we do a really cool program called Operation 36. You start from the green work backwards. Um, and I was lucky enough to be on the forefront of that program um in Ohio and helped um kind of move it into a different direction by meeting the the guys that created that, Matt and Ryan. And so they have a top 50 award, and I have been fortunate enough to win that three times in a row to where they now have a master award. Um, and so I am now a top 50 master PGA uh Operation 36 coach. Um, you know, and that one again, it's just like the whole team here is doing that, and I'm just, you know, you know, the owner, so I'm lucky enough to get it. But because um of the number of times that I've won it, now another coach within our facility can also be part of that. And so we've gotten nominated again. So I'm really hopeful that um one of our coaches in the near future is gonna be another one of those top 50 because they just do a great job. What award means the most to you? Uh that's easy. It's the Pacific Northwest Youth Player Development Award. Um, growing up, like I said, in Southern Oregon, not having any player development and understanding how to get better. Um You got that like four years ago. Yeah. Yeah. But that award, I was a finalist for the national award. So I was in the top two. It came down to two of us again. Certain things you're not supposed to know. You find out later.
SPEAKER_01:Um, I remember this story because I was involved with you a little bit on this one.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and and we made a video, we did a great job, obviously did everything we could do, and uh didn't end up getting it, but did find out later. That it was it was kind of a uh you know, pulling some straws um when it came down to the vote. So again, I don't need that recognition. That one would have been an awesome milestone to get you know the one award for the whole country of all 30,000 pros. But just say, you know what, I got second. It's perfect. I love it.
SPEAKER_01:You're I I say this in in in some ways, you're a pretty low-key guy when you when it comes to your personal life. You're probably one of the most high-strung people I've ever met in my life. When it comes to energy and your and your social engagement, um, I know you don't like to talk a lot about these awards, but these awards have clearly helped pave a path for you to have built what you've built today.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, without question. I would just say, you know, going into like Golf Range Association of America, um, I've been really fortunate they're part of PGA magazine and and to win top 50 status in elite class with them. That is a relationship like mecca, PGA magazine and what they do for the professionals, um, all the travel, all these things. So I've been super fortunate because of that, that I've gotten invited to Pinehurst multiple times, um, San Diego at one of the best hotels they've ever built, most expensive one in California per room. Um, you know, being around tour players, being around top coaches that have won the national award, um, and being able to call them on their cell phones, right? So by getting these awards is putting me in the room. And again, first time in the room, you are so nervous. You're like, I shouldn't be here. This is crazy. And then you find out how nice everyone is, and that, you know, you belong in the room just like everyone else. And so it's it's just people hanging out and trying to get better. And it helps validate people who want to be in the room with you. A hundred percent. And again, these relationships, um, because I was on the East Coast, it was incredible because we could talk stories, and now that I'm on the West Coast, right? So you get, you know, the fact that I've moved around was probably one of the best things I could have done, knowing that if I would have stayed in Oregon, um, same kind of thing happened at Illahey, was they weren't ready to build a facility. And I'm always looking at how do I get better?
SPEAKER_01:Isn't it amazing when you come back to a hometown after being gone for a while? The level of confidence you come back with.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, without question. And and it's funny, it's it's you come back and then you realize how much people have changed and what they're doing and how many people have moved back to Medford that moved away too. I was gone for 12 years. So to move back, um, and then people find out you're back and you're teaching golf, and then they're like, Remember when I had you in fifth grade class? Or, you know, teach is cool. So it is. It feels like home for sure. There's nowhere else we want to be. We've renovated a house here. Um, again, the the awards are super helpful and it's it's a feather in the cap, but it speaks volumes to the team that is surrounding us here at Golf Garage. The Golf Garage team is second to none, and it allows me to go out and continue to grow golf at the level I want to grow it through Southern Oregon University and creating that program to being on committees and boards now with Boys and Girls Club, um, the Oregon Chapter PGA, the Pacific Northwest section player development. So not only do you get awards, but you have to look at how are you going to give back because you're now looked at it maybe as a leader differently because of what you've done. And so I've served on the board of the Northern Ohio section PGA. And it wasn't even like a question when you got asked to do it. It was like, yeah, that sounds great. What committee can I be on? And so sometimes maybe, like you said, I do a little bit more than maybe I should as far as saying yes. But it's so fulfilling to do all those things and and also being active and engaged in the community, like on the Southern Oregon Sports Commission. Without being on it, I wouldn't know what's going on. And it allows um just a little voice in the room to say, wow, what if we did this to help grow golf because I can, you know? It's awesome.
SPEAKER_01:So I have to make it awkward and uncomfortable for the last for the last part of the of the show, but um standard for you. You have built a program, a facility, a team that has exceeded your wildest dreams. What in the world could be next?
SPEAKER_02:There's a lot next. There is a lot next. We are going to take golf garage 50 times over. I'll say it right now, 50 times over all over the country. It's gonna happen. We're working through a few kinks on the back end and it's gonna happen. That's the easy part. It's easy.
SPEAKER_01:But for you, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:For me, it's more time, you know, more time with family, um, continuing to develop golfers, um, an online presence of being able to coach anyone in the world, um, and just continuing to get better every day, you know, that 1% model of trying to get better, that 1%. I still want to get better and better and better. I want to play. I have aspirations of playing in some national events, but making my team better and better and better and allowing them to accomplish their goals.
SPEAKER_01:Any accolades in your pursuit of?
SPEAKER_02:I mean, I'd love another shot at the National Youth Player Development Award. Uh, just I have a few friends that have won it. Um, they actually were part of my resume or references, I should say, on the resume when I did it. And they're so funny because they're like, oh, it's only a matter of time before you're gonna get it. And I'm like, you know what? I don't really care. But now that you asked the question, I would say that one just because I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_01:Everybody wants what they don't have. Yeah, and I always want what they can't have.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so I'm kind of like Tiger Woods at the Masters. I just want to keep winning those green jackets. Yep. So it's good. But nope, like I said, kind of in closing, I couldn't do it without the team. Love it.
SPEAKER_01:Pleasure as always, Noah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, buddy. We'll see you next week. Yeah, next week. We uh I think we got Don Law potentially or Andy Miller, both National Youth Player Development Award winners. Get those guys going.
SPEAKER_01:Love it, man.
