Case Study C: The Captain
Kevin was the top golfer in his high school as a junior and was picked by his teammates to be captain of his high school golf team. He was excited about the leadership opportunity. His high school is in a bucolic shoreline New England town. The school is minutes away from historic courses such as Brookline, Myopia, Kernwood, Tedesco, and the famed Bass Rocks. Kevin understood that his leadership would have visibility within the larger golfing community and wanted to do a good job.
The high school golf team included both men and women on its team and Kevin’s team had two women team members. During early practice rounds Kevin noticed that the girls were struggling to score at a competitive level. One of the girls, Sarah, was born with a mild case of Autism and had taken up golf with great enthusiasm. Her ball striking ability was solid and she was disciplined in her routine. However she lacked overall confidence. Kevin was determined to help both of them become more confident in their scoring ability. Especially Sarah.
Kevin heard about the GPA™ scoring system from a friend of his Dad’s. He was encouraged to try it out with his golf team. So Kevin went to www.golfsensei.com and downloaded a score card. Something caught his eye on the site: the GolfSensei TQ™ scale and so armed with both documents he held a team meeting to explain his intentions. The team played their practice rounds using the GPA™ scoring system. The men who were scoring well in practice rounds saw a pretty decent GPA. The women now liberated from the scorecard and focusing on getting A’s and B’s, saw the most improvement. Playing at their own level gave them a window of opportunity to improve without being out of a hole. After the rounds the team members discussed their relative GPA’s. And the women, whose GPA’s were often as good or better than the men, became more at ease with their game and asking for coaching. They wanted to improve on their level and contribute points to the team.
Over the course of the season the women began to contribute points to the team usually finding a way to grab a fourth or fifth place point. Sarah’s confidence steadily increased throughout the season. She really liked the GolfSensei TQ™ scale because it helped her memorize the necessary steps in her pre-shot routine. She said that her pre-shot routine was the major reason for her improvement.
Kevin’s leadership of his golf team was rewarded in many ways. His team placed highly in the MA state tourney and he was asked to play competitive golf at the college level where he was second team all-conference.
He continues to play golf around the region with great confidence and “Happiness – One Shot at a Time…”™
