Editorial – The Bryson DeChambeau Experiment
Professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau has taken his quest for distance to a new extreme, dramatically transforming his body this past offseason in gaining weight and muscle. The recent COVID-19 shutdown also helped DeChambeau in his quest as he bulked up even more. His victory recently at the Rocket Mortgage Classic was fueled by a driving distance average of over 350 yards. Traditionally, that type of distance was the domain of those on the long drive circuit, but they use 48-inch drivers, the maximum allowed. I wouldn’t bet against DeChambeau from being competitive against those guys if he too, hit a driver that long.
There is no doubt that hitting the ball farther is a great asset, as long as the golfer has the skill to pull it off. There was a long-hitting professional golfer named Victor Shwamkrug 15-20 years ago who blasted the ball far past his fellow competitors, but he did not possess the game that DeChambeau did. As long as DeChambeau can keep his tee ball reasonably in play, he stands to be a major force.
Should those of us who don’t play for a living strive to hit the ball farther, provided we have the time and energy to pursue it? Well, look at it this way. My clubhead speed, once I’m warmed up, is 94 mph. (That’s a 7 mph drop-off from my younger days, but we won’t talk about that!) The average PGA Tour pro is at 113 mph, so that’s 1.202 times faster than what I can do. We can use that figure, 1.202, as a multiplier and divisor. If I were to play a 7,200-yard course, that would be like the average tour player playing from 8,654 yards. Dividing 7,200 yards by 1.202, I would have to play at 5,990 yards to have the same experience as a tour pro. When I played professionally in the mid-1990s, I could drive the ball about 250 yards with a good strike. That was still about 20 yards behind the average guy back then, and even though I won some mini-tour events and defeated guys who later played on the PGA Tour, it was a major factor in my inability to play at a higher level.
If an average male golfer, who typically has a 90 mph swing speed, were to go up to 100 mph through training, what could he expect to score, based purely on the increase in distance? The USGA course rating formula, which says every 220-yard difference in a course is equal to one stroke, offers a key. A golfer who swings at 90 mph playing a 6,000-yard course would effectively shorten the course by approximately 600 yards if he could gain 10 mph of driver clubhead speed, which would be almost a three-shot difference.
However, most golfers have little interest in working that hard physically to gain distance. Instead, they want a quick “tip,” but it takes more than that. If they’re willing to do a complete program, including optimizing their equipment for distance, working on technique and putting in the physical training, they can indeed gain some distance, and in the end, produce lower scores.
By Mark Harman, USGTF National Course Director
By Wayne Player, USGTF Member, Tequesta, Florida
Firstly, if you continue to do what you’ve always done, then you will continue to get the results you’ve always gotten. Change is the price of
survival, without question. One must focus on athletic fundamentals around power, balance and repetition.
My personal experience as a professional golfer and son of a golfing legend, Gary Player, led me to create a more simplified approach to
the game in The Player Approach. I have had more access to golf gurus, legends and sports psychologists than maybe anyone. You name
them, and I spent my dad’s money there as a young man. There are so many golfing teacher gurus out there that the golf world seems to be
inundated with a bunch of instructional malarkey. So, who is the guru of the gurus? I don’t know.
I would urge all of you to believe in a more simplified, four-pronged approach to eliminate paralyses of analysis:
1) a flat front foot/lead foot,
2) how to become a true front-foot hitter,
3) athleticism, and
4) a positive attitude.
Please see the next page for a greeting for Mr. Brandon Lee, president and CEO of the USGTF.
Dear Mr Lee,
We are all excited in welcoming you as the new owner and president of the USGTF. While Geoff Bryant certainly created an incredible
platform and service for golf teachers, we know that you will take the USGTF to great and exciting new horizons. A few of my dad Gary
Player’s commandments of life are: There is no substitute for personal contact; everything in business is negotiable except quality, and a
promise made is a debt incurred. There is no doubt that Mr Lee is an honorable and good man, and present members of the USGTF
should know that they are in great hands going forward.
I personally am looking forward to continue to work closely with you and your USGTF team in bringing new innovative ideas and products that we will offer all the existing members to assist them in becoming better teachers and mentors to their clients. We strongly believe in
your leadership and what the USGTF means to the golf teaching industry. Teaching and coaching the game of golf to those interested in learning and improving is a valuable and honorable profession. The game is always a healthy outlet for anyone, and the Player family is well known for valuing a healthy lifestyle and activities. Golf has given much to us, and we are pleased to see the USGTF giving so much to the game. Again, we look forward to working with you and wish you the best moving forward.
Sincerely,
Wayne Gary Player 
For 31 years, one man led the USGTF as its president and CEO. That would be founder Geoff Bryant, who in 1989 started a revolution in the golf teaching business that continues strong to this day.
Recently, Bryant said 31 years is enough and it’s time to ride off into retirement. Enter Brandon Lee, who assumed the titles of president and CEO in February. Lee was formerly the director of the USGTF’s foreign language courses and president of USGTF-Korea, among other entities. He also served as vice president of the World Golf Teachers Federation, the umbrella group that is comprised of more than 40 member nations.
Lee was born in South Korea and grew up there. As a kid, he participated in many sports due to the influence of his father. Lee’s dad also got him involved in golf in high school. He later completed his Ph.D in Exercise Biochemistry in Japan. After a career in that field, he came
to the United States and completed the USGTF certification program in 2005. He began his golf teaching career in Orange County, California,
in the cities of Irvine and Laguna Hills, where he operated a teaching academy.
His academy was extremely successful, the result of his business acumen and previous experiences, and this caught the attention of Bryant, who named Lee vice president of the USGTF in 2011. In that role, Lee established the USGTF’s foreign language courses (FLC), which were based on strong professional ethics and educational programs, while continuing to research and spread the latest golf teaching methods in the United States. This has helped foreigners in the United States earn USGTF certification and continue the organization’s progress as a leader in golf.
Here is a Q&A with the USGTF’s new president, Brandon Lee:
Q: Why did you want to become president/CEO of the USGTF?
A: The USGTF was started with a great mission envisioned by Geoff Bryant. I thought it was time for a new generation to continue the mission and continue the development. I worked through the ranks as a Certified Golf Teaching Professional, a Master Teaching Professional and FLC course director. It made sense to naturally progress into this role.
Q: What do you see as the USGTF’s future and what are your plans for it?
A: To make the USGTF certification more valuable by helping the members make money through teaching and employment, because the USGTF is a career choice. I also plan to work harder to define what a golf teaching professional is and does in the industry. Many in the golfing industry believe the USGTF is a secondary license below the PGA. I experienced the same problem when I started USGTF-Korea in 2016. But through my will and effort, the Korean golf industry moved to accept our status and our mission. As a result, they started to recognize USGTF is the best license to learn golf teaching methodology and KPGA members also started to join and learn our USGTF educational system.
Q: What do you see as one or more of the strengths of the USGTF?
A: With the slogan of “Learn to teach golf – the profession of a lifetime,” the USGTF provides an opportunity to challenge and inspire not
only existing professionals but also ordinary people who have a strong passion for golf. We have many golf enthusiasts, with diverse backgrounds, such as businessmen and retirees who are not golf professionals.
Q: In part, why has USGTF-Korea been so successful?
A: In Korea, the USGTF started as a minor player in golf. It is now composed of a large number of members from various professions who are not KPGA professionals. It is also a representative group for those who seek a second life through giving golf lessons. By promoting a
strong professional ethical sense of being a golf leader that combines teaching skills and developing the personalities of our teaching
professionals, it was able to grow into an organization that cultivates experts in teaching the game of golf.
Lee is committed to taking the USGTF to new heights as we are now well into the 21st century. His success with USGTF-Korea and the foreign language courses in the United States should bode well as the USGTF navigates its way in the ever-changing fields of golf instruction and golf business.
Lee has completed a move to Florida from California and oversees the daily operations of the USGTF from the national office, located in Fort Pierce, Florida. He welcomes member input and can be reached by email at president@usgtf.com.
