Teaching “PRO” File – Jerry Ellstrom

For USGTF member Jerry Ellstrom from Port St. Lucie, Florida, golf was not something that has always been present in his life, but today it is a passion of his, especially when it comes to teaching. He conducts three clinics per week and his average clientele is ages 65 and over.

“We are going about it the wrong way in trying to focus on junior golfers,” Ellstrom believes. “There are 10,000 people who retire every day and they want to learn to play golf. They have disposable income, These are the people we should be focusing on.”

Ellstrom’s golf career started in 1972 after he got out of the Army, and he wanted to learn to play the game. He received lessons from Jimmy Clark, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour. Ellstrom took lessons from Clark for five years, but what was remarkable is that only a year after taking up the game, Ellstrom had a plus handicap. to achieve this, he hit 700 range balls most days in addition to chipping and putting. But he never entertained thoughts of being a touring professional. Instead, he entered the business world, running worldwide distribution sales for a semi-conductor company. He quit playing golf for around 20 years, and upon retirement looked for a new career. He entered Keiser University where he learned to teach golf under five Top 100 instructors. He later found the USGTF when he happened upon the National Office which was then in Port St. Lucie.

Ellstrom estimates he has given 7,000 lessons the past 10 years and enjoys it immensely. He believes an older teacher’s greatest asset is the ability to communicate, and he takes what a student has and makes it better. His lasting desire is this: “I have a desire to pay it forward for people to teach the game.”