They didn’t care at all, they just said, ‘The more the merrier, this is great.’ ” “We had about 10 of my family and friends in their three-bedroom house. The arrangement worked out well as Cook has continued to spend each winter in Florida before going back up to Yankee Springs Golf Course in Michigan in the summer where he serves as the full-time director of instruction. He had a mutual connection between one of his internship stops and Ken Weyand, the former John’s Island director of golf, so Cook decided to head south. When we find those people, we try to hold onto them.”Ĭook graduated from Ferris State University’s PGA Golf Management program in 2017 where he also was a Division II All-American on the golf team. “We really want people who are invested in the member experience, invested in their own career trajectory. “I’m not aware of a single facility that staffs the way we staff,” said John’s Island director of golf Steve Hudson. The playing ability of these individuals is high across the board and competition is encouraged as they also rapidly learn each aspect of the industry.
Brett walker pga pro#
A housing complex was built on site specifically to host the abnormally large club pro population. Upward of 25 to 30 PGA-affiliated members, apprentices or interns are on staff at the 54-hole facility during the busier winter season, many of them annually rotating from outside operations to working inside the golf shop to instruction and running tournaments. He’s not the only John’s Island assistant in that position, in part because the facility has created the most unique club pro development system in the country.
Brett walker pga professional#
And secondly, Cook is actively trying to become a professional golfer who lives solely off of earning paychecks with his play, not his instruction. The first is that his summer facility, John’s Island Club in Vero Beach, Florida, had three assistant professionals– Cook, Brett Walker and Tyler Collett – make it into the PGA Championship field, a first in the event’s history. Yet Cook’s performance stood out for two reasons. It’s special anytime a club professional makes the cut at the major championship, considering they aren’t putting a full-time effort toward competing on a grand stage against gifted athletes who obsess about every minute detail for years on end. “But the more opportunities I’ve had, the more I’ve gotten used to it.” “It’s pretty surreal to be in that position,” said Cook, who was playing in his third consecutive PGA. Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa – all of them had either missed the cut or were otherwise trailing a man with two different gigs in the golf industry. 3, one spot behind the video game-esque DeChambeau. His strokes gained off the tee heading into the final day stood at No. He parred his last two holes Friday to make the cut on the number before shooting 3-under-par 69 in the third round, at times threatening the top 20. However, that didn’t stop his name from floating around the leaderboard near the game’s elite across four windswept days. Ahead of him, Tony Finau.Ĭook, a 27-year-old from Caledonia, Michigan, and one of 20 PGA club professionals who competed last week by virtue of their finish in the PGA Professional Championship, acknowledges he looked out of place in comparison with the tour stars. This past Monday, before the PGA Championship, Ben Cook was going through his practice routine on the range at Kiawah Island before looking up to realize he had two powerful neighbors.īehind him stood Bryson DeChambeau.
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