Golf is an unusual sport. We hit down to make the ball go higher, swing more slowly when the wind blows hardest, and the lowest score wins. Where else is that normal? Perhaps most unusual of all, sometimes local golf coaches compete on the national stage, shoulder-to-shoulder with the game's most elite talent. The recent PGA Championship at Quail Hollow is a reminder of just that. We all remember Michael Block's Cinderella story of contending in the 2023 PGA before finishing in a respectable tie for 15th place.
One of the top 20 finishers at the PGA Professional Championship who earned an exemption in the PGA Championship (one of the game's prestigious four majors), was a teaching professional from Virginia Beach, VA, 35-year-old Rupe Taylor. Taylor's "Play Better Now" business (Yes, he clearly subscribes to his own instructional philosophy), part of Virginia Beach National Golf Club, is where he makes his living. On the golf course, though, Taylor excels despite dedicating most of his time to helping others improve.
His two-under-par 285 finish was good for ninth place at the PGA Professional Championship and a tee time in the first two rounds at Quail Hollow alongside veteran touring professionals Eugenio Chacarra and Justin Lower and 154 of the best players in the world.
"It was pretty surreal, playing with pros who I've watched for as long as they've been playing on the PGA Tour. To have my name on the same list of PGA Tour winners that I've just looked up to is very humbling. I know how hard I've worked to get to where I am, so there's a lot of gratitude in there with all the fulfillment that comes with realizing a dream. Most people play their whole lives never getting to see how their games stack up against the game's best, so the honor is definitely not lost on me," Taylor said.
"I was able to get down to the same golf PGA Golf Club courses in Port St. Lucie (Florida) where we play the PGA Professional Championship to play in one of the PGA Winter Series events back in February and played well, so I definitely took confidence from that one event and got to stay in the process of playing one shot at a time. That was a huge help in helping me qualify for the PGA," he adds.
In another fateful irony, the busy Taylor who conducts lessons with his golf students both on the range and in simulators, has spent most of the spare time he had to improve his own game in an indoor golf setting. In fact, prior to the PGA Championship, Taylor's only experience playing Quail Hollow was on his Trackman software in his home simulator space.
"To have some idea of the types of shots that I would be facing, I played Quail Hollow in my simulator plenty of times in the lead up to the PGA. Honestly, I would say 99 percent of my preparation for the PGA Professional Championship was in my simulator. Without it, I would have a hard time making the time to get through the rain, to put in the type of reps that I have in my home. So it's been a huge asset to have, and pretty much the only way I've been able to feel prepared for most of the tournaments that I played in in the last couple of years," Taylor said.
Every cynic who ever said it isn't possible to level up your golf game working primarily in an indoor environment, take note of what Taylor has accomplished.
"I definitely attribute a lot of my success recently to just the work that I put in over the last couple years, which was primarily in my simulator," he said. "I get students asking questions all the time like, 'How do you know that these numbers are legitimate? 'How do you trust it?' And, 'Do you think to factor it?' I tell them, 'look like the best players on the world use the same technology, right?' There is no reason to doubt it. These people who create these simulators are in it all day, every day, compiling as much data and research as they can to know that they're putting the best product forward that they possibly can. I certainly trust my game with my Trackman. I take it wherever I go with me and try to at least get some confirmation of what I'm working on and how I am performing. The conditions, really, are at least fairly comparable to what I face indoors."
Taylor says indoor golf technology and its instant feedback has also made his lessons more productive and impactful.
"I use Trackman data most of the time in my teaching, as well. I can take it on the range, even the presentation of the data is a little bit more difficult than it is when you see it indoors, it's still very effective. When I'm standing on a range just with an iPad or my iPhone. I'm constantly having to explain, 'Hey, your path is this, your face is this, your attack angle is this, right?' So, indoors, when they hit a shot, and the numbers immediately come up on the projector, I'm trying to help them understand cause and effect. Technology helps them tell the difference between what they're feeling or what they think they're doing versus what's actually happening. It helps them translate for themselves, so that once they're playing on their own, they don't need someone to tell them, 'This is what caused this result, right? Indoor golf technology is a huge asset for everything that I do, both teaching and playing."
Taylor thinks indoor golf could help unlock the key to golfers playing and scoring better year-round and fending off the ageless "Winter Rust" excuse.
"One of the biggest issues for most offers is that they basically go into hibernation over the winter because they're not willing to go out into the elements, which is understandable, right? Anything and everything we can do to hit the ground running, hopefully close to full speed by the time that spring rolls around, I think you'd be crazy not to try to find an indoor facility that can help you stay sharp all year long," he said. "A lot of indoor golf places are establishing flexible hours, so you can come in whenever it suits you. Without some sort of feedback and a way to just continue improvement, if you're not trying to get better, you're going to get worse, right?"
While Taylor's time at the PGA at Quail Hollow could have had a more cinematic trajectory, his goal all along was to approach each thought with a healthy mindset - he even consulted famed mental coach Dr. Bob Rotella - and to find out how his game stacks up against the best players in the world. He posted rounds of 80 and 84 but came away with a rewarding experience and incentive to continue working on his game while inspiring his students to rich their most ambitious scoring goals.
"What I tell my students is the day that I no longer have the desire to work on my own game, I probably won't have the same level of passion for teaching. I would feel like a hypocrite if I wasn't doing the things that I told my students that they need to do to get better. I get a lot of satisfaction from improving my own game. And in the same way, I hope that sets an example and gives people an understanding of what working on my game one-to-three hours a day, basically seven days a week can yield for them in their games. And, at times it is difficult. Sometimes you just need a mental and physical reset. It's hard to get better at this game, because the game is so hard and there are so many variables, but that's kind of the advantage of working indoors. It eliminates some of those variables, right? There's no wind, so you don't have to worry about how that affects the ball flight. I know people like hitting off of grass, but, to be honest, if you can't feel the difference between hitting the ball solidly and hitting it fat or thin, you're in trouble. Hitting indoors off of turf keeps your ball stroking honest. With feedback and launch monitor data, you can get a sense of awareness of how well you're hitting it and what direction and distance it's going, what distance it's going. There are plenty of ways to find improvement indoors."
Taylor knew going into the PGA that competing with the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau would be a longshot but takes away amazing memories and an admirable perspective that suggests he just might have the game and mindset to make it back into the field at a future PGA Championship.
"Dr. Bob Rotella encouraged me to be able to look at myself in the mirror at the end of the day, on every single day, and realize I just had the most fun time of my life. The whole experience was all about going and having fun seeing what I'm capable of on the golf course. I've learned to embrace whatever comes my way and not put too much stress or pressure on myself in some of those big moments," he said.
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