PGA/LPGA Professional Spotlight

Eric Solander

Director of Instruction, Indian Wells Golf Resort

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Eric Solander.

PROFILE
Title: Director of Instruction, Indian Wells Golf Resort, Indian Wells, California.
Years as a PGA/LPGA Professional: 15.
Top achievements / honors: Won the Pro Am Invitational (2019); SCPGA Youth Development Award (2019).

SOCIAL MEDIA / ONLINE
Instagram: @ericsolander.
Website: IndianWellsGolfResort.com

RELATED: PGA Professional Spotlight archive

TAP-INS
What app is a must-have on your phone? ThrivSports. Does it all. Check it out and if you need more information about it shoot me an email.
What books would you recommend? "Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf" by Ben Hogan; “Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book: Lessons and Teachings From a Lifetime in Golf” by Harvey Penick; “The Golfing Machine” by Homer Kelley; “Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect” by Dr. Bob Rotella; “The Anatomy of Greatness: Lessons from the Best Golf Swings in History” by Brandel Chamblee; “The Inner Game of Golf” by W. Timothy Gallwey; and “Zen Golf: Mastering the Mental Game” by Dr. Joseph Parent.
What podcasts would you recommend? "No Laying Up" or "Shotgun Start."
Who is your favorite golfer? Payne Stewart and now.
What is your most memorable round of golf? I played with my dad and brother, and it had been over 20 years that we played together.

Q&A
The First Call: What made you want to pursue a career in golf?
Eric Solander: Played all sports at a high level and golf was the most fun. I loved being outside, started with turfgrass in Montana and worked up from there.

TFC: What is your favorite instructional tip to share with a golfer?
ES: Make sure you get behind the ball between you and the target, and then find your intermediate target.

TFC: What advice do you have for someone considering a career in golf?
ES: Get outside and don’t stay behind the counter. Make sure you are at a facility that appreciates your talents. There are a lot of different ways to go, but AI will take away the need for many inside jobs. Try to think ahead at what you can do and a machine cannot.

TFC: What is the best advice you have received on your career path?
ES: Stop thinking about what could happen and start believing in what can happen.

TFC: Is there a particular area of your job that you find most rewarding?
ES: By far it is helping the customers. It is hard to explain why, but I honestly love creating new relationships out on the golf course. As an instructor, I get to have the ability to build the customer relationships too. Seeing people who have never met come to a class and a year later they are going on trips together to go play golf and inviting new friends to the club to play. It is an awesome feeling.

TFC: What is one challenge you currently see in the industry? Thoughts on how to address it?
ES: The biggest challenge in the teaching industry is inconsistency of instruction. With so much poor information out there it makes it difficult for the average golfer to get better. They get flustered with their game by having TMI in their head that they can’t perform. For young instructors it is important to stick to a script that is consistent — good or bad — it will make your students better. It is just like school, and people learn better when there is a curriculum or a structure that they can follow. For advanced instructors, it is important to stay active and learn the new techniques and apply them to the modern game. Too many instructors are stuck in the past and they need continuing education too.

TFC: Do you have a preferred style or philosophy for teaching golf?
ES: I created a system of Reverse Learning. It is based on taking all the bad information or TMI in the head and being clearly focused before every shot. It builds confidence by teaching golf, not golf swing. So we play a lot of golf and l have the golf course be the instructor.

TFC: Where is there room for growth within the industry?
ES: Huge growth with instruction. I believe that we need a better way to track the customer ancillary spending. This would help young teaching pros when they are talking to the board or whoever is in charge of budget. If the higher-ups don’t realize that when people play better golf they play more golf and that creates lots more money, move to a different facility.

At my facility, for every $1 spent is $8 spent in other facility services. The problem is there is no industry standard for tracking. And there is debate on what it actually brings in to other services.

TFC: When you look at your career, in what area(s) do you believe you have evolved for the better? And how so?
ES: I was a shy person growing up and I feel that golf and working a golf course has helped me with that. When you are around co-workers and customers daily you are forced to talk and communicate. It may be intimidating at first, but you get better at communicating and now you can’t shut me up (laughing).

TFC: How does being a PGA/LPGA Professional add value to your brand?
ES: It shows you had a goal and you completed that goal. That means something. The PGA community is really great and if you have any questions they are always willing to try to help you. Having the logo behind the name gives the customer a sense of affirmation that this pro knows how to play and teach golf.


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