Golf Professionals

Growing up with parents who were avid golfers meant that I was fortunate to be able to spend a lot of time playing with family and friends starting at a relatively early age. I loved being on the course with friends since it was one of the few “adult” places a bunch of 10 year olds could be together without their parents. One of my favorite childhood memories was getting to go to our club on ladies day with my friends and being able to play the nine hole course while our moms played in their league. We all had burgers for lunch and then played another nine on the big course mixed in with all of the moms. I’m sure this is where I learned to love being at a golf course.

My family moved to Wheaton when I was 15 and Arrowhead became my new home course. Our golf team played here my senior year of high school so I got to know all of the golf professionals during that time. I started working here as a summer job after my freshman year of college and quickly fell in love with the business side of golf. A couple of years later I knew what my career path would look like. I turned professional after graduating from Florida State University and have been a PGA member since 1994.

Being a golf professional is a lot like being a farmer in that no two days, or hours, are ever the same. We get to be teachers, psychologists, merchandisers, marketers, accountants, mechanics, custodians, plumbers and just about anything else you can think of. However, far and away the best part of the job are the people. Having the opportunity to interact with dozens of people every day and to develop lifelong friendships has been a joy. I have also been incredibly fortunate over the past four decades to be mentored by extremely talented professionals and to have worked with a staff who care deeply about providing our guests with the best possible experience.

I consider myself more than fortunate to have been a part of the evolution of Arrowhead. From the addition of a driving range, through two major course renovations and the building of our beautiful clubhouse, each new step has helped to make the facility better. I miss some of the character of the old place and wish we still had a water tower in the parking lot, but I am honored to have been part of the evolution and can’t wait to see what the future holds.

Golf is truly a game for a lifetime and one that you don’t have to be great at to enjoy. In fact, some of the most avid golfers I know aren’t very good at all. They just love being on the course with their friends trying to hit that one perfect shot. Whether you are 9 or 90 there is no better place to be than on the golf course.

To book a lesson with Bruce, please call 630.653.5800 or stop in at the Arrowhead Golf Club Pro Shop, 26W151 Butterfield Road, Wheaton.

For Arrowhead Golf Club Head Golf Professional Andrew Ogata, golf is about the one shot that keeps you coming back. “It’s the only game you can never be perfect at,” Andrew says. “There’s days where you don’t miss a shot and get everything you want to, and then there are frustrating days.”

Golf is also about the teaching experience, the learning process, and the success after a series of lessons – even when one may not expect it. One of Andrew’s most memorable students was Luke, who participated in PGA Junior League Golf, a team format competition with children of all skill levels. “Luke was probably my smallest kid on the team. He’s on a green and he’s got this 40-foot putt. I pull him aside and say, ‘Luke, knock this in, bud,’ and he says, ‘Coach, I can’t. I’m not a good putter.’ I say, ‘No, you can do it.’ “Sure enough, [he] putts it, [it] rolls up the hill—it was not an easy putt to make—and he drained it. That look on his face is one of the reasons why we do what we do,” he says.

Andrew is a left-handed golfer. When he started teaching three years ago, former Head Golf Professional Billy Klemz had Andrew take his adult group lesson—right-handed. “It was to get an idea of what it felt like as a beginner,” Andrew says. “These are the growing pains [students] go through. That was one of the best teaching tools anybody could’ve ever given me. You don’t know how the swing feels and you’re trying to explain it to somebody and you have no idea. It’s a whole new language to learn.”

Andrew started at Arrowhead as a cart attendant seven years ago, but he’s been playing golf since he could walk. “My dad played, my grandpa played, so for me it was a nice way to hang out with them,” he says. “Then I played through high school, and it’s always been a part of my life somehow.”

Yet golf can be a frustrating part of people’s lives, without the proper mindset. “It’s a difficult game as it is, but you’re playing a sport where the ball doesn’t move,” he says. “You get to tee it up. Nobody’s throwing a slider or a curveball, and the ball stays still. And yet this game is so difficult and frustrating.”
The best thing to do with golf, Andrew says, is “keep it simple: it’s a hard game, and the last thing you want to do is throw another curveball into it.”

To book a lesson with Andrew, please call 630.653.5800 or stop in at the Arrowhead Golf Club Pro Shop, 26W151 Butterfield Road, Wheaton.