On Course |
across the North Carolina Piedmont as well as in Virginia and Tennessee, Rader chose the Statesville Country Club near Lake Norman for her new facility. “The prime reason for the new location was to reach a broader market. I looked at locations across the region as well as sites outside of the state and just really liked the fit and the feel of Statesville,” Rader explains. “I believe so much of what we do, how we instruct and all the items that go into running a golf school lend to this campus. The amenities, the golf course, the club’s members and the city of Statesville have been great in giving our school a home.” Reid adds, “What you need for a good golf school that is to be run with high expectations is space. One of the attractions here is the available space we have to build our facility. The golf course is a fun course to play, and having it adjacent to the academy makes it possible to put the lessons to work right away.” The country club staff and membership welcomed the addition. Jay DiPietro, general manager of Statesville Country Club, says, “The Dana Rader School completes the circle for us. While most country clubs have a teaching pro who juggles duties on and off the course, we have an entire school that takes it to the next level.” Although the country club is private, Dana Rader students are able to play there.
Lake Norman Currents | January 2009
Personalized instruction “The main difference between our school and what you might get elsewhere is that we believe the golf swing is not the game, the game is the game,” Reid says. “The goal of our teaching is to show you what errors exist in your game, how to make the corrections and how to get you playing better golf in the shortest amount of time possible. It’s that simple.” His classes maintain a four-to-one studentto-teacher ratio, and his teaching style mirrors what Dana Rader has taught at her school for decades. Reid explains another difference in the Dana Rader Golf School. “What really makes us different is the philosophy. We don’t tell the student how to improve, we teach them individually how to make themselves bet-
Above: Jay Reid, right, goes over a taped swing with assistant golf pro Mike Lapierre. Below: Reid works with adults such as Dick Rankin to help polish their game.
ter. The No. 1 thing to find out whenever someone new comes to the school is their goals. We then learn about their playing history and, from there, we develop a strategy,” he explains. Reid says his focus on the fundamentals allows him to work successfully with golfers of all abilities, from beginners to club champions. He does not teach a prescribed method of golf but instead focuses on each student’s individual needs and designs a lesson plan tailored to improve those aspects of the game. “My total focus is teaching, and I have a dedication to seeing every student improve, whether he wants to cut strokes off his game, reach a green that has always been too long or break 100 for the first time,” he says.
Proven methods The Dana Rader Golf School has been a fixture in Charlotte since 1982. The teaching methodology has earned numerous national awards and accolades, and the school is ranked as one of the Top 25 golf schools in the United States. According to Rader, one of the reasons that the school has been so successful is that the staff has gone beyond the model of teaching just one lesson at a time. “For a low handicapper, having a lesson or two every now and then keeps you on track, but for golfers with mid and high handicaps, coming to a two-or three-day school allows you to totally reshape your game, and that’s where we focus,” she says. The golf school also has found success by using V-1 computerized technology to record the swings of students at each station. Reid says, “Our top-level video is a strength of the school. In today’s environment, the instant feedback the video provides makes communication easier. What you feel isn’t always what shows up on the screen.” According to Rader, when the seasons change, many golfers put away their clubs and quit. These golfers, she says, put themselves at a disadvantage when spring arrives and the course play increases. “What I have seen emerge in the last four years is, more and more people are coming out in January and February for instruction to get the winter kinks out earlier. These are the golfers who play better the rest of the year,” she says. LNC WANT TO KNOW MORE? To learn about the Dana Rader Golf School and view the 2009 school program schedule at the Statesville Country Club, visit www.danarader.com or contact Jay Reid, director of instruction, at 704-668-7343. Glenn Roberson is an awardwinn ing photographer who joined the profession more than 20 years ago after earning a degree in photojournalism. He specializes in portraiture and wedding photography and offers a wide range of services, including studio work and on-location shoots. You can view his work at glennroberson.com.
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