Seattle Area Coach

[Chief Penguin]

Hey all. Been doing some heavy work on the swing over the past year and I’m looking for a swing coach to help me get over the finish line of what I’m trying to do. 
 

I’ve gone the Skillest route - I did some lessons with Jake Hutt, but I don’t think he’s offering them currently. That was a great experience and I would do it again, but I’d ideally like to find someone I could see in-person.  If you have someone online that you really like, feel free to say so.
 

I’ve gone through the lists for the area which I don’t generally have a lot of faith in, so I wanted to see what the PNW WRX’ers could recommend. I’m looking for someone who isn’t super dogmatic and with a philosophy that’s maybe a little more about movement intents than hitting certain positions, etc. 

 

thanks!

Edited April 4, 2022 by Chief Penguin

[PNW]

following to hear as well!

[kaschreiber]

Keith Bennett at Newcastle is both a Top 100 teacher for Golf Digest and offers Skillest lessons. Haven't seen him myself, but he puts out a ton of great content on IG as well. 

[Wardonation]

Tom Sovay is great

[CMCSGolf]

I took two lessons with Tom Sovay while I lived in Seattle and did not like him.  He mostly just talked about his game and tournament schedule.  I don't have a strong enough opinion to tell you to avoid him, but he wasn't the right guy for me.

[msulliv7]

Has anyone had lessons with Corey Waggoner (Seattle Golf Instruction) at UW?

 

Also will be following as I am too interested in some lessons here soon.

[Wardonation]

Jeff Coston if you can handle his personality kinda of the same as Tom...

[Seattlegolfnut]

Can't say enough good stuff about Gregg Rogers and his crew at his place in Bellevue. Indoors but you can set up some outdoor playing lessons too.

[flip_rome]

If you drive down to Chambers Ryan Young is pretty solid.  I took a few lessons from him a few years back.

[Muffy]

While I haven't taken lessons with him, Keith Bennett has a solid reputation, and has some demanding students (Macklemore, ex-Seahawks, etc).   I'd also recommend Matt Ledoux, who is also on Skillest and has adjacent bays at Newcastle with Keith.   Matt was a Golftec instructor a long ways back, uses Boditrak, and is a good communicator.

[NSoundHacker]

I'll through Ryan Benzel at Sahalee in the mix.  He helped my out with my swing and using the grass range as Sahalee was an added benefit.

I would wait until the weather improves to be outside on grass.

[Tom Sovay]

On 4/5/2022 at 12:11 PM, CMCSGolf said:

I took two lessons with Tom Sovay while I lived in Seattle and did not like him.  He mostly just talked about his game and tournament schedule.  I don't have a strong enough opinion to tell you to avoid him, but he wasn't the right guy for me.

 

[Fairways_and_Greens]

I've taken 2 lessons with Tanner Clarke at PNW Golf Center and am seeing pretty fantastic results. Two 72s and a 71 in the last month, which is fantastic for me (It's still winter rules so I'm getting a lot of help placing my ball in the rough).

 

I feel pretty knowledgeable about the swing. He's a great coach and willing to engage in a dialogue that makes him feel like a partner and we're working on my swing together, rather than just putting me in positions.

Edited March 11, 2023 by Fairways_and_Greens

[RJt100]

Has anyone ever worked with Rick Fehr??

 

Would love to hear any feedback out there.  Thanks!

[RJt100]

Reporting my experience with working with Rick Fehr to hopefully help someone in the future.

 

Coach Rick was very professional, easy going and helpful.  He uses trackman, video and CoachNow to help the process.  I really liked hitting balls outside, off real turf.  IMO this is the only way to go.

 

I would/will be going back

 

 

[allstarz]

Hi all,

 

Old thread but just wanted to ask for some more recommendations in terms of coaches. I've heard from other threads that Jeff Clay at PNW Golf Centers is very good--would anyone confirm that? Would he be worth driving 40 minutes - 1 hour to and from to get lessons from?

 

I've also heard names such as Derek Berg at PNW Golf Academy and Darren Black at the Renton Topgolf thrown around, has anyone had any experience getting lessons with them?

 

Any other names would be greatly appreciated!

[oregongolf]

John Cassidy, Home Course.
 

 

[dlow206]

I like Tom Sovay, I have worked with him periodically over the last few years.

 

Being in-person, he catches some of the subtleties that may not get noticed with an offline lesson. For example, last week, he noticed a grip issue. Wasn't an issue of too strong, too weak, etc., it was that grip needed to be slightly more diagonal in the fingers of the lead hand.

 

We also always end up having a conversation about golf equipment, which I appreciate as a WRXer

 

[rx1232]

On 5/11/2024 at 5:17 AM, allstarz said:

Hi all,

 

Old thread but just wanted to ask for some more recommendations in terms of coaches. I've heard from other threads that Jeff Clay at PNW Golf Centers is very good--would anyone confirm that? Would he be worth driving 40 minutes - 1 hour to and from to get lessons from?

 

I've also heard names such as Derek Berg at PNW Golf Academy and Darren Black at the Renton Topgolf thrown around, has anyone had any experience getting lessons with them?

 

Any other names would be greatly appreciated!

if you don't like any of your other options that are closer to you than yes. I really feel that at some level who you like as an instructor will be personal preference as well. 

[smeady]

Does anyone have experience with Erin Menath? Or any of the instructors from the local Premier municipal courses? It also seems like there’s quite a bit of recommendations for Gregg Rogers or PNW Golf Academy. I’m trying to decide which instructor I’ll give a try first and see how lessons go. 

 

[truexbeliever]

On 9/19/2024 at 8:35 PM, smeady said:

Does anyone have experience with Erin Menath? Or any of the instructors from the local Premier municipal courses? It also seems like there’s quite a bit of recommendations for Gregg Rogers or PNW Golf Academy. I’m trying to decide which instructor I’ll give a try first and see how lessons go. 

 

I’ve been working with Erin on and off for a couple of years and she is great! Good combination of technical / video work with simple enough drills that I can work on between sessions. Did a complete swing overhaul with her two winters ago to get rid of a wipey fade / over the top swing and actually find the inside of the ball. Have tried to do this with multiple other instructors and it never worked. 

 

Only drawback is that she is very busy during the summer months. I proactively book lessons multiple months out because otherwise it can be almost impossible to get on her calendar.

 

Feel free to DM me with any other questions.