With the Superbowl happening tonight, now is a great time to talk about football players who golf! Many of us watched star quarterback Tom Brady play in “The Match” before the start of the NFL season alongside retired NFL quarterback Peyton Manning and PGA tour legends Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. While Brady struggled throughout most of the round, his incredible hole out on the 7th hole from 150 yards out was awesome to watch. Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce also entertained fans playing alongside each other at the American Century Championship, celebrity golf competition, this past summer. Kelce and Mahomes were fun to watch on the course together, and this was highlighted when Kelce sunk an eagle putt on 18. After sinking the putt, Kelce and Mahomes yelled as if they just scored a touchdown and celebrated with a chest bump and a couple flexes, and chances are we’ll likely see some of that in the game tonight.
There are many other NFL players who golf, and many are very good players. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is a great golfer with a very low handicap, and he credits his impressive golf game to his former backup quarterback Chris Redmen, who used to constantly win money from Ryan by beating him in golf matches during their time together on the Falcons. Retired quarterback Tony Romo is also a great golfer and might be the best, current or former, NFL player who golfs. After retirement, he played in a few tour events and tried to make a playing career for himself. Currently, he is an NFL broadcaster, but his golf game is certainly very impressive.
I think many current and former NFL players turn to golf as a way to continue playing a sport competitively against themselves and friends. Watching some of the best athletes in the world take on golf can inspire all of us to get into the game. Tom Brady during “The Match” was offered 50,000 dollars from commentator Charles Barkley if he could hit the green on a par 3. After shanking the ball 20 yards off target to the right and into trouble, Barkley joked that he should have just offered him the $50,000 if he could keep it on the planet. While Brady is actually a very solid golfer, seeing the best quarterback of all-time hit a ball so poorly shows us how difficult golf can really be.
Golf can be played for a lifetime, and many former NFL players take it seriously upon retirement. After Brady’s golf round that day, he said he loved golf because at halftime of a football game they check for concussions while in golf you get offered snacks and refreshments. All the more reason to pick up golf!
Enjoy the game!
-Sam Cresta, Assistant Golf Professional at American Classic Golf Club
You put in the hours at the range… You play a few times a week… You take lessons…. You are doing everything right! Yet, your golf swing is still not the best it can be. Well, what’s left? New to the American Classic Golf Club this spring… Golf Fitness! What is golf fitness? Golf fitness is training your body to enhance your golf swing. Beginning in March, I will be accepting 1-on-1 clients for golf fitness training.
I have been studying flexibility and mobility for a while now, and the one thing that almost everyone has in common is that they want to improve their mobility, but do not know where to begin. A great start is stretching every day. Stretching everyday for at least 15 minutes (holding each stretch for 30 seconds or more) has been proven to enhance your flexibility over time. With that being said, I have now worked in the golf industry for 7+ years and I can tell you from experience that a lot of golfers do not stretch properly, if at all. And that’s where I come in! 
I can help you create a golf warm up routine, cool down routine, and help you improve mobility. Here’s how: The golf fitness assessment is a tool I have gained from my TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) certification. This tool allows me to test your body and see what areas need improvement in order to enhance your golf swing. After your golf fitness assessment, we can schedule 1-on-1 training sessions to focus on those areas that need improvement. I create custom programs for each client based on their golf fitness assessment; no two programs are the same! It is important to recognize that everyone has a different golf swing and everyone’s body is different!
Golf fitness is the perfect accessory to your golf lessons. Working on your swing and technique go hand in hand with working on your mobility. Maybe your technique is lacking because you just can’t get far enough back in your backswing, or maybe you are having issues with getting your lower body involved in your golf swing, and those are areas I can help! Together we can improve your golf swing by strengthening and stretching the muscles most often used in golf.
-Britt Morrison, Level 2 TPI Fitness Trainer
Want to learn more? Email me at brittmmorrison@gmail.com
Have you been excited about and looking forward to the upcoming golf season? How about dreaming of those perfect shots and how to replicate them round after round? If so, we have exciting news for you on how you can visibly see your swing and improvements this year! We would like to introduce to you in 2021, here at American Classic, the Rapsodo Mobile Launch Monitor.
In select lessons with Sam or I (haha . . . I said “Samurai”) you will now be able to see your swing in action. This device has the ability to give you instant feedback with its real-time video analysis; which is very beneficial for those who learn better by seeing what to do instead of just hearing what to do. In your lessons, you will now be able to see how far you go back in your backswing as well as where you are stopping in your follow through. For anyone who has worked with me before, you know how much I can harp on finishing your swing properly to get the results you are looking for.
The mobile launch monitor (MLM) comes with several perks though! Other than the obviously cool instant video feedback, you will know your average distance for each club, your club and ball speeds, the launch angle of each shot, and even the smash factor! For those who don’t know, smash factor is the ratio between your swing speed and the ball speed as it leaves your club. All of this information can be used to help you understand your swing more, and where you can improve to strengthen your ball striking. Another great feature with this device is that you can use it at a range or even into a net with its shot tracing abilities. Just wait until you see how awesome this device truly is!
It’s important to know that the MLM will not always be used in your lessons as it won’t always be needed, but it will be available to help your game progress in certain areas. If you are looking for professional video analysis of your golf swing, please reach out to us to schedule your next lesson. We will take care of improving your smash factor, so you can go out and smash the course!
-Austin Ebersole, Head Golf Professional at American Classic Golf Club