Renowned golf instructor offering rare opportunity and ‘a cool experience for the kids’
Numerous instructors on the Grand Strand have programs for junior golfers, and two of the more intriguing are programs run by Nick Bradley at Glen Dornoch Waterway Golf Links and Josh Jackson at Shaftesbury Glen Golf & Fish Club.
Bradley, who has been the instructor for several of the world’s top golfers including major champions Justin Rose and Nick Faldo, is offering a rare opportunity to some junior golfers on the Grand Strand.
He is creating a program at Glen Dornoch in which he will instruct 10 juniors between the ages of 12 and 17 twice a week for six months at 4 p.m. on Sunday and Wednesday afternoons.
The sessions will include instruction, equipment analysis, an exercise program, nutrition, leadership and a copy of the first of Bradley’s three books on instruction, “The 7 Laws of the Golf Swing.”
The program begins April 1 and costs $2,000. “I want to do something really cool with juniors in the area, and use my credibility and my expertise to do a six-month program with 10 juniors,” said Bradley, a resident of Sunset Beach, N.C. “I think it will be a cool experience for the kids.”
Bradley did something similar in the past. In 2007, not long after moving from London to Sunset Beach and opening a golf school at Barefoot Resort, he worked with 10 juniors from The First Tee of Coastal Carolinas (then called The First Tee of Brunswick County) for free over 10 months along with fellow golf school instructor Alasdair Dyer.
The endeavor was filmed by Mitch Laurance of Conway for a documentary. Bradley said five of those students, who were between the ages of 11 and 14, went on to earn college golf scholarships.
“We’ll see what we can do in six months and see if we can create some champions,” said Bradley, who can be reached at the email nick@bradleyperformancegroup.com.
Bradley has also been the swing instructor for PGA Tour member Kevin Chappell, former PGA Tour member Brad Faxon, 2014 European Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley, and Leona Maguire, the former top-ranked women’s amateur in the world.
He currently instructs Seamus Power of the PGA Tour and Matt Ryan of the Korn Ferry Tour.
Bradley spent a year into early 2019 as the Director of The Reynolds Kingdom of Golf presented by TaylorMade at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Ga., and has been doing a lot of corporate work in places such as Barbados and Montreal over the past year.
In addition to 7 Laws, which Bradley said has sold 120,000 copies, he has published two other instruction books: “Kinetic Golf” and “Letters to an Evolving Golfer.”
Jackson, who played at Coastal Carolina and has been a teacher for the past five years, runs the South Carolina Junior Golf Academy at Shaftesbury Glen’s Learning Center.
His program runs quarterly and consists primarily of nine-hole tournaments twice monthly but also includes instruction.
There are three levels of membership and all include free use of the Shaftesbury Glen range.
Level I is six Sunday afternoon tournaments over three months for $100. Level II for novices and III for more experienced players include the tournaments and group instruction twice a month alternating with tournaments. Jackson often gives individual instruction during the events as well.
He offers a free tournament to newcomers to see if they like the program. The events have different formats, games and contests and are played throughout the Strand. Courses played this winter semester include International World Tour Golf Links, Arrowhead Country Club, Prestwick Country Club, Shaftesbury Glen and Diamondback Golf Club.
Jackson had about 20 players in the winter and the spring semester will likely begin April 5 or 19. He attempts to work around holidays, high school tournaments and the South Carolina Junior Golf Association schedule. The number for the S.C. Junior Golf Academy is 803-646-2711.
Hootie sold out
For the 14th consecutive year, the Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am has sold out all playing positions and spectator tickets.
Tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. Monday and were sold out by Tuesday afternoon for the event, which will be held at Barefoot Resort’s Dye Club on April 13.
Approximately half of the 6,000 adult spectator tickets are available to the general public and the others are disbursed through sponsorship packages.
Celebrities who have already committed to the event include Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame center Dermontti Dawson, Jim Cantore of Weather Channel, actors John Ashton and Anthony Michael Hall, Tennessee Titans wide receiver Adam Humphries and actor/comedian Gary Valentine.
Committed pro golfers include two-time major champion John Daly, PGA Tour member Harold Varner III and former tour members Chris DiMarco and Robert Gamez.
The primary list of participants will be released on March 16.
DJ returning
Coastal Carolina alumnus and former Myrtle Beach resident Dustin Johnson is returning to South Carolina’s lone PGA Tour event in April.
Johnson, who is currently ranked fifth in the Official World Golf Ranking, has committed to compete for the third consecutive year in the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island from April 16-19.
Johnson, who has been a Team RBC ambassador for the title sponsor Royal Bank of Canada since 2018, recently committed along with world No. 16 Bryson DeChambeau and No. 24 Matt Fitzpatrick of England. Previous commitments include Team RBC ambassadors Webb Simpson, Matt Kuchar, Graeme McDowell and Brandt Snedeker – three of whom are previous champions.
Johnson entered the final round of the 2019 RBC Heritage with a one-stroke lead but shot a final-round 77 and finished in a tie for 28th behind champion C.T. Pan.
Prior to 2018, Johnson hadn’t played in the Heritage since his second season on the PGA Tour in 2009.
He has 20 PGA Tour victories and was named the PGA Tour Player of the Year in 2016, when he won the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club.
Tickets for the 52nd annual RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing can be purchased at rbcheritage.com or by calling 843-671-2448.
