John Francis is an excellent instructor and his knowledge, patience, and guidance are unequivocal. I was a hopeless beginner in a hopeless predicament but after one lesson with John, I survived an 18-hole tournament at a championship golf course. That's how good John is. Here's what happened...
On a late Thursday afternoon at work, I was surprisingly informed that I was to participate in a golf tournament that following Monday at a renowned and challenging course (top 50 in the world, top 25 in the US). Mind you, I had never played golf in my life, save for barely a handful of miniature golf outings that were more of a stroll through the cute displays than actual playing and an excruciatingly humbling experience at Top Golf four months prior. (It was there I learned that just being able to hit the ball involved a lot more skill than just ball-stick, ball-stick. Contact should never be assumed.)
As excited I was to even be invited to the course, sheer terror set in as the realization hit that I may end up chucking my ball at each hole rather than hold up my teammates and the other groups. I immediately began my search for a last minute golf lesson; survival and a shred of dignity after 18 holes was my only goal. My father, who had played golf in his younger years, was amused at my panic. After going through a few instructors on Yelp and Google, I came across Nice Shot. It was a few minutes after closing but their website welcomed texting for any inquiries.
I nervously typed my predicament to John. In a nutshell, I've never played golf and kept missing the ball at Top Golf but I am playing in a tournament in 3 days at a prestigious resort and I need help. With the time crunch and hopeless state I was in, I knew that any instructor would be reluctant to take me on. I anxiously awaited a response and when John messaged me back, fortune had it that he had a last minute opening the next afternoon.
When I arrived at Nice Shot for my lesson, I meekly walked in and was so nervous that I would be so terrible that I'd be told that I was a lost cause. John was welcoming, affable, and sympathetic to the situation I found myself in, but also level-set any expectation I may have that I would be an expert after one lesson. I assured him I did not hold such delusions and quickly demonstrated my self-awareness of my ineptitude when he handed me a club and told me to show him my swing. After three pathetic swings he told me to stop. Apparently they were that painful to watch and I braced myself to hear that no lesson in the world could help me.
However, John continued with the lesson and patiently demonstrated the proper stance, grip, and swing. Because this crash course was my only lesson before the tournament, he structured the lesson into condensed fundamentals to "make golf simple", and most importantly, to have fun.
Within the first 10 minutes, there were noticeable improvements and at the end of the hour, it seemed like there was actual chance that I would survive through 18 holes. The tournament was definitely a challenge and the scrabble format saved my life, but somehow I pulled off the first best ball. Needless to say, this was hands down all due to John's knowledge and guidance.
After the tournament, I signed up for the 8-lesson package. During the second lesson John admitted that when he read my text, he thought that his friends were playing a prank on him. It was definitely a humorous situation that I can appreciate now and a funny story when people ask how I suddenly got into golf. It's been a little over a month since my first lesson and I am excited to continue learning this sport and extremely grateful to John for persevering through that first lesson and his continued guidance and expertise. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, highly recommend! read more