Haven golf instructor in rare company

Becoming a golf instructor requires much more than simple talent.

Anyone wishing to carry the PGA instructor designation must complete an arduous training program that breaks down every aspect of the game, including swing analysis, golf club repair, course management and even proper golf nutrition.

More than half of the people who enroll in the program quit before graduation.

Haven instructor Marvol Barnard was one who made it through.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” Barnard said. “There was more to it than I could have ever thought possible.”

Barnard was one of 90 golf pros to graduate from the PGA instructor program on Dec. 3 at Port St. Lucia, Fla.

Out of the 20,760 certified PGA professionals in the United States, Barnard is in rare company, as one of only 1,800 with the Class A instructor designation.

Rarer still, only 10 percent of these instructors are women.

Prior to embarking on her PGA instructor courses, Barnard had already completed her LPGA teaching-intensive, four-year program, making her one of 180 golf instructors with dual PGA/LPGA certification.

“We are extremely proud of Marvol and everything she has accomplished,” said Haven Golf Club manager Greg Chesney. “We know how lucky we are to have her as our director of golf instruction.”

Barnard passed the playing ability test in 2005, which turned out to be the easiest part of the course.

Many of the individual classes, from business communications to merchandising and inventory management, required a different skill-set than what Barnard had honed on the golf course.

“There was so much math,” Barnard said. “I wasn’t expecting that at all.”

But the intensive training—120 hours on teaching alone—has taken her instruction techniques to a new level.

Barnard, along with fellow instructor Marty Camacho, teaches eight to 12 lessons per day, depending on the season. She said students can’t receive the best possible lesson unless the instructor has been properly trained.

“For example, the most common bit of advice you hear is to keep your head down, when in actuality, that’s the worst advice in golf,” Barnard said. “No matter where someone takes golf lessons, he or she needs to make sure to get instruction from someone who is properly trained.”

Barnard cites only one drawback to this program. During the past two years when she has been studying, she has found little to no time to play recreationally.

“It’s funny, because you get into the program because you love golf, but when you’re in the program, you never actually play,” Barnard said.

Her handicap is hovering at around an 8 right now, but she hopes to get it back down to 3 when she starts hitting the course with more regularity.

With more than 900 lessons taught last year, she hopes that offical PGA logo on her bag will keep her students sharp and perhaps inspire more people to seek out the game of golf.

However, Barnard is quick to mention that the PGA Class A designation has not robbed her of the fun, light-hearted way in which she runs her lessons.

The former dispatcher for the Alaska State Troopers makes sure her students not only learn the fundamentals of the game, but that they also smile while doing so.

“Just because I take golf seriously doesn’t mean I take myself seriously,” Barnard said. “Golf is supposed to be fun, and getting instruction from a certified professional is the only way to go.”

nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747