Our Golf Professional
Curtis Nelson B.A., B.Sc., CGTF DRIVE GOLF P | 778.872.7678 E | drivegolf@outlook.com While still a youth, Curtis played baseball and basketball at a high competitive level. As a junior he came to discover golf as a summer sport and from the first time he swung a club he was hooked. Becoming a junior member at Victoria Golf Course in Edmonton, AB he played a lot of golf and enjoyed his summers on the links. After a Single A open baseball tryout showed that an MLB baseball career was not likely in his future, Curtis concentrated his efforts into basketball and golf. He played college basketball on scholarship in Alberta and Ontario, earning two degrees in the process. His college basketball experience cemented his love of blending athletics, academics and life together, and the belief that athletics done right was something that could truly develop transferrable life skills: things like communication, accountability, responsibility, gratitude, hard work, perseverance, honesty, integrity, and problem solving. Additionally, his college basketball experience helped shape the idea that true confidence only comes from oneself pushing past mental, emotional, intellectual and physical barriers – ones that all too often were self imposed. While at college Curtis continued to play golf and once he graduated and his competitive basketball career was over, he stayed involved in athletics. His got into coaching youth basketball, and moved all the way to the collegiate level, coaching college basketball for 10 years and winning the PACWest Coach of the Year for Women’s Basketball in 2012-13. His daughter also caught the love of basketball and played at college on scholarship and then went on to play basketball professionally as well. Through his love of coaching, Curtis began teaching golf and eventually became an assistant golf professional. Having held assistant golf professional/teaching positions at a variety of golf courses in BC and AB, he decided to create his own Drive Golf Academy in order share his passion for the game, and to inspire others to enjoy such a beautiful (yet alternately frustrating, exciting and invigorating) game. Curtis is a teaching professional for other local golf courses. Curtis’ students of all ages have thoroughly enjoyed learning the game in a very unique way, as his is not a traditional “break/fix method” of golf instruction. Nor is it an instructional philosophy based in “tips & tricks”, as that approach is both out of context and also not sustainable long term. Rather, Curtis adheres to an approach that recognizes that the golf swing – at its core – is simply science: it is a rotational sport that transfers energy from the golfer’s body, through their arms into the club and finally into the ball. And although every person is uniquely built (ie: tall/short, long limbs/short limbs, flexible/not as flexible, etc) there are 3 fundamental elements that drive everything else in the golf swing. Knowing what those are (and surprise, they aren’t what you might think they are!) and how they are applied, allows one to develop a consistent and repeatable golf swing. Those 3 fundamental elements have been shared by every great golfer regardless of era, skill, size, stature, age or athletic ability. And crazy enough when these 3 fundamental elements breakdown or fail, they actually are directly responsible for the only 3 ways to mishit a golf ball: namely fat, thin or wrong direction. So really, understanding what those elements are helps you get better at golf quicker than you might think, and it also reduces the frustration level because now you know how to fix your mistakes when they happen. So knowledge is power, and knowing what these 3 elements are and how to apply them properly is the first step in having more fun and loving this crazy game of golf for years to come. After all, the game of golf is uniquely setup to enjoy for a literal lifetime.
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