New Golf School Allows Novices, Seasoned Golfers to Work on Their Game
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For those who love golf, don’t you wish you can work on your swing or your putting or some other aspect of the game during the winter when the courses are closed?
Chad Vaughn has recently solved that dilemma.
In mid-October, Vaughn opened the Jim McLean Golf School of Westchester on Business Park Drive in Armonk, an indoor facility that uses computerized simulators to help a golfer stay sharp throughout the off-season or learn the sport without having to step on a golf course. It could help not only during the winter, but if a player is short on time during the heart of the season.
“Just because it’s warm outside doesn’t mean you can’t come in here and work on your game,” said Vaughn, the director of instruction, who, for now, is a one-man operation. “You want to play a round of golf? Well, outside might take you four-and-a-half hours; in here, it might take you an hour-and-a-half.”
Vaughn has six simulators, each with a piece of hardware called a launch monitor. The golfer stands nine feet from an oversized screen and looks at over a course, ready to hit a shot off a tee. For those, wanting to make sure they have the correct technique, the monitor can break down someone’s swing, generating 6,000 frames a second, Vaughn said.
It can also transport you to some world-famous gold courses with real-time weather conditions for that location.
“It knows everything, where that ball is going to go,” Vaughn said. “It can measure the spin and the speed. It is a pretty incredible piece of technology. So, if it says you hit it 127 yards, if you were outside on flat ground, you hit it 127 yards. So the accuracy is uncanny.”
Golfers can arrive at Jim McLean Golf School – named after the professional golfer, teacher, author and golf broadcaster, who launched the franchise – to practice on their own or take a lesson from Vaughn. Three-, five- and 10-session lesson packs can also be reserved, each costing less per lesson the more that are booked.
Vaughn said that for beginners in particular, golf can be intimidating, especially if you’re worried about holding up other player groups on the course or looking silly.
“As a beginner player, you’re going to hit a lot of bad golf shots, and it can be frustrating, and I dare say, demoralizing to continue to hit bad shot after bad shot,” Vaughn said. “Here the ball is only going nine feet, you pick it up and you go hit it again. So you don’t have the ‘Oh gosh, I’m holding somebody up, or somebody’s watching me.’ All of that stuff goes away in the indoor arena, so it makes it a lot more approachable.”
Vaughn, a Pleasantville resident, was introduced to the sport as teenager. Being “absolutely dreadful” at any other sport he tried to play, he picked up golf at 15 years old and it clicked for him right away, he said. Vaughn broke 80 for the first time in less than six months and made his high school golf team where he grew up in south central Pennsylvania.
“I was never a world-beater, but it just of kind of clicked in my brain and it was a sport that came relatively easily to me, and no other sport had,” explained Vaughn, who for many years worked in the financial industry.
Lessons for younger players typically last a half-hour while adult lessons are an hour. The beginner doesn’t necessarily have to have their own clubs, although there is a limited selection at the school. Golf balls are provided.
Vaughn plans to slowly grow the business, and when that happens, he will hire other instructors.
“Right now, it’s getting more folks in the door to see the place,” he said. “Everybody that’s been in here loves it, and right now we’re just trying to get more folks in the area to know that we’re here and be able to experience it.”
Jim McLean Golf School of Westchester, located at 130 Business Park Drive in Armonk, is open daily from 10 a.m. through the afternoon. Vaughn said he’s flexible and can accommodate lessons earlier in the morning or in the evening and on weekends.
For more information, visit www.jimmcleanwestchestergolf.com.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
