The Bird Golf Academy’s promise and Service Mark is the "Ultimate Golf Learning Experience"^®. So what makes Bird Golf Schools the world's best golf school? Our unique concepts are born from many lifetimes of observation, teaching, and research. Among the professional staff of Bird Golf Academy our knowledge adds up to more than 350 years of teaching experience! Our golf schools primary concept is our one/two student to one teacher ratio. This enables our instructors to devote their entire attention to each individual student, providing the student with personalized instruction. Customized instruction designed for their specific needs is what provides them with the most memorable golf experience. There are many other concepts that we will discuss and that we adhere to due to the vision of the founder of Bird Golf Academy and those concepts are the key to our success.

Personalized Coaching

• One/Two (students) on One (instructor)
• Personality profiling (learning styles)
• Unlimited follow-up

The Finest PGA & LPGA Professionals

Comprehensive Packaging

• First-rate golf courses
• First-class resorts & accommodations

Coaching Methods

• Fundamental teaching methods (never over-teach)
• On no account is a single swing methodology used (every one is different)
• Generation of take home practice plans
• Application of learned skills with playing lessons
• Appropriate use of digital and/or video analysis

Training on the systematic thought process that matches the systematic nature of the game

• “What to think on the golf course and how not to think it”

Superb customer service

• Personal touch

The academy is the dream of Jay Ewing, founder, owner, and Director of Instruction for the Bird Golf Academy. Jay’s vision was the result of more than 20 years’ as a golf professional. An accomplished player, having played in the South Pacific, Asia and Australia in the early 1980’s, and more recently the winner of the World Pro-Am at Pebble Beach in 1998, Jay also served on the Colorado Section PGA Board of Directors and founded the Colorado PGA Teachathon. The founder of the Rocky Mountain Junior Tour, Jay’s teaching background working with Juniors has been extensive, as it is with players of all skill levels. The host of ‘Golf Tips with Jay Ewing”, and the author of two books Jay founded this company in 1999 with three partners; Mike Wright, President of Global Village Systems, George Yost, President of SFAP, Denver, and Paul Kabotie, Owner of Native Art Network and Kabotie Software Technologies. This marriage of vision and business acumen has led the Bird Golf Academy to the forefront of Game Improvement.

Personalized Coaching

We do not believe that group instruction works. No two golfers are the same. Each has different body types, movement dynamics, and states of mind. To achieve truly outstanding results, golf instruction must be tailored to each individual’s needs, goals, and objectives. At Bird Golf, we pair one or two students with a professional and they have the instructor’s undivided attention for six to eight hours each day.

Jay Ewing, Director of Instruction, talks to each student personally about their golfing history and their goals and objectives that they have for their golf school. Accompanied with a Player Profile that is completed by each student this information is provided to the instructor to develop personalized instruction and practice plans. In addition, each student completes a personality profile which is used to determine learning styles. Determining the best way a person learns (visually, kinetically, verbally etc...) is essential to provide students with the highest level of retention.

We are not just a golf instruction school. We encourage students to take advantage of our coaching services. Each student can develop a long-term relationship with their golf professional if they choose, and after attending the school the first time can schedule a 1 or 2-day follow up session with their swing coach. The 3 to 5 day school provides the student with the foundation and models that they can take home with them to practice on their own and following up with their professional on a regular basis provides them with consistent coaching so constant improvements are made to their games. Students can also make the most of their experience with remote coaching. Through digital photography and teleconferences our professionals can work with students in advancing their swings.

Bird Golf Professionals

Our instructors are what separate us from most golf schools. Our National Head Professional is Sharon Miller, the LPGA’s National Teacher of the Year in 1989. East Coast Director of instruction Mary Mills is the 1963 U.S Open champion, and winner of the 1964 & 1973 LPGA Championships, among her 9 LPGA Tour victories. Jim Samsing, our West Coast Director of Instruction, a PGA Professional for 30 years and the foremost master of Clear Key (systematic thought process). Larry Shute (younger brother of Denny Shute who won back to back PGA Championships) and himself a member of two Golf Halls of Fame and a Master PGA Professional (one of only 100 so honored) is the Tennessee director of instruction. Just to name a few. Each and every instructor has been hand-picked from around the world, and their credentials include not only an extensive teaching background but all have in their own right been great playing professionals. That combined experience allows them not only to diagnose every student’s swing and personality individually but also to relate to the challenges that face us at every competitive level.

Comprehensive Packaging

Not only is it our goal to provide the finest instruction but to also provide the most optimum packaging. We feel that providing students with the best accommodations and golf courses available to us is what will complete the "ultimate golf learning experience^®”. In addition, we think it is important to make the experience all-encompassing. Each package includes video and digital analysis, daily on course playing lessons, mental game instruction, course management instruction, unlimited practice and play at the host course, lunch each day and unlimited coaching follow-up after the completion of the school. We offer several three- four- and five-day packages with six to eight hours of instruction each day. With superior service and rooms, Bird Academy students also enjoy their own private practice facilities where they are able to concentrate in seclusion. Included in each package is both unlimited use of the practice facilities and the golf courses.

We offer sites that are amongst the world’s finest, beginning with Wild Horse Pass in Phoenix, Arizona, a first-class golf resort and our flagship golf school. In every conceivable way, Wild Horse Pass is the perfect location for your golf school. With 36 holes of Championship golf, luxury accommodations, state of the art Spa facilities, fabulous dining options, Equestrian center and vistas that will amaze you, this is the ultimate golf school location. Fine artwork and culture of the local Pima and Maricopa tribes are elegantly woven into every aspect of this beautiful resort.

We also have a location in Howie-In-The-Hills at the marvelous Mission Inn Golf Resort. Play the famous “El Campeòn” and “Las Colinas 18” courses. On site at the Mission Inn Golf Resort, student’s stay in a luxurious club suite. On site are six restaurants, a marina for fishing and boating, tennis courts, fitness center, horseback riding and trails. Mission Inn Golf Resort is an easy one hour drive from Orlando International Airport.

The Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort and Spa in Palm Springs, California which boasts two magnificent championship golf courses and is widely acclaimed as one of the top 75 golf resorts in the USA. The Westin has six restaurants on property, a brand new spa and sits in a 360 acre oasis in Southern California. The incredible Sedona Golf Resort in Sedona, Arizona is breathtaking in every way. This luxury mountain resort is in what USA today calls "the most beautiful city in the United States". Our students enjoy a superb suite with vistas of the red rocks and golf course, where the sunsets are some of the most spectacular in the world. The championship, Gary Pranks designed golf course affords our students some of the most riveting views in golf today.

We are also proud to announce our two newest golf school sites. Beginning with the magnificent Paiute Golf Resort in Las Vegas Nevada. Paiute Golf Resort is 54 holes of Pete Dye signature design. Our golf school students enjoy immaculate practice and learning facilities in addition to the award-winning golf courses. We are also proud to announce our new Colorado site at the incredible Pelican Lakes Golf and Country Club. Pelican Lakes is a 27-hole championship facility that boasts the most shoreline of any golf course in the United States. With the spectacular Rocky Mountains as a backdrop, this magnificent property, which is an easy drive from Denver, is breathtaking. For our students attending the school at Pelican Lakes, you stay at the Luxurious Fort Collins Marriott. Last but absolutely not least, our first Midwest location is at the incredible Grand View Lodge Resort and Spa. Grand View Lodge is not only Minnesota's premier golf resort but is one of the finest resorts in all the Mid-West. Located on beautiful Gull Lake in the heart of the Brainerd Lakes area, Grand View is in all ways, spectacular. This magnificent resort has every amenity that you would expect form a world class golf resort and in easy 90 minute drive from the twin-cities.

We also have sites at the historic landmark Jekyll Island Club Hotel on Jekyll Island, GEORGIA; The Sedona Rouge Hotel and Spa & Sedona Golf Resort Golf Course; the Meritage Resort & Spa and Hiddenbrooke Golf Club, home of the LPGA Samsung Tour Championship in Napa, and the Pala Mesa Golf Resort near San Diego, CALIFORNIA; Heritage Hills Golf Resort & Conference Center in York, PENNSYLVANIA, and the Chestnut Ridge Golf Resort near Pittsburgh, PENNSYLVANIA; StoneRidge Golf Course in Prescott Valley, ARIZONA; Deer Creek Golf Course in Crossville, TENNESSEE; and Crested Butte Golf Club in the spectacular Colorado mountain setting in Crested Butte, COLORADO. We are planning to expand, developing more sites in the United States and also international sites to better cater to our international client base.

Coaching Methods

Fundamentals

The golf swing is like a domino effect. Once one domino goes down, the rest follow. “The first domino” of the golf swing happens before any motion begins. Grip, stance, posture, and alignment are the keys to any great swing. Recognizing this, we believe that there is no one grip, stance or alignment that works. Rather, the skill in both teaching and implementing these fundamentals is to match; according to body style, coordination, and movement dynamics the perfect fundamentals for each student individually. Each Bird Golf Academy professional will address these most vital aspects of the game with each student.

Drills & Practice Plans

Every student at each one of our golf schools sees immediate improvement with their instructor. The keys to improvement are to keep doing the same things (the changes that the student makes) the same way. All tour players have their own personal swing coach. Each Bird Golf student will have their own personal swing coach. When our students return home, they have unlimited access to their professional so that can maintain the changes and improvements they have made. The Bird Golf Academy believes strongly in drills that will help students be able to continue their progress on their own. Each student (with their instructor) creates their own record, both written and visual. By adhering to and therefore maintaining the changes that our students make with their instructor they are able to create a lifetime model for better golf.

Playing Lessons

We don’t just show our students how to hit the ball better on the driving range…we play with them each day of their school. How often has someone taken a golf lesson only to go to the course and ‘lose’ everything that they just learned? We know that the most important part of changing is trust. It is that trust in something new that we abandon when it matters most; on the course. The only way to ensure that doesn’t happen is by applying what we have learned on the course. Playing lessons allow us to observe ‘how’ a person plays, both in thought and mechanics and then to show them how various intangibles like lie, wind, pin placement, and course condition affect each shot. We teach them how vital course management can be. It is also essential to show students how important it is to play ‘in your personality” and to play “within yourself”.

Systematic Thought Process

Mentally, golf can be more than a little demanding. Consistent performance on the course requires a mental approach that is effective for a casual weekend round or a high-pressure tournament. We teach students how to think like pros. Under the direction of Carey Mumford, author of The Double Connexion and legendary Clear Key, we coach a mental program that allows for thinking clearly on the golf course. In addition to our one-on-one concept, we focus on the mental side of the game. Carey has been a featured speaker at PGA seminars and training programs for 15 years, has worked with over 200 playing professionals and has mentored a great many of today’s foremost sport psychologists. He trains each of our instructors, and then makes himself available to each student after the end of their school. This singular approach allows us to show our students how to take their game and swing from the driving range to the golf course…where it really matters.

Customer Service and Personal Touch

At Bird Golf prospective students and students are never treated like a number. From the point of initial contact to years following a golf school, Jay Ewing talks to each student personally. It is very important that each Bird Golf Academy attendee has had all of their questions answered about their golf school prior to starting and that we are aware of each student’s expectations, goals, and objectives. This is the key to having satisfied customers.

Our customer service is superb because we make it a point to place the most value on the student we have now rather than put emphasis on the student’s we could have in the future. It is our mission to make sure that each student is satisfied with the results after the school. After each school, our teaching professionals compile information about each student so that we have all the information we need on hand about the student to continue helping them remotely. Jay Ewing calls each student after a school to follow-up and then also calls students regularly to see how their game is going and to offer remote assistance. Jay and our other professionals are always thrilled to hear from students who call to report in their accomplishments or to chat about their progress. The minute that we cannot spend this kind of individual time with each student means that the Bird Golf has grown too big.