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Bret and Candy Van Rensselaer

Bret and Candy Van Rensselaer: A Journey of Shared Dreams and Endless Love

Candy and I are both very excited about our progress since our Bird Golf experience. I went to the school with three expectations in mind.

  1. Candy would learn enough to decide that golf was a game she would enjoy playing (she had never golfed prior to the school)
  2. That I would learn some techniques to take my game to a new level. (I just started golfing in 2007 and knew that I needed some serious instruction if I expected to become a better golfer.)
  3. That if I went to the school I would dedicate the time and effort when I returned home to make the instruction stick with me and be valuable.

I then set two goals: 1 to shoot under 80 this season 2) To be at 10 or lower handicap by the end of the season.

Not quite 3 months have gone by since our school and I would like to update you with our progress. First and foremost all of my expectations were reached.

  1. Candy came away absolutely addicted to the game and is crazy about going out and playing with me and going to the range with or without me to practice.
  2. Jim changed everything for me: my grip, my stance, my alignment and swing. He basically started me over. All of these were to straighten out the mess I had taught myself and to help me go to a new level of golf. Admittedly this was a difficult if not traumatic change for me. I went from shooting high 80’s to scoring high 90’s as I went through the process of all of those changes. It was very difficult to not just go back to what I was doing, but I knew that if I stuck to it and kept practicing what Jim had taught me, my game would improve; and it did. It felt slow, but in hindsight it’s only been 3 months.
  3. I have been on the range a minimum of 5 days a week and many on weeks all 7 days. I have played 3-5 rounds of golf a week all in the effort to put the training to use.

Finally, and most importantly, Candy is hitting the driver 175+ yards right down the middle and is chipping/pitching unbelievably. She is having a tremendous time and gaining daily. Although it’s seemed like forever it’s only been three months and I reached my first goal today. I shot 78 breaking the 80 barrier for the first time. My handicap has gone from 18 down to 12 and on the next revision will be lower yet. I think in a couple more revisions I will be a single digit handicap!

All I can say is: “Thank you”. You have a marvelous program and Jim is a fantastic instructor and we are reaping the benefits of both. We are having so much fun on the golf course that we can hardly think of doing anything else! Thanks again, and look for an email in a month or so with the single digit handicap attached!!!!

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