OB Sports Golf Academy heating up!

As Arizona temperatures rise and many businesses start to slow down, the OB Sports Golf Academy is kicking into full gear! Rather than heading for cooler temperatures the OB Sports Golf Academy is ready for the busy junior golf tournament season.

“Our Elite Junior Program is comprised mainly of students who play heavy AJGA, JGAA or SWSPGA summer events, and so rather than relocate to a different climate we stay here at Longbow to help our students prepare for and perform well in those events,” says Jeff Fisher, Academy Director of Instruction. “In all other sports, coaches are there for players during competition and we feel golf should be no different. So for us, being at these tournaments with our players is an integral part of our program.”

The formula is obviously working because in recent months Academy students have won the Arizona State Stroke Play Championship, the PGA National Jr. Championship qualifier, the Thunderbird High School Senior Classic and placed second at the Mesa City Amateur as well as a host of other top performances. Students Mina Harigae, who is a rookie on the LPGA Tour, and Sun Park advanced through qualifying and will compete at the US Women’s Open at famed Oakmont Country Club.

The road to college golf also seems to go through the OB Sports Golf Academy since five students who are members of the class of 2010 earned scholarships to University of Arizona, Kansas, Purdue, Yale and the University of Washington. “Our job is to help our students realize their goals whether those goals are to play high school golf, college golf or even to go beyond that,” says Fisher. “Our program maps out the path for them and they put in the hard work to get where they want to go.”

The OBSGA program has both group and elite instruction and both levels allow the students to have practice and play privileges at Longbow Golf Club. “By giving our students the ability to practice and play here at Longbow it enables us to watch and help them even when they may not be in a scheduled lesson. It also allows for them to practice and compete with each other on a daily basis which helps them progress at an even quicker rate.”

With a combined 30 plus years of experience teaching at the highest levels of the game and with some of the best instructors the industry has to offer, it makes sense that Fisher and Director of Player Development Stacie Bryan would be able to design a program that would help junior golfers rise to a great level of success. “Our plan was to put a large number of good players together in one place and then make them even better,” says Bryan. “The other part of the program, the group instruction, is designed to identify players who have the desire and potential and to help grow that for them.”

The academy is based at Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, which plays host to a number of junior and college events including the AJGA Heather Farr, the Western Athletic Conference women’s championship and the NCAA Division II Women’s National Championship. “Longbow is the perfect place for our academy,” according to Fisher. “Their commitment to junior golf makes it a great home for us.”

OB Sports Golf Academy Director of Instruction Jeff Fisher can be reached at jfisher@obsports.com and Director of Player Development Stacie Bryan can be reached at sbryan@obsports.com.