LEARN GOLF PROGRAM
THE PAR-3 CHALLENGE COURSE AT MONARCH DUNES IS TAKING AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO TEACHING BEGINNERS, WHILE MAKING THE GAME MORE FUN FOR EVERYONE
A Game-Changer, and a Game-Maker
W
ould you dare bring someone who has never played golf straight onto the course?
Sounds about as fun as learning
how to swim in the piranha-infested Amazon River. But Monarch Dunes in Nipomo, just outside the NCGA border in San Luis Obispo County, has developed an entire golf course and accompany- ing curriculum dedicated to teaching, developing and hooking beginning golfers (and correcting their slices). It’s also one of the best par 3 courses in the country. Golf Magazine ranks it No. 3. There have been some 30 iterations in the last two years of the Challenge Course, a 12-hole par 3 routing with two cups on every green (a checkered fl ag with an 8-inch hole, and an or- ange fl ag with a regulation hole), and four sets of tees that beginners can graduate through. “Every time we ran into a road
block—how do we make it easier for beginners, how do we make it more fun for good golfers—we went through every step of the process to make sure that it makes sense to a brand new player, or a golfer who has been playing for 30 years,” said Minas Kaloosian, the general manager at Monarch Dunes. That’s how Learn Golf was born, a
program that reinvents the way begin- ners are taught, and gets them to the fun part fi rst—playing on a course. “The key is to get more people
golfi ng,” Kaloosian said. “That’s what we’re doing it for.”
16 /
NCGA.ORG / SPRING 2015 Even a beginner who has never set foot on a golf course can play right away at the Challenge Course. The cost? Just say the magic words
“I’m a beginner,” and it’s $10, which even includes balls, a putter and a 9-iron. (It’s $12—just $1 a hole—for the public.) “How do you learn golf right
now?” Kaloosian asked. “They give you a club, they show you the grip, here’s how you make a swing, you hit
balls on the range, and once you start hitting them straight, then we’ll show you how to play on the course. “Not many people will have the
tenacity to go through with that. But if you can play miniature golf, you’ll be able to do this.” So Kaloosian collaborated with
Superintendent Tom Elliott, Director Which tee am I going to play from today...
CONSIDER THIS
TRY THIS
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