The Great Game of Golf: My Story

I am very excited to be writing my first ever blog.  Let me introduce myself I am Elliott LaVercombe Head Teaching Professional for THE Golf Academy!  I am writing this to tell my story of how I got into golf and why golf is such a great game!

I started my passion for the game of golf when I was twelve, even though at the time I had no idea how many doors the game of golf would open for me.  I just enjoyed playing.  My grandfather introduced me to the game of golf during my summer vacations in Grand Haven, MI.  At the time soccer was still my sport and living in Colorado there wasn't much time during the year to practice golf!  Since no one in my immediate family played and since it was still an expensive game to play I stuck with Soccer until my parents moved me to St. Augustine, FL when I was a sophomore in High School.  I was fifteen and very excited about the opportunity to play more golf!  By this time I had three summers of golf with grandpa and I was getting better!

So the best way for me to get better was to practice, still expensive to play golf and still no First Tee Programs around, I decided to get a job as a cart attendant at St. Johns County Golf Course!  The best thing about working at a golf course was the Free Golf!  Now I was able to practice and play as much as I wanted!  My parents were excited and so was I.   

My Junior and Senior year I played on the St. Augustine High School golf team and played really bad.  I was know as route 66 my junior year.  Not because I shot 66 for 18 holes but because I shot 66 for nine holes, in a tournament...ouch!  I wasn't going to give up and I was still seeing progress.  By the time I graduated I was starting to shoot in the low 40's for nine holes.  Not bad, better than 66 but still not good enough.  

I was fortunate to get some academic scholarships to Flagler College and I played on the golf team as a walk on!  I spent most of my time practicing and not playing in tournaments.  Over the course of four years I played in two college matches.  The rest of the time was spent hitting balls and working on my game.  I was a college athletic with two jobs and some how still found time to practice!  One summer I spent everyday at the course working on my swing!  Working with Head Pro Wes Tucker I was able to bring my scores down to high 30's.  It was great!  The hard work was starting to pay off!  

My Senior year I was required to do a 40 hour a week internship for my major, Sports Management.  That is when I help start The First Tee of St. Johns County.  A non-profit organization that taught children life enhancing values through the game of golf!  What a great opportunity, so I began teaching golf to kids.  

I spent the next 6 years growing the game of golf in St. Johns County through The First Tee program.  The last four years I was the Executive Director in charge of the whole operations.  I was 24 when I got the promotion and was the youngest Executive Director in the country!

The game of golf has opening many great and wonderful doors for me.  I have been to Pebble Beach twice as a caddie for the Wal-Mart First Tee Open, I have taught golf at Kansas State University, New York City, and all over North Florida.  Golf is what I like to call a "Friend Making Machine."  The people I have met along the way has been incredible.  

I would encourage anyone interested in the game of golf to take a lesson and get hooked!  Not only is it fun but you can play the game the rest of your life.  Golf is the only sport I know where an eight year and an 80 year old can play a round together!  

After leaving The First Tee i went into the construction business for 8 months and realize quickly how much I missed the game and all of the values golf brings out!  I am back teaching golf at THE Golf Academy that has two locations in North Florida: South Hampton and Fleming Island.  We are working with both kids and adults and I would encourage anyone interested in taking up the game to come out and visit with me.  Our website is www.the-golfacademy.com and my phone number is (904) 424-9014.

Wow, that was nerve racking for my first-ever blog I hope I did okay and look forward to writing more about the game of golf!