How ADM Training Ignited a Return to Basics for PGA Coach Rion Groomes

Rion Groomes has been the director of golf at Keowee Key Golf Course in Salem, South Carolina, for nearly two decades. As a seasoned professional, he’s settled into his role and worked out a smooth rhythm for day-to-day operations with proven success. Groomes had no qualms about his facility or the programs he offered. Enter: PGA.Coach. 

After completing the program, Groomes has truly bought into PGA.Coach and believes this initiative has the substance and backing to go the distance. 

“I would, without a doubt, recommend ADM certification to fellow golf professionals because number one, I believe it’s gonna work,” he said. “The ADM has the model to take the idea of the initiative and sustain it in the game.”

One change Groomes made to his programming after completing the ADM training was a shift back to group instruction. 

“About four years ago I led a program where I took my students on the golf course and broke them up into groups of four. I didn’t realize it but it was coaching, it was group coaching,” he said. “At some point I lost track of that, but this program brought me back.”

When Groomes implemented group lessons again after taking the training, he offered four sessions, over four weeks, to 39 beginners. By offering this group series, he saw an influx of revenue come in through lessons and retail sales. So much so that he and his staff were having to reach out to multiple vendors they'd never used before to fulfill the need of new students looking to purchase beginner sets. 

On top of the content PGA.Coach provided, the ease of use and simplicity of the program really resonated with him. 

“PGA.Coach broke the teaching method down to the basics,” he said. “It really emphasizes getting people to the golf course and playing – as simple as that.”

Groomes acknowledges that the priorities of PGA Professionals may be diverse, but it’s every member’s responsibility to grow the game and focus on the customers. PGA.Coach helped to remind him of that, and furthermore, it has given him the tools and confidence to deliver on that promise.

“It’s our job as PGA Professionals to make it easier for people to pick up a club and get out and play,” he said. “PGA.Coach kept things very simple. The course worked off of fundamentals, things we’ve all heard before but have forgotten along the way. I’m getting back to the basics, and I’m seeing the fruits of my labor after completing this training.”

After completing the PGA.Coach and ADM certification and implementing the lessons and tools he learned on the PGA.Coach platform, Groomes has effectively brought in more lesson revenue in two months than in a previous year. In his words, “You can’t put a value on something like that.”