(Auburn Hills, Mich.) The highly-successful Kendall Academy is branching out, announcing a partnership with the Great Lakes Golf Center, located next to the Great Lakes Crossing Outlets mall in Auburn Hills, by offering a full range of its state-of-the-art instruction in the biggest golf dome in the United States.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to extend our instruction to even more golfers and the timing is perfect,” Dave Kendall said. “Winter is a good time to work on and refine the swing and the Great Lakes dome is huge, heated and easily accessible. Owner Mike Ashley runs a first-class operation and is restoring the dome to a destination spot for both practice and instruction.”
Kendall is a two-time Michigan PGA Teacher of the Year, twice was voted the Section’s Professional of the Year, and is a champion player in his own right. He built a teaching staff at the Kendall Academy at Miles of Golf in Ypsilanti and at The Meadows GC in Grand Rapids that has produced nationally-ranked players as well as many outstanding junior and high school golfers.
“Our goal is to make everyone a better player and help them to play well and enjoy the game more,” Kendall said.
“Teaming up with Kendall Academy is a perfect fit for Great Lakes Golf Center,” said Mike Ashley who purchased the facility (formerly Mulligan’s) as the sole proprietor a year ago this December. “I was looking for someone with an established reputation and identity for offering quality instruction and that certainly sums up Dave Kendall and the Kendall Academy.”
Ashley is also a respected and established name in the golf business. Mike’s father, Brian, in fact designed and developed Mulligan’s when it opened in 1999 but later sold his interest. Mike and Brian are also part-owners of the Royal Oak Golf Center in Royal Oak and the Four Seasons golf dome in Columbus, OH.
“Our business credo is to offer a good experience for our customers,” said Mike Ashley “We want golfers coming to Great Lakes to hit balls or to take a lesson with Kendall Academy and to feel better about their game. Customer service in golf is more important than ever so we insist upon new golf balls and quality mats at our locations.”
Jeff Goble will be the Director of Instruction at Great Lakes. Goble has been teaching for 20 years and joined the Kendall Academy in 2006 after nine years with the Rick Smith Golf Academy at Treetops Resort and Naples, Fla. Golf Digest ranks him as one of the top teachers in Michigan.
“Students need to realize winter is the best time to start working on drills and swing changes ahead of the golf season,” Goble said, “and you can’t beat doing it indoors. When spring arrives, Great Lakes offers much improved outdoor facilities, with over 50 grass tees and a multiple green short game area with great putting surfaces. It’s an ideal location.”
The Great Lakes Golf Center is on Joslyn Rd., right next to the I-75 freeway. Open 363 days a year, it’s a three-level golf range with an automatic tee-up system inside a dome boasting a 90-foot high ceiling and a 100-yard carry. Kendall instructors will have four new individual teaching bays with digital video equipment for one-on-one instruction. In addition to an indoor putting green, there’s also an 18-hole minigolf course popular with families.
Beginner’s clinics and seminars also are in the plans by Kendall staff members as well as after-school classes for elementary and secondary school students.
For more information about Kendall Academy visit www.milesofgolf.com/kendall.html
For information about Great Lakes Golf Center visit www.GreatLakesGolfCenter.com
Contact:
Terry Moore, All About Golf, 616-490-0433; terry50moore@gmail.com
