HEATHROW, FL – Newly collected data is underscoring the little-known fact that full-time golf coaches pursue skill-based continuing education with extreme frequency and enthusiasm.
Continuing education makes for better coaching and the specialization of golf instruction’s continuing-ed menu continues at a swift pace. Proponent Group, which is the industry’s only source for an objective, quantified evaluation of these certification programs, recently conducted a member survey that tracked a whopping 47 of them—an all-time high since Proponent began harvesting this data 15 years ago.
This go-round, 130 members completed the survey, up from 126 who filled out a similar questionnaire in 2020. Of the 47 programs studied, no fewer than 38 of them were completed by at least 4 percent of all dues-paying members. That’s up slightly from the 35 programs registering a 4 percent completion rate in 2020.
Of course, the most popular continuing-ed programs scored dramatically above that 4 percent level. Titleist Performance Institute led the way—a full 60 percent of the returned surveys had a checkmark beside the TPI box. Next came US Kids Golf at 51 percent, then PGA Education Certification in third place at 49 percent. Trackman University (48 percent) and Operation 36 (38 percent) rounded out the top five.
Proponent members moved on from simply naming the programs they’d completed to rate all completed programs according to three separate criteria: whether or not a program was a “good or outstanding value,” whether it “significantly added to their skill set.”
Additional survey results can be found by visiting the NEWS section on the homepage of the company’s website at proponent-group.com, where the top 10 responses in each of the above categories is shared.
About Proponent Group
Proponent Group is the only organization solely focused on helping golf’s dedicated, full-time instructors grow their businesses and build their careers. Founded in 2007, Proponent Group recognizes that even accomplished teaching professionals need a unique array of professional services to build their teaching brand, create job security and grow compensation. For more information about how Proponent Group has benefited more than 1,400 instructors worldwide, visit proponent-group.com.
