Quechee's Andy Prosowski gives instruction during a lesson last week
Valley News - Rebecca Denton
by Valley News Staff Writer Bruce Wood

Apparently, The Quechee Club's director of instruction means what he says.

"A guy from Wisconsin called me up right about this time last year," recalled Prosowski. " He said he played great at Golf Schools, but had lost it and was about ready to slit his wrists.

"So we e-mailed back and forth and talked on the phone. When I didn't hear from him for a couple of weeks, I called back and said, 'Is he dead?' "

Prosowski was joking, of course.

As it turned out, his email and phone tips had straightened the man's game out enough that he hadn't felt the need to call.

"Then, two weeks ago I got an e-mail from his wife," Prosowski said, picking up the story. "She told me on his 60th birthday he shot the lowest round he ever had, a 72."

I e-mailed her back and said, 'Thank God he didn't slit his wrists.' "

Contrary to what some people may believe, golf really isn't a life-or-death proposition. In fact, that is one of the philosophies at Golf Schools of Phoenix, which this year was named to Golf Magazine's elite top-25 in the country list.

"People always say they think too much on the golf course," said Prosowski. "I say they worry too much on the golf course. They worry too much about what this person or that thinks. They worry too much about where the ball is going.

"I've found I can lower somebody's score four or five strokes just by teaching them how to relax on the golf course and put all their doubts and fears behind them."

Prosowski has been doing just that at Quechee in the spring and summer, and in Scottsdale Arizona, in fall and winter, for the past 15 years. Before that, the Long Island native started and ran the first American-owned and American-run golf school in France. It was his experience in Biarritz that led directly to his involvement with Golf Schools of Phoenix, one of the first three such enterprises in the Arizona city that now features upwards of 40.

"I had been in France for four years when I got a call from a friend who knew somebody who wanted to start a Golf School. I was ready to come home, so I flew right from Paris to Scottsdale."

Prosowski became a partner in the school seven years ago when he and a former student bought out the school's original owner.

"Now my partner does all the phone work and the stuff I don't have time for," Prosowski said, "and I do all the instruction."

Prosowski began holding summer sessions of the golf school at Quechee a decade ago. Last year he officially registered the Upper Valley operation as the Golf School of Phoenix at Quechee. This year, he started a branch of the school at Long Island National in Riverhead, N.Y.

Though the business now has two venues in addition to Orange Tree Golf Resort in Scottsdale, it is Golf School's size that Prosowski believes is part of what makes it different from some of the others around the country. He's tried to set a cap on class enrollment at 10 or 12 students, a far cry from the 100 or so some of his competitors will push through in a weekend.

"We are a small school that can really give individualized attention," Prosowski said. "I don't know many times Jack Nicklaus is at the Nicklaus-Flick School. I'm no big name, but I'm the director of instruction and you'll get to see me there and work with me. We think that's important."

The smaller class size allows Prosowski and his assistants to tailor their approach to the individual player.

"One of the first things we do when they get there is develop a learning profile," he said. "It's something like 24 questions and tells me the type of person I'm dealing with. Then we ask them why they are there and what they want to achieve."

What is gleaned from the students' answers is then weaved into their individual programs, from the rank beginner to the low-handicap player.

"If they are 'never-evers,' we take them out on the golf course to show them etiquette and rules and simple things you never think about, like how to mark your golf balls or where to stand when someone is hitting," Prosowski said. "Or for someone who just wants to work on their driver, we can do that.

"If the players are better, we might take them out on playing lessons and talk about how to manage yourself and the mental aspect of the game. How to keep an even keel and play your best golf when things aren't going the way you'd like, instead of concentrating on the technical aspects of the game."

When it comes to those technical aspects, Prosowski makes extensive use of a state-of-the-art computer setup that allows him to break digital video of a pupil's swing down to 1/10,000th of a second.

"Its a great teaching tool," he said. "The hardest thing about teaching golf is what you feel is not always real, and your perception of your swing isn't real. One picture really can be worth 1,000 words."

Using computer aided pictures, Prosowski can synchronize a student's swing with that of a tour pro with the same body type and even overlay the stick figure of the pro's swing on the students video.

But it doesn't end there.

"I can download the video to a CD and give that to a student, or move it to videotape or even email it," Prosowski said. "And I save clips of all of my students. I have a database where, at the end of the session, I type in what we worked on and what they still need to achieve, so I'm ready for them when they come back."

Or to answer their frantic phone calls. "I have an 800 number that goes right into my office and home, so they can call me for free," Prosowski said. Or they can send me an e-mail or e-mail me a video.

"One of the problems used to be I'd teach them for three days and then lose touch with them. Now that's changed. Every night I'm emailing students back with a video clip or answering their questions."

Somewhere in Wisconsin, there's a 60-year old guy who is living proof.