Hit or Miss: Jen Blanco

I could have learned to play golf or I could have shopped. 

Suffice to say, I don’t play golf. 

Not that there’s anything wrong with golf. There are, I have noticed, some super cute golf outfits as I walk over to look at the yoga pants, which admittedly are worn more these days for dropping my son off at kindergarten then they are for actual workout purposes. 

Golf, thus far, has failed to capture my attention. 

That is, until I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Larry Marshall, the new PGA golf instructor at Esplanade Golf & Country Club in Lakewood Ranch. I listened to him describe his approach to honing his students’ techniques. 

Larry’s approach starts with the premise that you don't need to be perfect on your first try, which I can assure you I would not be. 

It’s all about breaking down the complexity of the game and taking it one swing at a time. Success isn’t gauged solely on the flight of the ball. It’s about understanding the changes that you’re making and recognizing that the ball will eventually respond to those changes. 

“The biggest thing is getting them to trust me,” Larry said. “I know I can help them in all parts of the game. I try to relate golf to life as much as I can because if you can relate it to life then you begin to realize you really can do it.” 

Larry dappled in golf in high school, but didn’t pick up the game again until several years after college while delivering groceries one Tuesday afternoon in November to the home of the head golf professional at Brookside Golf & Country Club, in Columbus, Ohio. 

Three months later, Larry landed his first job on the range and started learning the business. It was there that the thought of teaching first piqued his interest. 

“Teaching is all about picking people up and keeping them up," he said. “The game of golf is really hard.” 

After five years at Brookside, Larry moved to Florida in 1994 and spent 19 years working with David Leadbetter, one of the top instructors in the world. Of those 19 years, 17 were spent working with the junior golf program at IMG Academy. 

Larry assumed his new role at Esplanade in September. 

“I like helping people and seeing them get better,” Larry said. “I found I’m a natural teacher. It’s all about being able to read people and relate to them on their level.

“You have to be really patient and you have to mean it,” Larry said. “You have to teach based on their experience level, so they can truly understand it.” 

So, I’m thinking maybe I’ll finally let Larry get my husband and I into the game of golf. Although, given my husband Brian’s uninspired response of “a golf course is just a waste of what otherwise would be a perfectly good shooting range,” maybe I’ll just end up wearing those super cute golf clothes to McNeal Elementary School drop-off next month. 

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Lakewood Ranch High is once again leaving its mark on the classroom. 

Lakewood Ranch’s football team finished first in Class 7A in the Florida High School Athletic Association’s Academic Team Champions for the fall. The Mustangs, who posted a combined 3.251 cumulative grade-point average, were the only area team to win an academic team championship. 

Lakewood’s girls golf team finished second in Class 3A with a 3.934 grade-point average while the Mustangs boys cross-country team was fourth in Class 3A (3.661). 

Teams had to have at least a 3.0 grade-point average to make the list. Lakewood Ranch is currently tied for fourth in Class 7A in the overall combined team standings.