HEATHROW, FL – The first day of August 2007 was launch day for a startup that would develop into Proponent Group and go on to serve the business needs of some 1,500 serious golf instructors over that time span. “Eighteen years ago the need for what we do was apparent,” said Proponent founder and president Lorin Anderson. “The challenge was to find professionals who saw instruction as a way to make a great living—who understood it wasn’t just David Leadbetter on one end and the assistant pro with a few lessons a week on the other, and that we could help.”
The ranks of serious, talented, full-time coaches have grown notably since 2007, driven in part by a burgeoning array of high-tech diagnostics, be that the launch monitor or ground-force plates or 3D swing analysis coupled with a boom in Indoor golf academies.
At the outset, Proponent Group was a just-for-instructors unit within AMF Golf Management—now known as Golf Business Network, or GBN.
“The concept and the goal from the start has been to support the full-time golf coach with business and career resources,” Anderson comments. “We’ve been through a couple of name changes and we’ve hit the re-set button once or twice, but we’ve never altered our approach or our formula.”
The 18-year run has featured 12 Proponent Group Summits, about 170 PGA Show Education Forums, plenty of PGA Section road-show presentations and—from the Covid years through the present, over 240 Member’s Minute packages of video news, how-to articles and industry analysis—delivered on Thursday afternoons year-round.
Who joins Proponent? It’s a high-caliber, self-selecting group. For example, 25 percent of members who are employees work at private clubs with initiation fees over $75,000. Just over half are Directors of Instruction (51 percent) while another 16 percent are academy owners. About 60 percent of members are employees while the rest operate as independent contractors. PGA or LPGA Master Professionals make up 9 percent of the membership while more than half of all members (51 percent) have made their current Golf Digest Best in State lists.
PGA or LPGA Section Teacher of the Year honors have been awarded to 40 percent of Proponent Group members. Meanwhile, 30 members have been named PGA or LPGA National Teacher of the Year during their careers.
“It’s been a great run so far and seeing all of our coaches’ successes keeps us motivated,” said Anderson, “Going forward we will remain laser-focused on making sure our current member coaches have access to all the information they need in this very dynamic part of the golf industry, to grow their businesses and make the best career choices for themselves.”
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.