Page 31 - Westchester Magazine - 2020 Golf Guide

On the Road to
College Golf
Aspiring junior golfers can learn the game, get a diploma, and make the contacts necessary to launch a college golf career at the Golf Performance Center. By Stephen Louis
The road to college golf isn’t easy for junior golfers, but the Golf Performance Center in Ridgefield can help pave the way. Founder Roger Knick, a PGA professional who was honored by the Met PGA with their Youth Player Development Award in 2019, has created the Northeast’s leading full-time golf-coaching facility and prep school, as well as a suite of tools to help aspiring college golf- ers, their parents, and college golf coaches make it happen.
“Our goal is creating greatness in golf, the classroom, and life,” Knick says. To that end, the center provides a development program that integrates golf instruction, physical fitness, mental discipline, academics, and life-skills training for junior golfers aiming to play on a college team. Kids as young as 8 are eligible, although the emphasis is on high schoolers.
The foyer of the center features dozens of college logos from schools where GPC alum have played. Recent Westchester juniors who studied there include James Allen of Scarsdale (Penn State), Jay Milch from Mount Kisco (Carnegie Mellon), Connor Hicks of Pound Ridge (Franklin & Marshall), and Steven Wie- der from Yonkers (Belmont Abbey).
Junior golfers (and a limited number of adult members) hone their games in an incredible facility with eight indoor/outdoor bays, bent-grass putting greens and short- game areas, a par 3 course, two gyms, locker rooms, classrooms, lounges, and every con- ceivable training/teaching tool available. Bays are equipped with the GEARS system, launch monitors, ground-force plates, an advanced putting lab, and a club-fitting studio. Access is by membership only.
The curriculum is tailored to the indi- vidual golfer and begins with an exhaus- tive physical screen, golf performance and equipment evaluations, and a formal men- tal assessment. Once accepted, the junior works with up to a dozen different coaches, on everything from nutrition and time man- agement to golf performance. Everything is
Roger Knick coaches an aspiring college golfer.
measured, and progress is rewarded.
In 2017, Knick opened Ethan Allen Prep, a fully accredited high school operated in part- nership with K-12 International Academy. Dor- mitories opened this year. Ethan Allen Prep Executive Director David Newman says the school concentrates on individualized instruc- tion because, “Just like everybody has a different golf swing, kids acquire academic knowledge differently, too.” A minimum 3.0 GPA is required for admission, and tuition varies from $5,000 to $90,000, depending on the depth of residential
services and experience provided.
The school combines online learning with
onsite teachers, and a typical day mixes physi- cal and academic study. It begins with a morn- ing workout followed by breakfast, class time, golf study, lunch, afternoon classes/study, and more golf. Students also take five one- week play/study trips to Florida during the winter, accompanied by an academic teacher, where kids not only play golf but pick up the
time management, logistic skills, and emo- tional discipline necessary to compete at the college level.
In addition to residential students, GPC works with junior golfers who live off-cam- pus, as well. An eight-week Summer Program is being introduced this year.
Three years ago, Knick introduced Junior Golf Hub, an online suite of tools to con- nect high-school golfers with college coaches. Golfers create a profile that includes their bio, tournament scores, academic records, rankings, etc. Coaches can scan the profiles using various performance filters while golf- ers can search the data base of 2,300 college programs for ones that fit their aspirations. Some 8,000 golfer profiles are available to the 800 college coaches registered to use it. Initial registration is free. An annual subscription of $129 is required to allow direct connection to individual coaches. A mobile app will be released this year. •
Photos courtesy of Golf Performance Center WESTCHESTER GOLF 2020 29v