Merkner hopes to keep his players’ attention

“Over the past four years I was busy starting a family with my wife,” he said. “Now that our girls are a little older, 2 and 4, the timing worked out for me to be away to coach.

“I really enjoyed coaching the girls golf team in the fall, but like anything new I learned a lot about myself and coaching in the process. I had a large team for the sport of golf, 15 players.

which made management a challenge. I was lucky to have an experienced assistant coach in Jim Saylor, who has helped with the program over the past three seasons, to help me get the girls to improve over the course of the season.”

Working at the two local courses as a teenager callaway razr x irons allowed Merkner to meet a lot of great people and pick up a lot of pointers from many different people, he said.

“I took a few lessons from the former head professional at Napa Golf Course, Bob Swan, and I still use some of his tips and pointers today as I teach my team,” he said.

But he credits his parents with his passion for and dedication to the game.

“My dad was the only true consistent influence on my golf game through my high school and college seasons. He picked up the game in his 20s, and he became fascinated by it,” Merkner said. “He studied the literature and techniques of Jack Nicklaus to learn more about how to play the game. He then passed that knowledge down to me. The majority of my teaching comes from the fundamentals I learned from my dad.

“However, I couldn’t have played in all my summer tournaments without the patience of my mom. Now being a parent makes me realize callaway x-24 hot irons how much time parents pour into carting kids from one sport to the next. She hauled me all over Northern California for tournaments throughout the summertime. I was very fortunate to have two parents that were so dedicated to my success.”

His older daughter is already enjoying the game, and he hopes the rest of the family follows suit.

“Molly has come with me to the driving range on a few occasions, and she enjoys hitting range balls. She also thoroughly enjoys stacking her Spongebob golf balls in the putting green holes until no more fit in, just like a 3-year-old would,” he said. “Lilah is still too young to go out with me, but in about a year I’ll start taking her too. Melanie is definitely interested in the game, but she has never played before. She talks about discount golf clubs getting involved with golf when the kids are older and we can all go out together as a family.”

Merkner hopes the fact he can still swing a mean club will keep his players’ attention when he gives them lessons.

“I think it will greatly benefit my guys to have a coach who is experienced with the game and high school golf,” he said. “I am starting to come into my own comfort zone in teaching skills and techniques to the boys. There are so many subtle techniques and intricacies in golf that I feel I have a lot to knowledge to give. Having someone there to consistently look at your swing makes a huge difference in your progress, but many times golfers take a lesson or two then try figure out the rest for themselves.