The Surge is home and doing well.

Update: He won't be back on his treadmill for a time, but 'The Surge' is home and in the good care of wife and Registered Nurse, Susan, and brother, Ken. Son, DJ and daughter, Kim have gone back to their homes. Phones and computers have been place under lock and key. How to keep him away from the hundreds (thousands?) of golf clubs around the house has yet to be worked out. But Don is on the mend.

I had the opportunity to talk with Don yesterday and everyone's concern, prayers and best wishes has deeply moved him, as they have all of us at Peak Performance Golf Swing. While he is very thankful to everyone, knowing Don, he'll say thanks by coming up with more and even better ways to help you become better golfers. He'd already started yesterday but his allotted time on the phone was up. Not being able to talk as much as he usually does is probably driving him nuts.

As for daily tips, this coming week will be a little spotty, but we're hard at it to bring you more video, more insights, more tips.

I once got a tip from Don that stopped me in my tracks and, more or less, changed my life. I'd known him all of one hour and 15 minutes. (Remember, he talks very fast.)

I had, I thought, completed an assignment for a major golf publication that almost ruined what little game I had. My assignment: Interview, and take a lesson from, 10 top golf instructors across the U.S. Just imagine, 10 highly respected golf instructors telling you 10 different ways, more or less, to hit a golf ball.

By the time I returned home to Hilton Head Island, I was sore, confused, and definitely reconsidering my 'retirement' from tennis. But my editor really liked my stuff, I was a week or so ahead of deadline, and the money was good. Then the call came.

It seems one of the instructors, having read the article about his method before it was published, was rather annoyed about my description of his method being a combination of the 'Golfing Machine' crowd and another sport I was not familiar with. Well, I thought it was funny, but my editor said, 'Go find somebody else. You've got 48 hours!' He said it with a bit more gusto, questioned my intellectual acuity and heritage, and wouldn't budge on the 48 hour business.

'Who's left?' I asked him, keeping my emotions in check.

'What about Trahan? His office is practically in your front yard,' my editor informed me, slightly piercing my ear drum.

'Who's Trahan? He's not on my list!' I could be emotional, too.

'Did you turn the list over?' my editor inquired.

Sure enough, I turned the sheet over and there he was: Don Trahan, PGA Master Professional, the Swing Surgeon. His address: Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head Island. Yes, in my own front yard. I made the call. He said he could work me in if I could meet him on the lesson tee in 15 minutes. He said he would talk to me while giving a lesson. Don is one of the original multitaskers.

At the time, I had been writing about golf for some time, felt confident I knew the industry quite well, and had developed the surly and jaded attitude about the game all golf writers must exhibit.

I watched his lesson. I saw the student hit the ball, a rather wobbly draw. I watched the Surge, write stuff down on his pad. I listened to him talk to his student for about 30 minutes. I saw the student take practice swings. He was begging for a ball. 'You've got to earn it,' said the Surge. (Sound familiar?)

After less than an hour with 'the Surge,' the duffer could actually hit the ball straight. I want to sign up right away, but I had this deadline.

We went to his office and I was about to fire off my usual first question: 'How long does it take to improve '¦' But I couldn't. I'd just seen it. Trahan had just messed up my article.

Noticing my hesitancy, he looked at me squarely and asked: 'How long have you been writing about golf?' I told him that it had been almost a decade. 'Do you believe what you saw out there?' he asked, pointing to the lessons tee. I said that I guess I did. 'Then let me give you a tip, Mr. deVere,' the Surge said. 'Stick with me.'

About 20 years ago I took the tip. While the road for my partner and I has been longer than we thought, and tougher than we thought, you've made the journey worth it.

Blog Tags:

Golf Instruction

Comments

Hi Don:

I did not know that you had some health issues. Here is wishing a speedy recovery. This article certainly should be an inspiration to those who have not had the opportunity for you to operate on and repair their golf game.

Wishing you well.

Bill