It is very rare that you will find BOYNE's Director of Instruction, Brian O'Neill, at a loss for words about the golf swing. Unless of course he is learning more about it. Such was the case on the final morning before the start of Jack Nicklaus' prestigious tournament, The Memorial at Murifield Village. You see, Brian was hand picked by long time BOYNE resident and Golf Digest top 10 instructor, Jim Flick, to join he and Mike Malaska (Golf Digest top 50) as a team of instructors for Mr. Nicklaus' sponsors and guests of honor.
The privilege came with the demand of 5:00 am wake up calls, hours worth of clinics, lessons in the hot sun and trying to keep pace with Flick as he marched around inside the ropes with star pupil, Tom Lehman, in the afternoons. A small price to pay for the opportunity to participate in such a high profile event with your long time mentor and colleague. Still, after 6 straight days of the go-go-go... It is understandable that anyone might be a little drained and weary. Which takes us back to breakfast that Sunday morning.
There was Mr. Flick, eyes bright and showing no signs of fatigue. He struck up an impromptu seminar over bacon and toast with O'Neill, Malaska and others, who were enjoying listening and learning from Flick's 53 years of teaching history. He spoke not only of golf theories and fundamentals, but how to best communicate such actions and positions to students. The excitement in his voice was inspiring to O'Neill, who commented that, "His passion is stronger than ever... at 80 years old!" Out came archived issues of Golf Digest from the 1970's as he compared swing positions and ball-striking consistencies from Bruce Crampton, Lee Trevino and Sam Snead, to the best players in modern golf. The guys were huddled around the magazines trying to absorb all of the theories and observations that were being shared. Slowly, the others would chime in questions, confirmations and supporting dialogue as a full fledged round table ensued. Oh, to be a fly on that wall! With a renewed vigor that Flick's enthusiasm had infused in the team, they set out for their final tasks of the week. The breakfast had lasted 45 minutes, the memories will last forever.
-Jeff
**Pictured from left to right - Mike Malaska, Jim Flick, Brian O'Neill