Does skipping school and learning how to golf sound like a good time to you? Well, it definitely does to some people, but I didn’t think it would be that interesting. I was so, so wrong. 

My mum works at Golftec, where trained coaches give clients golf lessons. I’ve been there many times, to see all the accounting and files and credit card statements and phone bills my mother deals with, but on November 14th, I got the chance to see a different side of it. 

I worked with Don Brett-Davies, who gave me the opportunity to try out the golf lessons in one of Golftec Vancouver’s high-tech learning bays. The bay has a putting green, a screen to watch a play-by-play of your golf swing, a net to catch the balls, and a harness that measures the different components of your swing. As it turns out, I’m a little better at golf than I thought I would be (although I thought I would be terrible). 

The harness you wear during the lesson

The sensors on the harness help track each part of your swing- the wind-up, the impact of the club on the ball, and the follow-through- and calculate how your position compares to the ideal position. In my case, the ideal position was being able to hit the ball, something I was unable to do until my fourth try. As it turns out, I wasn’t bending and straightening my arms in the right places and times. Once I figured out how to bend and straighten my arms, I actually hit the ball off the tee. Don, the coach, was super nice and supportive, and I can understand why people would take lessons like this- they’re really in-depth and help a lot. I can also understand why Don does this for a living. He’s a really nice guy who likes to help people out, and these lessons give both teacher and student a sense of accomplishment.

The other side of Golftec that I saw during my short time there was a drastically different one. Golftec is a franchise business, and each new centre needs equipment. Kelly Grimes, who helps provide equipment for new centres, gave me some tasks to do while I was there that showed me what her job is like. I helped her organise a shelf of cardboard and bubble wrap, measure the space a table would fit in, and search for a table on Craigslist.

The table Kelly found

It was very hard to find a table, with most items either too expensive, too big, or too far away. Kelly actually found a table a week after Take Your Kid to Work Day. As you can see, it fits over the mini-fridge I measured in my video. 

I also really enjoyed learning about Kelly’s job, and I think that I would enjoy a job like hers when I’m older. 

This experience was really positive for me, and I hope to have more like it in the future. 

Thanks for reading my blog post!