Sink or Swim - The Journey of Bill Scott, PGA

For over 30 years, Bill Scott, PGA has dedicated his career to teaching and sharing his passion for the game of golf with younger generations.

At age nine, Scott was invited by his older brother to the golf course for the first time. His brother was a new member of Mount Vernon Country Club in Alexandria, Virginia where the Scott family grew up. It was a junior summer camp at the Club that initially sparked Scott’s interest in the game and from there, he was hooked.

Fast forward to Scott’s freshman year of high school where football was his main passion, while enjoying golf on the side. In a talk with the golf coach, who also happened to be the former football coach, Scott was hit with some harsh reality.

“Bill, you have about a onein-a-million chance of playing professional football, “ his coach said. “You already play golf, you can maybe make a career out of this, there are lots of different avenues.”

Moving forward, Scott was fully committed to golf and by the time he graduated high school, he had a decision to make - go to college or begin a career in golf. After a semester in college, Scott decided school was not for him.

Thanks to his childhood spent at Mount Vernon Country Club, Scott was hired and enrolled in the PGA Apprenticeship Program in 1992. For ten years, Scott would work at Mount Vernon Country Club, starting in the bag room, working his way to first assistant and obtaining his Class-A PGA Membership. During that time,

Scott worked heavily in junior golf and ran the same junior golf camp where his love for the game was first established.

After ten years, Scott wanted to pursue a professional playing career. He and his wife quit their jobs and moved to south Florida in 1998. Again, Scott was hit by the harsh reality of trying to play golf for a career and the grueling path of making it in professional golf.

Scott knew a change was inevitable and made, what he called, a “cold stop” at Banyan Golf Club to see about potential opportunities. Two months later, David Eby, PGA Director of Golf at Banyan Golf Club, called Scott to let him know about a position opening that he should interview for. Scott was hired as an Assistant Professional in September of 1998.

Not long after he started at Banyan Golf Club, Scott was introduced to Don Law through Law’s daughter who worked as a shop assistant at Banyan. The Don Law Golf Academy was just starting and Law asked Scott if he wanted to come teach. Scott turned down the opportunity and remained at Banyan.

Several years later, Bobby Brown, PGA, a well-respected professional and the South Florida PGA Southeast Chapter Junior Chairman at the time, decided to take a job in Connecticut. Scott wanted to get more involved at the Section level, particularly in Junior Golf and he reached back out to Law, who was the Section Junior Chairman at the time. Scott was able to meet with Law and Rick Heard, PGA, the Southeast Chapter President to learn more about junior programming at the Section and Chapter levels. During the meeting, Scott felt as if it turned more into an interview, and was once again offered by Law to teach at the Academy.

More intrigued by the opportunity and ready for a change, Scott consulted with his wife.

“We already quit our jobs once to move to Florida with no jobs, I’ll just quit my job again with a baby on the way and start a new career teaching,” Scott laughed as he recalled the conversation with his wife. “It really was just sink or swim.”

In 2003, Scott quit his job and moved into a full-time teaching role at Don Law Golf Academy, a position unlike his salaried position at Banyan. Scott’s income solely came from teaching.

“It was certainly stressful,” Scott expressed. “But it was something I always talked about wanting to do. Jim McLean, David Leadbetter, those were the guys I studied and as a kid, those were the guys I wanted to be one day.”

With seven full years of “swimming” at Don Law Golf Academy, Scott was offered the opportunity to take over the Academy as the Director of Instruction in 2010 - the position he currently holds today.

While it may seem as if Scott’s route to becoming the Director of Instruction at one of the most well-known and respected Junior Academies in south Florida was seamless, Scott did not have the background of teaching at that level and became obsessed with learning to be the best.

During his early days at Don Law Academy, video lessons and swing technology was just becoming a popular asset for teaching and Scott made sure to take advantage, allowing him to set himself apart from other teachers.

“I always wanted to stay ahead, I wanted to be first,” said Scott. “Obviously we are all on the same team at the Academy, but in my mind I wanted to be that leader.”

As a junior, Scott recalls several PGA Members that showed interest in him and supported him when he started the game and now sees himself in the juniors he works with today.

“I just want to give back because of all those guys that supported me,” he said. “They made me who I am today.”

The Don Law Golf Academy has several students that come to train at the Academy from all across the world. One student in particular, Chonpatchsorn Mahathep or “Punchy” as most people call her, has been coming to the Academy seasonally for a couple of years now. She always wanted to be able to live and go to high school in the United States but it would take a family to take her in fulltime to have that opportunity. Once Scott caught wind, he spoke with his family because it would ultimately mean a four year commitment. The entire family was on board immediately and now two years later, Punchy is a fulltime member of the Scott family.

Punchy is a member of the South Florida PGA Junior Tour and competes at the highest level on the Medalist Tour. In late June, The 39th Nicklaus Junior Championship, one of eight junior majors played throughout the season took place.

The week before the event, Punchy came to Scott and said, “Coach Bill, I never win, I only have gotten second.” Noticing that she was questioning herself, Scott responded, “It will happen, you just have to be patient and keep doing what you are doing.”

With full support from Scott, his wife and son Corbin, also an SFPGA Junior Tour member, Punchy claimed her first win at the 39th Nicklaus Junior Championship by two shots.

After the win Scott said to her, “I guess you can’t say you haven’t won one before and you won a pretty big one too. The entire family was so happy for her.”

After all the support Scott has given to Junior Golf, Scott remains determined to continue to impact the younger generations.

“I encourage every PGA Professional to show support for junior golf because you can have an impact on not only golf but life in general,” Scott said. “They are the future of our game, you just never know how you can impact someone.”

By Jennifer Torres Golf Course Superintendent Westlake Golf and Country Club, Jackson, NJ