Hello and welcome to a new-but-old series within the Enterprise-Journal’s sports department.
Back in the late 1900s, a past editor began taking golf lessons from local instructor Ted Tullos and chronicled his journey of learning and growth through the written word.
As a friend of Tullos and someone who recognizes that knowing how to properly swing a club will come in handy, I decided to rekindle that past series in the modern age.
So stay tuned for my documentation of Tullos’ teachings from Quail Hollow, as I’ll provide some insight on what it’s like to get started in the sport, why it is considered such a beautiful game and--ideally--how I was able to become a respectable player.
*Article will be continually updated with additional days as time wears on.*
Day 1 (February 12, 2026)
Before I delve into the initial day of instruction, I’ll provide some background on my prior experience with the sport.
My grandparents live in a golf community up in Rochester Hills, Michigan, and thus my annual pilgrimages did feature a fair amount of time on the links. My grandfather is an avid golfer despite being well past 80, and while neither of his sons play with much frequency, they both are at least serviceable on the course.
Those genes trickled down to me, but only barely. My drives go a fair distance, but a horrendous slice has caused me to have too many close calls with houses and cars. My fairway play is mediocre at best, my chipping surprisingly effective and my putting predictably pathetic.
So, now you all know where I’m starting from.
Tullos knew all of this prior and insisted that due to my background as an athlete, he could turn me into a respectable golfer with relative ease. I had initial doubts, as I was unsure how my basketball and soccer skills would translate to such a precise game that requires far more mental fortitude than any other sport.
Still, I knew that doing this would be beneficial for multiple reasons.
First and foremost, my grandfather would be proud I’d finally decided to take some lessons, and that’s worth its weight in gold.
Secondly, golf is a game that seemingly calls to every male at some point in their lives, whether it be for pleasure, business or a mix of both. Thus, I figured it could only help me down the line.
And lastly, this was also just a great chance to get out in nature. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more peaceful setting than a golf course on a pristine day, and as the weather began to warm, I wanted to find a way to get outdoors more.
But that’s enough prefacing.
Day One saw Tullos put me through the wringer, as we drilled the long game, chipping and putting to set a starting point with each.
Beginning on the driving range, I rotated through various clubs as Tullos instructed me on proper stance and how to alter my previous swing. At first the primary goal was to get the ball in the air consistently, then we’d begin to work on directional play once that was achieved.
During this period, I would say that two primary breakthroughs were made.
The first was that I realized I was–as Tullos put it–‘holding onto the club face too long.’ That meant that upon contact, I wasn’t flipping my right wrist, so the face was always opening up and causing my shots to sail to the right.
The second was that I had a bad habit of raising my torso right before hitting the ball, which prevented me from gaining much airtime and caused me to skim the top plenty of times. Holding my arms steady and shortening my backswing helped alleviate that issue, and I began to lift the ball in a fairly straight direction.
After we felt good about the progress made on the range, we began chipping. As previously stated, this was my strong suit coming into this, and outside of sharpening up my follow-through, not many fixes were made in this part of my game. Of course, the next step will be adding more distance, as we only started at a 10-20 foot range for the day.
And lastly, the ever-dreaded putting practice. I began without high hopes of making much progress in this regard on Day One, but I was sorely mistaken.
Tullos taught me the modern ‘left-hand low’ grip that many golfers are using nowadays, which evens the shoulders and takes hand movement largely out of the equation. Leaving everything up the shoulders and torso–combined with remembering to have my eyes over the ball–immediately improved my putting to a level where I could at least set myself up near the pin with consistency.
All in all, plenty of progress was made on Day One as I shook off rust and learned some of the fundamentals that had been holding me back. Thus, it’s safe to say that Tullos and I have put a strong foundation in place.
The Day’s Takeaway: “Keep things simple, fluid and in rhythm.”
Day 2 (February 19, 2026)
My second lesson with Tullos saw us attempt to build off of the foundation we set last week.
I had made sizable strides when it came to consistently getting the ball in the air, so this session was about tackling the second key part of golf: directional hitting.
Tullos employed a handful of strategies to work on my aim, advising me to focus on finishing with my follow-through to the left. After all, we were combating years of me slicing the ball to the right.
At first, results were varied as I attempted to combine what I learned from last week with the new teachings. I made steady progress with the follow-through, but other aspects of my swing (pulling up, lower-body balance, etc.) prevented me from really pushing the ball to the left or straight.
Then, Tullos decided to show me a technique for athletes that focuses on finishing in that direction. He advised me to swing the club with just my right hand, which allowed me to hone in on my arm/wrist in a way that resembled a movement from baseball or tennis.
That drill made a difference, as I began to realize that the left hand really just exists as a guiding presence during the swing. That epiphany prompted me to begin to think more about how much I was fighting the club in general, and I began to just trust that it would do what was intended when I swung.
Consider that the breakthrough of the day.
To nobody’s surprise, golf clubs are made to hit golf balls. So why was I attempting to aim and guide the club to the ball so much?
Once I began to simply put faith in the club doing what it was supposed to do, my swing became more natural, and subsequently, my shots found air while also flying in a generally straight direction.
Satisfied with that progress, we headed over to the greens to work on some putting and chipping. I primarily worked longer distances on this day, with the primary breakthrough coming with my putting direction.
Ironically, I had developed a habit of aiming slightly to the left on the greens for whatever reason, contrasting my right slice on the fairways. Thus, Tullos drilled me on properly lining myself up and visualizing my putt before I hit it, which allowed me to adjust for longer distances better.
All in all, more solid progress was made today.
I feel like I am on the brink of consistently combining airtime with the correct direction, and my swing feels more natural and smooth. None of my shots are sailing well past the 100-yard marker, and I’m not sinking 20-foot putts by any means, but improvements have certainly been made.
And all that caused Tullos to be hootin’ and hollerin’ by the time we were done for the day, so I must’ve done something right.
*Another key point to note: Last week I referenced that I had learned to ‘flip’ my wrist upon contact with the ball. The correct terminology would be to ‘release’ my wrist, and in turn the club face.*
The Day’s Takeaway: “Let the club do the work.”
Day 3 (February 26, 2026)
On the third day of instruction, I wrestled with the mental side of this game.
Golf is notoriously one of the most frustrating and finicky sports in the world, prompting even the best of the best to throw clubs or yell in anguish at times.
That reality trickles down to the novice level I learned during this lesson, as I struggled to regain the rhythm I had begun to develop the previous week. Between not getting under the ball properly or not closing my club face upon contact, I just couldn’t find that sweet spot I reached at the end of last week’s session.
Tullos remained patient through it all and took me through a handful of drills that got me back on the right track. But more so than anything else, I found that if I just challenged myself to maintain a consistent swing regardless of the club or distance, the results improved.
As alluded to, Tullos added a new element into this week’s lesson: frequent club rotation. I would take a couple shots with a wedge on the range, then I’d go to a 9-iron, then a 7-iron, then a hybrid before moving on to the driver.
We repeated that process for roughly 30 minutes as I worked to keep my mechanics the same regardless of whether I was teeing the ball up or looking to play it within 50 yards.
Without even thinking about it, I did find that I was subconsciously altering my stance and form depending on the club I was using. And while that is needed in some small aspects of the swing, Tullos emphasized that I needed to treat each club largely the same and instead just focus on creating quality contact. Because in turn, the club will do exactly what it is intended to do.
After some discouraging early moments where I realized I needed to practice more outside of these lessons (something Tullos has certainly been harping on), I found my groove again. I was effectively releasing my hands to drive the ball either straight or to the left, and I was able to create some solid, consistent hang-time.
Per usual, we then transitioned to the greens. I had made progress when it came to my short game in putting and chipping, so today was an opportunity to add more distance to the mix.
When chipping from greater lengths, I realized that I needed to adopt some of the same mindset I had with putting. More specifically, my swings needed to be all shoulders and torso with little-to-no hand movement, as wedges are shaped to where they don’t require a full swing of the club.
Keeping the back-swing and follow-through smooth yet compact allowed me to begin making progress, but long-distance chipping is certainly something we will come back to.
With putting, I enjoyed marginally greater success. After delving into a brief lesson on how to properly read greens, I found that my aim was generally strong but my power was lacking.
With Tullos’ quip of “You can make a putt if you hit it too hard, but never if it’s too short” ringing in my head, I began to put more into the swings and successfully placed three near the hole from roughly 15-20 feet away.
Overall, consistency continues to be the name of the game at this juncture. Tullos and I have seen what I can be capable of, but I just need to find a rhythm with my swing that I can always come back to.
Still, I did take note of two positive developments.
First was that I was beginning to know if my shot was correct or not as soon as I had hit the ball, without having to look at which direction it had gone or how far.
And secondly, the warm-up shots I took during this lesson were in another ballpark compared to the initial swings from our first lesson. That gave Tullos and I a good laugh, and it also serves as a tangible sign of progress.
The Day’s Takeaway: “Golf is truly a mental game.”
Day 4 (March 5, 2026)
The fourth day of lessons saw me combine everything I had learned prior and genuinely make some strong progress as a result.
Per usual, we began on the driving range. I went through our warm-up of rotating through various clubs, and I found that I was able to maintain last week’s rhythm with the wedges and irons.
However, I hit a speed bump upon graduating to hybrids and drivers. For whatever reason, the different size and shape of the club took a mental toll on me, and I struggled to find the same level of consistency I had with the irons.
After alternating between finding the appropriate direction and distance but never all at the same time, Tullos and I stumbled upon our latest ‘eureka’ moment.
I’ve written at length about “releasing the club face” within my swing to avoid slicing the ball to the right. I had made substantial progress in that regard, but the consistency still wasn’t there, as I just couldn’t establish the muscle memory needed at this juncture.
But upon studying my swing some more, Tullos noticed something else.
He found that I was trying to release the club face upon contact, whereas I actually needed to be doing that as I was approaching the ball. This would allow me to drive my left shoulder towards the ground during the follow-through, thus preventing me from pulling up as I so frequently do.
That simple fix worked wonders, as once I started to key in on releasing my hands prior to the contact point, I was able to maintain a fairly straight trajectory.
Upon getting comfortable with that change, Tullos and I went over to the greens. I continued to work on chipping from a distance, which required me to again focus on keeping my hands out of the equation and letting my shoulders/torso do much of the work.
Putting work rounded out the day, with me similarly lining up from farther distances this time around.
Frankly, the left-hand low grip combined with simply keeping my putts within one clean motion has been wildly effective, as I was able to effectively approach the hole from most distances. The next step for me will be working on my visual aim, as I still have a tendency to line myself up more to the left than necessary.
Stay tuned for next week when Tullos and I take to the actual course to play a couple holes, which I’m sure will be eye-opening in more ways than one.
*Apologies in advance to those who also happen to be playing at Quail Hollow that day.*
The Day’s Takeaway: “Patience is a must in this game.”
Day 5 (March 26, 2026)
Following a two-week hiatus, my fifth lesson with Tullos saw us shake off some rust as I looked to get back into the swing of things ahead of playing the actual course next Thursday.
My return to the range saw me go through the usual rotation of clubs as I attempted to find my groove again. It certainly took a bit to regain my rhythm, and thus few major breakthroughs were made on this day.
If anything, I really just made strides in terms of consistency, which I’ve determined is the next step in my game. Tullos has given me all of the tips and strategies needed to effectively swing the club, but combining all of that into one fluid motion is proving to be a challenge.
But that comes as little surprise, further reinforcing the notion that patience is a must in this game. I gradually regained my ability to release my hands before contacting the ball, and I also realized that I needed to focus on keeping my left foot flush to the ground instead of twisting it during my backswing.
After roughly 30 minutes of work on the range, I felt that I had regained some of my muscle memory and was combining solid distance with proper direction.
We then moved to the greens for chipping and putting practice.
I had to work through some of the same initial swing struggles that I did on the range, but once I sharpened up my stance and committed to a followthrough, I was able to chip with some degree of success.
Putting was the one area where I showed little signs of rust, as we quickly breezed through some short shots before attempting more from distance. Learning how to properly read greens will be the next step, and that process will begin next week…
…Because as mentioned, all of the gained knowledge and breakthrough moments will be put to the test when we play a couple holes on Quail Hollow’s course.
I’m mentally prepared for the experience to be a rude awakening in a variety of ways, but I also know that I’ve made solid progress and therefore feel that I’m ready to be thrown even deeper into the fire.
The Day’s Takeaway: “Progress rarely follows a linear path.”
