Home
Schedule a Lesson
Pleasanto Golf Center  PGC - 925-462-7201
 PGC Directions
  Eric - 650-274-3890
  Rick - 510-917-6442
Poppy Ridge
Directions
Student Resources
Long Drive
Sponsors &Partners
Links
News
Coach Calendar May
Coach Calendar June
Coach Calendar July
Coach Calendar Aug

Gift Certificates
Photos
Testimonials
FAQ's
Golf Abroad
Instructor Log On

January 2006 was a very exciting month for the Seaver Golf Academy.
First, the Seaver Golf Academy started operations at Poppy Ridge Golf Course in January of 2006. Located at 4280 Greenville Road in Livermore, CA, Poppy Ridge is a great facility with 27 holes of championship golf open to the public and an all-grass driving range with bunkers and a short game area for teaching. Opening operations at Poppy Ridge is a fabulous opportunity to really create a significant presence in the Tri-Valley area, if not beyond.

At the end of January Eric headed off to Orlando for the annual PGA Expo merchandise show. This is by far the biggest golf show of the year, and there were plenty of interesting new products that could be used at the Academy.

Eric also ran into good friend Pete Wlodkowski, owner and operator of amateurgolf.com. They just happened to hook up at the show, and while spending time together visiting several interesting booths, the idea was hatched for the Seaver Golf Academy Tournament Players School series, co-sponsored by amateurgolf.com (more info to come! Check the "Schools" section).

Eric also had a chance to compete in the annual Players Tour Championship Long Drive event held at the same time each year in conjuction with the PGA Show. To say he made a little noise would be an understatement. It was more like David beating a host of Goliaths. Eric made Long Drive history by becomming the first Senior competitor ever to win both the Senior title and the Open title in the same tournament! The field was particularly strong and included 3 of the last 4 years' World Champions in the Open division - Dave Mobley, Clayton Burger, and Carl Wolter. In addition, there were a number of LDA Tour Champions, including Vince Howell and Dave Guerekis, plus a host of winners from the LDA Tour. For more information on the event or on The Players Tour, including pictures, click on the link.

February saw the first visit of the Tour Van from The Golf Lab in Palo Alto. Leith Anderson and Andrew Losik drove their fully-equipped Tour Van right out to the range, and we had two days full of people trying out the radar system, trying new drivers and irons, and finding out what was really going on with their swing from the standpoint of spin rate, launch angle, distance, etc. Golfers also brought clubs in for new grips, a few new shafts, a grind or two on wedges and one "rattle" repair (loose glue in the club head). Most of these repairs were drop-ins, but the Tour Van still drew a crowd interested in seeing the specalized equipment at work.

Later in February Eric had a chance to work with Glen Albaugh and some of his clients at the AT&T. Glen is enjoying a good laugh here with his friend Laird Small, Director of the Pebble Beach Golf Academy. Dr. Albaugh is one of the world's top sport psychology consultants, and he had a busy week at the AT&T with clients like Scott McCarron, Kirk Triplett, Jeff Brehaut, Matt Hansen, John Ellis, and others. Glen has been Eric's mentor over the last year as Eric works toward finishing his Masters Degree in Sport Psychology, and they have enjoyed a good working relationship. Dr. Albaugh's book "Winning the Battle Within" is due out in 2006 and it is an absolutely fascinating and informative book that provides insight into how important the mental game is to achieving a high level of performance. It should come as no surprise, then, that Eric invited Dr. Albaugh to be the headline instructor for the newly created Tournament Players Golf School, and the Seaver Golf Academy is very pleased to announce that Glen has committed to headline all three planned Tournament Players Schools in April, May, and June. For more about the school, download the Tournament Players School pdf.

Also in February Eric teamed up with Jan Ahlman, Director of Sales at Poppy Ridge, at the Meeting Planners International convention in Oakland. Poppy Ridge hosted a booth at the reception and it was clear that golf is becomming more and more attractive to corporate America as more people - especially women - get involved. Jan handles all the large corporate events and tournaments at Poppy Ridge. Her cohort, Charissa Jones, handles the tournaments under 72 people, as well as the leagues and affiliate club programs. If you are working with either of these people for a golf event, you are in good hands.

Early in March the Seaver Golf Academy attended the San Mateo Golf Expo for a long three day weekend. It was a good show, and the traffic was consistent. Eric teamed up with the Golf Lab and MaxOut Golf to have one of the busiest booths of the event. Rain or shine, there always seemed to be a line. Golfers queued up to get free 10 minute lessons from Eric, to test the putt analyzer, and to use the MaxOut simulator. Eric estimates that he gave nearly 120 lessons over the three days. Poppy Ridge and Poppy Hills also had a presence at the show, just around the corner from the Golf Lab booths, and Ben Alexander, 2004 NorCal teacher of the year and independent instructor at Poppy Hills, had a booth and was a frequent speaker at the event. Our friends at Inpractis, who make the 4-View video kiosks available at both Poppy Ridge and Poppy Hills, were right next door, and they were kind enough to provide a kiosk for the Golf Lab booth which Eric used throughout the show to help people see their swings. Inpractis is a strategic partner with Seaver Golf Academy, and their video analysis software is avaialble for free at their site. We encourage all players to sign up and download the software. It's a great way to check your progress in between lessons. When you purchase a lesson bundle of 3 or 6 lessons from Seaver Golf, a free student card is included with your purchase. Start becoming your own best coach today by using the Inpractis software!

In March the Seaver Golf Academy was fortunate enough to have Rick Laforet join the team as an instructor. Rick has a great background and some terrific experience, most recently with the Nike Learning Center at Summitpointe. More important, however, is his passion for teaching and his love for the game of golf. When you spend a little time with Rick some of that passion for the game may rub off on you. Rick is a great student of the game, and he teaches with a calm approach and gentle demeanor combined with great patience. Rick's focus for the Seaver Golf Academy will be on helping to attract new golfers and juniors to the game, and he has developed a number of terrific programs slated to launch in April that will leverage off the great experience he had with the Nike programs. Seaver Golf Academy is thrilled to have Rick join the team. For more on Rick, click to the About Us section. Welcome Rick!

At the Golf Lab Professional Tour Van fitting session we were visited by a local celebrity, Channel 2 Sports Anchor Fred Inglis. Leith put Fred through his paces with a variety of different drivers, and Eric sprinkled in a little swing magic to get Fred's swing speed up about 7 mph and add about 20 yards to his drive. The timing was good because Fred has a number of celebrity appearances scheduled for charity ProAms in the near future. Good luck Fred!

April kicked off with a bang as Poppy Ridge hosted a major Sip 'n Sale and Demo Day on the range. Kudos to Brad Braden for attracting nearly 1,000 people on Saturday and Sunday. There was wine tasting in the club house with a variety of Livermore wineries, great merchandise for sale, and of course a huge variety of clubs to hit with nearly all the major vendors on hand. We caught a good break with the weather, and people really enjoyed being able to test the latest in equipment.

Eric visited his old stomping ground at the Farm in mid-April to stage an exhibition and fund raiser for the Stanford Golf Team. A few years ago Eric met Mark Brandt, principal in the Maple Fund, on a flight to Cleveland. Mark was looking for a West Coast site to host a biotech conference. Stanford was looking for a sponsor for its Intercollegiate golf tournament. The relationship blossomed into a multi-year sponsorship, and conference attendees are treated to lessons on the range, a long drive and trick shot exhibition, and 18 holes of golf at the Farm.

The Seaver Golf Academy in partnership with amateurgolf.com hosted the first Tournament Players School at Poppy Ridge on April 15th. The event was sold out, and by all accounts was a major success. Had the weather been somewhat more cooperative the day would have been an ace. Much of the morning was taken up by Dr. Glen Albaugh, who took the players through the mental landscape in a lively and informative manner. The attendees learned about playing with their imaginitive mind, about managing their emotional mind, and appropriately using the rational mind. The players practiced relaxation breathing as well as imagery and imagination. Then the group braved the cold and rainy day to head outside to make "tension free" swings and practice swinging without thinking about mechanics. For most of the players the feeling of swinging without tension was a new and exciting revelation. The looming bad weather caused the day to end before schedule, and the players were not able to take full advantage of the chipping and putting stations, so we hope to see them back for the next school on May 20th!

Jan 14th: FWGA Mental Skills Clinic

Jan 26 & 27: The Players Tour Long Drive Championship (Eric will be defending his Senior and Open Division Titles

Feb 18th: Ladies of the Vineyard Mental Skills Clinic

PERFORMANCE GOLF SCHOOL! April 15th, 2007

PGA Teacher of the Year ERNIE BARBOUR teamed up with World Long Drive Champion Eric Jones to offer a dynamite 1-day school on Sunday, April 15th. The Performance School started at 9:00 and ended at 5:00. This school was dedicated to improving mental and physical golf performance. Ernie provided a masters level clinic on short game, including philosophy, technique, and demonstration. Eric worked with players to improve driving distance and generate clubhead speed.
Download a flyer. April 15th: Performance Golf School. Click on the link to the school to sign up. Fairways and greens!

March 31/Apr 1: DEMO DAY at Poppy Ridge. Get super sale prices on everything.


April 15th: Performance Golf School
With short game guru Ernie Barbour!