Golf School Testimonials

John Rocheford

I want to thank Amanda for making all the arrangements for my attendance at the Golf School. It was a very pleasant three days and the group though small was friendly. I must also compliment our Professional Rick Sopka for his pleasant manner, keen eye for detail and his method of teaching which made a big positive difference to my game. It was definitely worth the time and expense and hope that I can return sometime in the future for some fine tuning.

June 1-2-3, 2007
St. James, Barbados

Kayla Stock

Judy Sams, you are a very good teacher. Yesterday (Monday, June 11, 2007 ) from the white tees at Raymond, Kayla carded 86 in a practice round. Today in a scramble at Mentel with several high school girls' golf teams (about 10 foursomes) she won every prize, including long drive. On a par 5 she drove 135 yards from the green and then used her 8 iron to put it one foot from the hole. Her team let her put in for her first ever eagle. A proud father, Pete Stock

June 3-10, 2007
Columbus, Ohio

Cathy Cooley

I just attended your Windham, New York school for the May 27th through May 31st session (Women Only 5 Day Course). I had a terrific time. The accommodations at Christmans were lovely, the food was great and the staff treated myself and three friends royally!!! But the BIGGEST plus of all was our Golf Pro Instructor Jan Kleiman She was the BEST she had unlimited patience, a vast knowledge of the game and was wonderful at hands on teaching but I have to say her terrific sense of humor was most appreciated - She kept things light and happy which in turn made it a very comfortable and relaxed learning experience. Jan is definitely an asset to your school. I had a great time and will definitely recommend your school to my friends. Thanks, Cathy Cooley.

May 27-31, 2007 Women Only
Flushing, NY

Carter Edwards

Our week at the Windham School was a wonderful experience. This was our second visit to a Ben Sutton School with our first experience being the 3 Day School in Florida several years ago. We were very pleased with our experience there also.

There were only 8 in this school with 4 per group and our instructor was Gregg Gamester. I feel that he is an excellent instructor (I have had lessons with 4 different instructors and found his technique and style to be the best). His instruction was very helpful. There was a good blend of group instruction, individual attention and more than enough practice time. The change in the teaching process from hourly sessions to the open technique is much better. We could spend as much time as needed on each skill before moving to the next level. 5 days is a perfect amount of time to work on your game.

I came away from the school inspired to work on my game and become a better player. I have a much better understanding of techniques and positioning. Hopefully with time and much practice, my game will improve.

I hope that the Windham location works well and that the school will continue to offer classes there. It is a nice alternative to the Florida location especially in the summer months.

Carter Edwards
June 11-15, 2006
Newport News, VA

Jim Lockard

Finally played my first round for score since attending in early May. I've played in several scrambles, winning longest drive in one of them. It was nice to count birdies and pars at the end of the day instead of pars and bogies. I'm now able to troubleshoot my mistakes and make the corrections. Lower scores and lower handicap are in the near future.

Jim Lockard
May 7-11, 2006
Bel Air, Maryland 21014

Howard Heller

Just got home from my 3 day tour at Windham. Can't stop thinking about the experience. Although the weather was far from ideal, Don Miller worked us through the wind, cold, drizzle, and rain until our bodies could no longer respond. It was great! Don was terrific, his patience and knowledge greatly appreciated. I have been playing for 6 years; have had other lessons, and went to another school before this....none have helped me as much as these past three days. I will have to return after I (hopefully) master what I have been taught this weekend. Although Windham is a work in progress your staff was top notch. Just a great experience, and more than worth the investment.

Howard Heller
May 19-21, 2006
W. Hempstead, NY

Mitchel Fujiwara

I am writing to thank you for such a great time in Tampa. It was fun getting immersed in my golf game for the week. I was amazed at how hard everyone at the school worked to make sure the students had time to practice an optimize our time spent at the facility. My instructor, Chris Ayles, was a lot of fun. Chris really does care about his students. So does Dick Sutton. The personalized sand wedge instructions Dick gave me has really helped my game since class ended. I think the biggest accomplishment from my experience is that it has changed me from a very analytical golfer to one who can now focus on feel. By the end of the week, I felt like I could keep up with golfers attending the school who were so much better than I was when the class began.

Mitchel Fujiwara
May 14-21, 2006
Havre de Grace, MD

Travis Clark

I just returned from 5 days of golf school last week and as I told my wife...it was more fun than our honeymoon. I really enjoyed myself and Steve Dietz was not only knowledgeable, a great teacher and easy to work with, but he was a real pleasure to be around. The support staff were also a great help and went out of their way to make life as convenient as possible. Even Mr. Sutton took me aside and gave me some swing instruction. I will without a doubt see you again next year.

Travis Clark
Mar. 19-23, 2006
Chicago, IL

Victoria Muniz

As my first time at golf school and a very new golfer I was very scared of trying something at this level. To my surprise everyone from the staff all through the teachers were very good with their lessons and patience. I would very strongly suggest new golfers to try this experience.

Victoria Muniz
Mar. 5-9, 2006
Haskell, NJ

David Van Valkenburgh

David Van Valkenburgh got his season off to a good start, winning his first AGA TOUR event. David was steady all weekend and had a 2 day total of 165 to beat out Ed Cooper who came in second with a total of 171.

It was 33 degrees on day one and 37 degrees on day 2 at tee time with greens that were faster then putting on your kitchen floor.

"Steve (Dietz),

I got to thank you a million times, First tournament this year and I have been playing on the Amateur Golf Association Tour for 3 years and been in the top 10 a lot but this was heaven.

Thanks for all your help, my success is from your teaching at the Golf School.

I'll be back."

David Van Valkenburgh
Alpharetta, GA
Feb. 24-26, 2006

Peach Waller

Dear Staff of Ben Sutton:

Here's a copy of the letter I sent to the 175 members of my group The Hacker's Amateur Golf Tour.

Please, relay to all my new friends (and I really think of them in that way) in Sun City how much I enjoyed the past week. It was really difficult to leave and come home there were so many great memories over the last week.

I look forward to the new memories I'll make down there next year at my next school.

Please, let me know if I can do anything to help you promote your school here on the Gulf coast. My Tour plays from Pensacola, FL to Biloxi, MS with members from seven states. I'm always glad to help my friends.

"Dear Hackers,

As most of you know, for the past seven days I was just south of Tampa, Fl. at the Ben Sutton Golf School. While the experience is fresh in my mind, I thought you might like to hear my impressions of the school.

On the seventh day of the school, when everyone else was receiving their diplomas, the staff sequestered me off to a back room of the country club. I was seated at a small table with one bright lamp shining in my face. Standing behind me were two "CIA type goons" in dark suits and sunglasses with earpieces in their right ears.

My instructor, Steve Dietz, sat opposite me. He slid a piece of paper to me with a ball point pen resting on it. Steve informed me that the school was willing to give me a full tuition refund if I would sign the paper.

I read the paper. It was a full denial that I had never heard of the Ben Sutton School much less attended it for seven days. All mention of me was to be purged from their home office files. I could never even say the name "Sutton" again in my life which would be tough since I like Don Sutton, the former Dodger, and Eddie Sutton, the basketball coach, so much. The home office would deny sending me any brochures or info on the school and that I would cease to exist as far as they were concerned.

They even wanted me to say I had never been in the Tampa area in my life but I said; "No". I mean, I had to draw the line somewhere. What was next? Asking me to move from Florida?

So, I signed. If you tell them I sent this email, they'll probably send those "goons" to get me.

In all seriousness, I wanted to let you guys on our Tour know what a wonderful experience this was for me. The Ben Sutton Golf School in Sun City, Fl. (www.golfschool.com) sits on 50 acres with tee boxes, greens, bunkers and practice areas throughout the complex.

I landed at Tampa International on Super Bowl Sunday at 10am and was picked up by a limo which took me on the 45 minute ride to the host hotel. I checked in, was briefed on the school by Ashley Sutton and got moved into my room. Within a few hours, I took the shuttle from the motel over to the school which is five minutes away.

There is no class on Sunday but you're free to hit balls and get familiar with the entire practice area. When arriving at the school that Sunday, I was immediately made welcome by the great staff at the school. They take your bag, put you on a cart with an chicken egg basket full of Strata golf balls and tell you to go wherever you want and practice. I mean these folks are really, really nice. During the entire week, I never heard the first grumble, saw the first frown or got the impression these guys and girls wouldn't do anything to make you feel at home.

On Super Bowl Sunday afternoon, we had an informal get together and cocktail party where we got to meet our instructor and the other students. We had 14 students in my group and we were divided into groups of 4, 5 and 5 with an instructor for each. You stay with the same pro for the week so they can better track your progress. AND YOU WILL GET BETTER!

The typical day consist of breakfast (all meals are served at the country club) followed by class beginning at 9am. You work for three hours and break for lunch with your pro for an hour. Class then resumes from 1 until 4. At quitting time you have choices. You have playing privileges at the country club, or you can stay at school and work on whatever you want or you can go back to the room.

Every night there is an open bar get together from 5:45 to 6:30. Of course, I never attended any of those gatherings, but I heard they were fun. :) Dinner at the country club is from 6:30 to 7:30. About the meals let me say everything I had was excellent. The omelets at breakfast were super. Lunches were fun because you were getting to know your pro better as well as your classmates. At dinner you would have a choice between to main courses. Some of ours were prime rib, London broil, Atlantic salmon and chicken Portofino. Not bad, huh?

All meals and gratuities are included with the price of the school as is the lodging.

During classes you are videotaped on many occasions. These are then reviewed by you and your pro to show you trouble areas. My pro, Steve Dietz, was extremely tactful. He even found a way to say "and here is the twelfth problem in your swing" without hurting my feelings. By the way, at the end of the school you get a DVD of all the sessions which were recorded. This is a great way to review in the future to avoid your old, not so good habits.

While talking with the other students in our class of 14, I kept hearing the same comments. Everyone was impressed with how much attention they got from the pros and how genuinely sincere they were about making you get better. They were not there just to log in the hours.

Overall impressions: What can I say except that I would rate the school 10 out of 10. The hospitality is amazing. The organization excellent. The training follows a very logical and stair step process.

They offer 3 day and 5 day schools as well as the 7. Let me interject the 7 is best. There is so much information for your brain and body to process that you need to give it time for it to start making sense to you. The more hours you have for your pro to talk with and instruct you the better off you are. Steve told us the same thing 10 different ways. That's what good teachers do because the same words don't click in everyone's brain the same way. All of sudden, on the eighth different phraseology you will say,"Oh! I get it now!."

In closing, for any of you considering a school let me suggest Ben Sutton to you. If you have questions, don't hesitate to email of call me. You all have my number.

Semper Fi,
Peach"

Peach Waller
Pace, FL
Feb. 5-12, 2006

Jon Hoffert

Yesterday I completed a three day course instructed by Rick Sopka. I just wanted to express a couple of thoughts about Rick. That man has an unbelievable knowledge of his craft, its history, and how to apply it to teaching the game. Even more amazing was his ability to demonstrate the fundamentals he was showing us. He could pick up a strange club and strike the ball exactly how he said he would, make it land where he said it would, and make it do what he said it would do when it got there. He never missed a shot . . . not once! That gave him instant credibility and gave us a perfect act to follow. He is a very skilled instructor with a positive and upbeat attitude. I have already recommended him to three people in the 24 hours since completed the course.

Jon Hoffert
Jan. 20-22, 2006
Treasure Island, FL