CARLSBAD, Calif. – When Alliance’s Chad Woods returned from his year-long deployment in Afghanistan, he knew he needed to find time to relax.
What could be more relaxing than golfing? How about living on a golf course?
After spending some time at home, he and his brother, Shawn, moved into the Links apartment complex in Lincoln.
His window view of the golf course was a sight for sore eyes.
”It was cool to walk out my front door and down to the tee box,” he said. “That was pretty cool.”
Almost daily, Woods made a point to use his backyard golf course to its fullest. He’d golf through the hottest of Lincoln’s humid Augusts and through the bitter early springs.
He’d even venture out when there was still snow on the ground.
“During those winter months in February when it would get up to 40 degrees and I’m the only one out there, people probably thought I was a little bit crazy,” he said.
If temperatures dipped much further, though, he’d have to get his golf fix in by watching golf tournaments.
Having a break from the desert heat and military responsibility was nice, but he knew he needed to eventually enroll in classes somewhere. Around that time, Woods saw an ad roll across the screen while he was watching a golf tournament. The advertisement was for the Golf Academy of America.
“Five minutes later I sent an email requesting some information and spoke with some people and really thought about it,” Woods said.
So, Woods and his family made a trip to sunny, Southern California to one of the Academy’s campuses in Carlsbad, California.
Woods was sold almost immediately.
He knew the Academy was exactly the type of school he wanted to go to.
“I loved it, so it just kind of made sense,” he said.
So, the Alliance native has been learning all things golf for the past year. Still, there’s a misconception that everyone enrolled in the college is a scratch golfer, Woods said.
“When I tell (people) I go to the Golf Academy, they go, ‘Oh, so you can play,’” Woods said. “And I’m like, ‘Well, yeah I can play a little bit. I’m not terrible.’”
But that’s not the point, Woods said. The Golf Academy isn’t designed to find the next Rory McIlroy or Jordan Spieth. It’s to train the next wave of caddy masters or club fitters or instructors.
It’s teaches the business side of the game – the side that often goes overlooked, Woods explained. As it so happens, it’s exactly what Woods had always wanted to do.
The 2007 AHS graduate always enjoyed coaching. From helping a club wrestling team in Lincoln to assisting junior high football in Hemingford, Woods has always had a passion for instructing.
That passion was noticed at the Golf Academy, too.
One time in particular, Woods was helping a classmate on the range, when he was approached by one of his professors.
“This lady was kind of a fly on the wall,” Woods explained. “She was within earshot, so she could hear me. Then after it was all said and done, she approached me.”
“Would you ever be interested in coaching?” she asked.
“Absolutely, that’s what I want to do,” Woods replied.
A few weeks later, Woods landed a job as an instructor for the Golf in Schools program – an afterschool enrichment program with the Southern California PGA.
“Instead of these kids going to daycare, going to the nanny’s or something like that, they go to golf instead,” Woods said.
“I really like the idea and concept.”
Part of the job is to keep the kids active after sitting around school all day, Woods said. But Woods sees it more as an opportunity to build excitement about the game of golf in kids.
“A lot of people think it’s a pretty boring game for rich people and that’s not the case at all,” Woods said. “I want people to get excited about it.”
After Woods graduates from the Golf Academy of America in December, he hopes to open a golf practice facility in Omaha.