Approach Shot

Whether helping local residents learn the game of golf for the first time or helping golfers improve their game, NICOLE WELLER is making an impact on the local golf experience for many who use her services.

Weller, owner and director of Nicole Weller Golf Enterprises LLC, launched in June 2022, instructs Compass Pointe Golf Club members, their guests, and golfers at the Leland course. She says she enjoys creating custom golf programs to meet the needs and interests of those she instructs. While she provides a lot of one-on-one private instruction, Weller, an LPGA/PGA professional, enjoys leading various small group classes and programs for the golf club’s members and guests.

One popular program Weller runs is called Learn About Golf in One Day for women. It’s designed to be a fun introduction to golf for women who have never played or those wanting a refresher.

“It’s a one-day program that was initially offered as a five-week program by the LPGA and PGA, and I’ve found that most of my clients like to travel … I could never get them all to finish all five weeks,” Weller said. “So I learned how to do it in one day.

“We do a fun introduction. We talk about the history of the game, the equipment, and do some basic skills with only three clubs,” she says about the six-hour program, which includes lunch. “I keep it super simple. It’s worked out great with just three clubs: a putter, a pitching wedge, and an 8 iron.”

Using a training manual that she’s put together over the past twenty years, Weller takes program participants to the driving range, greens, and course, helping participants learn the game and play some holes.

“The best response I like hearing is ‘I can’t believe our time is up,’ and ‘I want to go practice,’” Weller says.

Weller says there are many fun opportunities for women to explore golf, including incorporating golf themes into business seminars and networking events. While in Savannah, Georgia, Weller worked with some financial advisers to develop themes to incorporate golf into financial seminars.

“I would do a clinic on looking at risks and rewards when making decisions about which club to use and how to hit the shot,” she says. “Then when they all went back inside afterward, the adviser would lead into his or her discussion on risks and rewards when doing finance. We might look at how to read the scenery or the greens, which way the ball is going to roll, and then, the advisers may discuss reading the scenery on how things are looking in the financial world.”

Weller developed a love for golf at an early age.

“My dad started playing golf when I was about four, and that was my really cool way to hang out with him and get out there and spend time with him,” she recalls.

Weller eventually competed in state, regional, and national youth and women’s amateur golf competitions, received a scholarship to play golf at Wake Forest University, and then pursued her master’s degree in sport psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Weller began teaching golf while working at a country club in Knoxville and putting herself through graduate school. After graduation, she became a member of the LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals division, now called LPGA Professionals. She worked as an assistant professional at a golf shop at Cherokee Country Club in Knoxville. Discovering teaching as her calling, Weller eventually took a teaching position at Fairways and Greens Golf Center in Knoxville, where she also taught four- and five-year-olds.

She has since experienced a successful career in golf instruction in various positions in Knoxville, Savannah, Pinehurst, and now Leland, earning many awards and recognitions. For example, Weller says she was honored to be the only professional to receive both the PGA and LPGA National Junior Golf Leader awards in the same year in 2013. Other honors include making the LPGA Top 50 Teachers list in multiple years, GRAA Top 50 Growth of the Game Teacher, Georgia PGA Horton Smith Section Award, Golf Digest Best 50 Women Teachers, Golf Digest Best Young Teacher, LPGA T&CP Southeast Junior Golf Leader, and Teacher of the Year.

Her experiences have given her the opportunity to be a mentor to other female golfers.

“I just started a new mentoring role with the LPGA” Weller says. “I’m always into being able to help other women, especially in LPGA, kind of empower themselves and find their way. I want to help women find their way into golf. A lot of times, ladies may say ‘My husband wants me to play,’ or ‘I need to do this for business.’

“That’s great, but I want to find what’s going to make it fun for you,” Weller says. “We find different ways to do it.”

To view more of photographer Terah Hoobler’s work, go to terahhoobler.com.

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