"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Chris Dortch

June 1, 2004

In 1999, Stephen Puryear made what he likes to call "his leap of faith."

Puryear, a 1992 graduate of Mississippi State’s excellent professional golf management program, had always loved golf and enjoyed being around the game. Even before leaving Starkville, he had a job at Old Waverly, and upon graduation he moved up through the ranks as any hard-working PGA professional might, eventually becoming a head pro, first at Wyn Lakes Golf Club in Montgomery, Ala. and later at Decatur (Ala.) Country Club.

Three years into his stay at Decatur, Puryear had an epiphany.

"As a club pro, I felt like I was wearing too many hats," Puryear said. "I was doing a lot of things not very well."

One thing that Puryear did well was teach the game. He had developed an expertise in putting, but was equally skilled in teaching the full swing. During his career, he was careful to align himself with some exceptional mentors, instructors such as Randy Smith of Dallas, the PGA of America’s national Teacher of the Year in 2002, and Mike Adams of Florida. Both are included in Golf Magazine’s Top 100 instructors in America list.

Armed with knowledge gleaned from his mentors and years of studying the golf swing, Puryear left Decatur and hung up his own shingle as a teaching professional. Five years later, Puryear, who can be seen on the practice tee at Black Creek every Tuesday and Friday, has so many students he’s long since been unable to count them off the top of his head.

These aren’t just any students, either. Puryear has helped several pros, from the PGA Tour on down, with their putting. But not wanting to be typecast as a putting guru, Puryear has done an equal amount of full swing work with good players. In the last three years, 20 of his students have signed Division I golf scholarships. His stable includes several noteworthy amateur and high school players.

On any given Tuesday or Friday at Black Creek, Puryear’s schedule book might include Tennessee golf Hall of Famer Betty Probasco, or a promising young player with pro aspirations or several junior amateurs.

"I enjoy it," Puryear said. "I enjoy making a difference in people’s golf games. My No. 1 goal is for all my students to understand their golf swing. As a teacher, you’ve got to be aware of how people learn. I want to find the easiest way for my students to learn the golf swing, and I want them to understand what they’re learning, because I can’t always be with them, watching them swing. At some point, they’re going to have to fix their own problems. I want my students to be able to self correct on the golf course if things go wrong."

Puryear teaches what he calls the "PURE" method, PURE being an acronym for Principles, Understanding, Repetition and Excellence.

Puryear’s theory can best be summed up by his three principles. His first principle is impact.

"At impact the golfer has to have long arms, square shoulders and weight behind the ball," Puryear said.

The second principal is sequence. "Everything happens in order," Puryear said. "I want my students to understand the proper sequence of events that make up the golf swing."

The third principal is a bit unconventional: Little muscles lead big muscles.

"In anything we do, we want our big muscles to control and create power," Puryear said. "But our big muscles are in support of our little muscles."

If that flies in the face of swing gurus who teach a body-controlled swing, Puryear says "so be it."

"So many teachers are trying to keep the little muscles out of the golf swing," Puryear said. "But that limits speed and that limits feel. This method might be out of the box a little bit, but maybe it needs to be. What’s the average handicap of golfers in this country, something like a 28? It’s been that way for a long time, which means somebody hasn’t been doing a very good job of teaching the golf swing. As teachers, we have to think out of the box. There’s a lot of different stuff out there."

Puryear usually uses video tape to show his students exactly where they’re at and where he wants them to go. He’s just as likely to use a camera on the putting green as he is the practice tee and has developed a reputation of being an excellent putting instructor. His principles on the greens are simple.

"The things I look for are roll and aim," Puryear said. "First of all, how does the ball come off the putter? Secondly, how are you lined up? Alignment is a big key in putting. If you have faulty alignment, you’re going to make some sort of compensating move. And if you do that, you’re not going to make putts consistently."

Puryear has joined forces with Huntsville, Ala.-based sports psychologist Charles Plott, and together, they’ve got every aspect of the game covered. Plott understands Puryear’s method, and Puryear knows just enough about Plott’s end of things to stay clear of them. Among their Chattanooga-area clients are members of Baylor’s boys and girls golf teams (as well as coach King Oehmig) and the UTC golf team.

"He was our Baylor swing coach last year, and Stephen had a big influence on our boys breaking the 65-year-old TSSAA scoring record by eight shots (565)," Oehmig said. "He also helped Beth Felts break out of her slump to go on to win her second TSSAA championship and lead the girls to their record-breaking 9th championship in a row. … His methodology is simple and direct, and he does not ‘overteach’ simply to fill up the hour. He also is a student of the game, seeking out new ways of teaching and playing; in other words, he is humble."

"He’s good," Plott says of Puryear. "I’ve been around a lot of teachers, but Stephen is one of the best I’ve seen at communicating the golf swing so his students can understand what he’s trying to get them to do."

Puryear has written extensively about his PURE system. Check out his website at http://www.golferser.com. He also welcomes phone calls at 256-303-4845.

*** Feedback ***
click here to give us your comments about this article,
 or suggest a subject for a future article