I'm very pleased with NorCal Golf Academy in Walnut Creek. A few months ago, I started golfing…read moreagain with friends. It's such a difficult game but can be so rewarding. I tried a couple of places for lessons. Then, I tried NorCal. In a short 3 months, my game is improving!! Lulu Huang is my instructor and she's top-notch! She's an expert, patient and professional which I appreciate. I highly recommend NorCal Golf Academy whether it be for extensive coaching or to improve your game. Thank you!

I have been playing golf 1.5 years before I maxed out at a 24hcp. That is when I went seeking out…read morethe best golf coach the bay area has to offer and decided to commit to Tom for 12 months (24 lessons). I am almost 4 months in (7 lessons total) and am currently sitting at a 18hcp. We joked that's about 1 stroke per lesson! Hopefully I can update down the line with my final numbers. I chose NCGA because of the tech. It's so much easier when you can work on something technical and see the improvements in the data. I am driving from San Francisco so you know it has to be worth it for the commute. So far so good!

I started the game around July of 2025 with no golf background whatsoever…read more Preface this with I only had ONE lesson with ONE coach before this and it wasn't a good fit. Ian is the real deal - he fits his teaching perfectly between technical analysis and feel. He doesn't overwhelm with things like "oh your face is 2* open at impact" or "7500 rpms is too spinny for a 6 iron lets fix that" I would get from some other coach. I have went from shooting ~130 per round to getting my first handicap at 30.5 to getting my current handicap to 18.7 to signing up for my first tournament in 14 months. I have taken 9 lessons over these 13 months and he has built my swing from nothing to where it is today. I know that my velocity of improvement has everything to do with his teaching. Come in with an open mind and be ready to practice - you will improve with his teaching and analysis.

I started lessons with Ian less than a year ago and he has completely transformed my game. I could…read morebarely swing a driver and had no real foundation -- in under 9 months, I broke 100 for the first time. The progress has been real. Ian has a sharp eye for mechanics and breaks everything down in a way that actually sticks -- starting from the ground up with grip, then building into swing path, ball position, and tempo. He gives you a clear roadmap and builds on it lesson by lesson. I practice a few times a week and take monthly lessons with him, and every session I walk away with something concrete to work on. What sets Ian apart is that he's not just technically excellent -- he's also a great communicator who's genuinely invested in his students' progress. You can tell he loves what he does. Whether you're a complete beginner or an experienced golfer looking to sharpen your game, I can't recommend Ian enough. He's the real deal.

I am an absolute newbie. I've had a couple of lessons now with Rob, they are fun and I can see…read moresome, some improvement. I look forward to many more lessons and learning the basics of this game. Rob is a good instructor. He explains things well makes good examples and corrects what needs to be corrected.

Rob is a character, which is great and fun, but more importantly he is an excellent teacher-coach…read more I'd been a single-digit player for an age, but scores were creeping up and short game was letting me down. Invested in new irons at Keplar's and Audra suggested Rob. One session identified a significant flaw with my hands and added real stopping power on the green with short wedges, something I'd really struggled with for years. I'm back to recording scores in the high 70s/low 80s. Rob didn't know but I have doctoral-level biomechanics training, which allowed me to especially appreciate his ability to blend the technical with the art that is golf. Well played, Rob!

Long time overdo. Russell is different, but in the most positive way. Although Russell has the…read moretechnical knowledge to break down your golf swing from start to finish, he specializes in explaining the golf swing in the easiest way possible. Russell has the ability to teach using ideas rather than terms, thus eliminately multiple swing thoughts at the moment of impact. Russell emphasizes swing thoughts, as "the driver head must beat the hands at the finish line" and "once your thumbs are up, start the downswing." Russell's words of wisdom have helped lower my scores but more importantly, made golf more enjoyable, as I have to think much less lol. Aside from his golf knowledge, Russell has always been professional, well dressed (G/Fore), prompt, and always knows how to make people laugh when needed. Best of all is his pup, Crisco!

I waited to write this review until I finish my lessons with Russell A.K.A Master Shifu (inside…read morejoke). Definitely won't be the last for sure. I had ZERO experience in golf. But I'm very grateful that I met Russell as my instructor. He made my experience so much enjoyable. Now that I'm getting into golfing and learning it. It's so fun! The outcome is always different every single swing, the movement. Literally everything. I looked forward to coming and learning more for my best potential. Russell always brings out the best during my lesson. *Always remember, PGA! (POSTURE, GRIP, ALIGNMENT)*. Every sports have its own fundamental skills and without knowing the basics, it's impossible to learn a new sports. He's definitely aware of this so he won't BS nothing! He starts off teaching the fundamental skills of golf, moves onto the next and so on and on. He has a book by John Jacob and he showed me how things are supposed to look like and that helped a lot for someone like me who's a tactile-visual learner. By the second lesson, I started to see the difference of my posture/swings right away. I never expected to learn this fast. He's super interactive and will point out the "mistakes" that I'm doing right away. My weakness was not be able to have my club DOWN or it was late. I GOTTA GO DOWN!! (you'll understand this once you start learning from him). I always have that in back of my mind to keep it down. I stopped thinking or focusing too much on the wrist, head, feet, backswings, things surrounding you because it makes it really difficult to have your own swing so now I just focus my eyes on the ball and do what he told me to do! Very happy with the results and where I'm at now. I'll definitely get more lessons from master shifu in his dojo! Thank you for making it so fun!!

Kevin is a solid coach, and takes the time to explain the "why" for his method of…read moretraining/coaching. Also appreciate the feedback he provides during the sessions, and he makes himself available offline if you have questions. Go check him out if you want to stop being trash and start making real gains on the course.

Let me start by saying I've been to several golf instructors in the past and never got good…read moreinstruction until now. Most golf instructors offer simple fixes (band-aids) which never correct the root problem. And how frustrating is it to spend money on lessons, and still look like a hack? :) Well that all changed after I met Kevin and started getting REAL golf instruction. Being a newbie, I was skeptical but the results speak for themselves. In the last 6 months, I went from complete beginner to shooting in the 90's. Don't get me wrong you still need to put in the work, but he provides the guidance you need to get you on track and improve. Kevin's a great guy and easy to work with. He's knowledgeable in all aspects of the game and also an influencer to golf brands on Instagram. Highly recommend seeing him if you're serious about improving your game.

Well organized. New equipment. Great relaxed atmosphere from owner. Excellent bay setup and…read morereasonable rates. Trackman stats available for download. Really nice tool for helping with your swing and game. I would suggest bringing a small tripod to record your swing too, this way you can tie some swings to your shot data. Definitely a bi-weekly tune up thing for me.

Did a lesson with Josh and two small fixes to my swing helped with my slice immensely. He explained…read morethe numbers in a way you can understand. I can take those tips and work on them this spring to continue improving my game. I will definitely be back

I am a complete and total beginner when it comes to golf. My husband absolutely refuses to teach…read moreme how to play - he tells me that it's best not to have significant others teach each other how to do stuff regarding sports. (I think he thinks that I might cramp in on his guy time). I've been to the range a few times, but I couldn't seem to get the ball past the 50 yd flag. (That, and there have been a few times where the ball will catapult into the little walls that are around the mats...I've had to yell "duck" a few times)...But I digress. Byron has taught me how to actually hit the ball forward. I am now lobbing it clearly over 100 yards, and my grip on my clubs isn't white-knuckle tight. Yes, I know that it's not much, but again, I am a clear cut beginner, and Byron has me wanting to continue to play. He works in a great facility in Martinez called Power Endurance, and his set up is state of the art. I've seen a few of the other people he's been teaching, and they look like they're learning a lot. Looking at his little snippet on their website (trainpe.com), he has quite the pedigree in golf: Former NCAA All-American UCLA Golf Team Captain UCLA Golf Team MVP Teaching lessons over 25 years But what I like about him is he makes me feel comfortable with my game, and his suggestions on how to improve it have really helped.

I've seen a ton of golf instructors in the past but when it came to getting an instructor for my 15…read moreyear old son I wasn't sure what to do. I did a ton of research on instructors and one person kept coming up with nothing but positive reviews, Byron Schlagenhauf. I decided to give him a shot and scheduled lessons for my son. Byron has a great personality and teaching style which my son clicked with immediately. Byron shows my son how to do something, why he needs to do it, practices until he gets it right several times and then reviews what they did. After 5 lessons my son is now hitting the ball straighter, longer and more accurate than I could ever imagine. I would recommend abyronbto anyone at any level and I've decided to schedule lessons for myself.

Let's get the rates out of the way first. Your swing evaluation (first session) is going to be…read more$150. Then afterward, it's up to about $215/hr. You can get a better rate if you do a bigger package. Who is Patrick best for? In my opinion, Patrick will give the best bang for buck for someone who already has a gameable swing (scoring in the 80s to 100s), has decent body awareness, and is looking for an instructor who will notice the small details that are costing a player 5-10 strokes a round. Read the reviews already here and most of them are from people who have already been playing for some time. After a single lesson, I can already tell Patrick's attention to detail is superb. The day after my lesson (I generally have wavered between a high single digit and low double digit index), I shot +3 through 11 from the back tees. Getting to a 5 index this year seems realistic now. If you're completely new to golf, you can find cheaper instructors who will give you a basic understanding of the swing. They will generally all tell you the same thing, and it will likely take you some time to get your body used to the golf swing. Once you feel like you can make contact on 8/10 balls at the range on a consistent basis, or are scoring in about the 110s, then come in to Patrick to really mold your swing. For the love of God though, do not try to coach yourself through YouTube.

The match between swing coaches and players can, at times, be subject to a lot of different…read morefactors. I've had awkward lessons in the past from other coaches who it was just a bad pairing. But my work with Patrick has been encouraging, helpful, clear and understandable, and repeatable. For a full understanding, I've been playing off and on for 30 years. Been as low as an 11 index, but had laid off the game entirely for about 10 years. Getting back into the game in my early 60's means I have rust and physical limitations I didn't used to have. Patrick has been great at identifying the fundamental gaps I'd been playing with for, well, decades. Then showing me what needs to be changed, and providing repeatable exercises that I can put into practice to slowly build new habits. Another thing - like a lot of us, my head can be full of all sorts of swing thoughts and YouTube advice LOL Patrick has been great at encouraging me to clear the mind of all the confusing, contradictory swirl in my head and swing free. And to play golf, not play golf swing. Bottom line - yes, I've gained distance, consistency. I sort of figured any coach will be able to have positive results if I'm willing to incorporate what they teach. But what has been great is getting clear bite-sized chunks that is making the game more simple and enjoyable. My recommendation is consider Patrick as a good option as you begin to choose who you want to improve your game with.