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Bin Brandon: Patience and Solid Putts Bin Brandon has been lucky in love twice. He was eight years old when he first picked up a golf club, and he fell in love with the game. Some years later he met Becky, and now he has two children, Gracyn (4) and Lizzie (3 mos.), and a wonderful life is taking shape. A PGA teaching professional for five years now, Bin grew up playing golf and in recent years has teed off in most of his section events and many Pro-Ams and local tournaments. Brandon just joined a new tour out of Hilton Head called the "Club Professionals Tour" featuring individual tournaments. "I really enjoy being part of the PGA," says Brandon, "I’ve always had jobs in hospitality-type fields, giving me many opportunities to meet new people. I like being outdoors, in the fresh air and sharing this game with others." And others enjoy taking lessons from Brandon, mostly because he is patient and able to make hard goals attainable. Students coming to Brandon often complain that they are too inconsistent from tee to green. Brandon attempts to right the ship by focusing on the positive and instilling patience in these golfers. "When I give a lesson, I try not to be too critical," says Brandon, "I want people to achieve whatever goal they might have in a certain time span – that means being patient and fully understanding their needs." For beginners, Brandon concentrates on the fundamentals (over and over!): grip, stance, ball position. Intermediate players are advised by Brandon to create a specific routine for every shot and keep up with the positives and negatives of their game. An advanced player, according to Brandon, should work on whatever gives them the most trouble in addition to strengthening his or her mental game. When Brandon practices his own game, you’ll find him warming up, chipping and pitching, then moving to the full swing starting with wedges and going down the bag in two’s – for example, 8 iron, 6 iron, 4 iron, woods, then more wedges to cool down. After that, Brandon moves to the putting surface. "My favorite shot to hit is a solid putt," says Brandon, "that goes in." Challenging Brandon are shots that require hitting a green with a mid to long iron with the wind strong from behind. "It’s hard to hold a green that runs away from you, and to correctly judge the landing area," notes Brandon. Whenever difficulties arise during a round, Brandon just reminds himself how lucky he is to be playing a wonderful game and that he has his family and his health. While he credits Becky with motivating him, he does admire golfers Davis Love III and Ernie Els for their tempo. He also enjoys watching Phil Mickelson around the greens. A graduate of Frederica Academy and St. Andrews School R.I., Brandon played golf for Frederica and now gives his lessons at St. Simons Island Club and Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Georgia. His favorite course to play is Linville Golf Course in Linville, North Carolina. He doesn’t have any superstitions about golf, but he is careful about wearing lighter colors in the summer to stay cool. Brandon’s patience and friendly nature have
helped a number of students improve their games. Says Brandon, "I
have a student who is 67 and has been playing golf for about 30 years.
Her swing had become short and weak due to lack of flexibility and
strength. I’ve since shown her some exercises she can do at home and
on the range to reduce the tension and free up her swing, producing more
power. Recently, she told me she’s enjoying the game again for the
first time in many years."
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