Connole has frequently experienced success through his students, but he recalls one in particular who made him feel especially proud. This student came to one of Connole’s Nike Golf Schools a couple of years ago with a few swing problems. He was in his 50’s and had played his share of golf, but he’d developed a huge “overswing” and was over-rotating his body. After the golf school, this student contacted Connole for continued private instruction since they lived in the same area. Connole helped him with all aspects of his game, and they became pretty good friends in the process.

“One day, I was at work and got a call from him,” remembers Connole. “He was just bubbling on the phone. He said he just shot 79 and ‘had to tell someone’. I was the first person he thought of because he knew how excited I would be for him. And I was.” When Connole first began working with this student, he was shooting in the 90’s and 100’s. Connole was flattered to get that phone call and thrilled with the student’s progress. “It’s a great accomplishment for him, and for me,” says Connole.

Connole’s approach to students of any ability is to keep it simple and focus on specific objectives. “I try to leave the technical jargon out,” says Connole. “I get down to the basics of what the swing is and then build from there.” Beginners need to develop a consistent swing, according to Connole, who recommends this drill when just starting out: Place a tee in the ground with the head of it about one inch above the grass. Set up properly and swing the club only as big as you can and still maintain control of the club head. Brush the grass and lop the head off the tee (like a mushroom), and “throw” it at the target.

“In this drill, you focus on making the swing, not ‘hitting’ the ball,” explains Connole. “After a while, put a ball on the tee and think about lopping the head off the tee. Don’t ‘hit’ the ball. Just focus on the tee and the swing. The ball will disappear and fly directly at the target.” This drill and others Connole may suggest help beginners hit consistent shots more often because they are developing a consistent swing. Inconsistent swings produce inconsistent shots. Once you have a reliable swing, you can turn your attention to the shots that help you score: those from 100 yards in.

“Intermediate level players need to focus on the short game,” says Connole. Connole believes these golfers can save as many as five strokes per round by persistently practicing feel shots around the greens. As players become more skilled and move into a single digit handicap, Connole recommends they work on three things: course management, mental visualization and short game. “I don’t know how many people I play with or teach that could knock at least a few strokes of their round with better course management and decision-making,” notes Connole.

“Don’t be a hero,” he advises. “If you hit a bad shot, don’t play that miracle, once-in-a-lifetime shot to try to make birdie anyway. Forget about it. Get the ball back in play and get it close to the green.” Connole adds that in doing this, you give yourself an opportunity to get it up and down for par or bogey, but you take out the possibility of making double or worse. “You can make up for a bogey with a birdie later, but it’s hard to make up for those bigger numbers. You just put a lot of unnecessary pressure on yourself,” says Connole.

Connole practices what he preaches. If he gets into trouble while playing, he avoids over-analyzing or trying to figure out why things have gone sour. Connole stays patient and gets back to focusing on the target. He forces himself to picture in his mind’s eye the distant target and let his muscles react to that picture. “I believe that the body will react to and produce the proper movements with the proper mental pictures,” says Connole, who usually sees his swing return with refreshed concentration on the target at hand.

The best part of Connole’s game is chipping. Growing up in Boulder, Montana, a town of 1200, didn’t afford Connole many opportunities to play golf, but he loved to play little chipping games around the practice green. He didn’t have any money for range balls, so he satisfied himself with attempting all the challenging shots he could create from the rough, hitting hundreds of little shots and slippery putts until he was able to hole them out. Years later, Connole would attempt many of these shots in competition as a professional.

One chip he remembers vividly while competing was from thick rough above the hole with very little green to work with. The ball was deep in the grass and the green was steep and fast, sloping sharply away from him. He had no chance to stop that ball, but he needed to make the shot to save par. Connole holed it out.

Connole’s practice sessions still see 70% of his time spent on shots from 100 yards in. While practicing shots around the green, Connole pays specific attention to how much the ball carries and how much it rolls. He also uses multiple clubs to create different shots. “Then when I get the same shot on the course I can tell myself I should use such and such club because that’s the shot I’ve already hit a hundred times,” says Connole.

For full swing practice, Connole divides a stack of balls into four areas, with 20% of the balls devoted to Area 1: wedges to specific targets. 30% of the balls are set for the next area, where Connole hits mid-irons off a tee, focusing on set-up, aim, alignment and swing elements (not ball contact). The third area also has 30% of the balls and is there for Connole’s work on long irons and woods. Here, he goes through his pre-shot routine and plays each shot as though he were in a tournament and needed to put the ball in a good position in order to win. The last 20% of the balls requires Connole to hit more wedges to specific targets.

“Golf is my passion and always has been,” says Connole, a graduate of Brigham Young University and the San Diego Golf Academy. “I love how it brings out the real you when you play.” Connole regularly tees it up in PGA Section events and once played in a Monday Qualifier for a Nike Tour event in Utah.  His favorite course to play is Willow Creek Country Club in Salt Lake City, but he doesn’t mind traveling to Flathead Valley in Montana for a round or two, either. Connole would also like to try the Myrtle Beach area for golf one of these days.