Having coached a high school team to the state championships in 1993, Duran knows what it’s like to work with young players searching for their swings. He has also helped two golfers turn professional and qualify for the Buy.com Tour and the LPGA Tour. “I recommend beginners swing as easily as possible and hit a lot of golf balls until they get the hang of it,” says Duran. With intermediate golfers, Duran focuses on tempo. More advanced players should make sure their clubs fit. “They need to stay loose,” says Duran of the low handicappers, “and keep swinging every chance they get.”

Duran himself stays mentally loose when it comes to practicing his own game. “I just daydream about playing great golf,” says Duran, who has played the Mini Tour with the NGA and competed in several other professional tournaments. His most recent win came in 1998 at the March of Dimes played on the Stanford University Golf Course. He had to make a 15-foot downhill hard-breaking putt to win the playoff. Off the tee, Duran is deadly accurate; it’s the best part of his game. He enjoys hitting soft wedges the most.

If he runs into trouble out on the course, Duran just says to himself, Oh well, not my day again. Whenever he’s beaten, he is often motivated to do better in future rounds by those who managed to beat him. He is also inspired by and enjoys watching Jack Nicklaus. “The challenge of the game drew me in,” says Duran, who first played at age seven. He went on to play for Cantwell High School, Santa Ana College and the College of the Desert. “Golf is just what I do,” says Duran, whose favorite course to play is Torrey Pines.