“PRO” FILE – USGTF MEMBER – MICHAEL GRUBER

By Michael Gruber

I am a Midwesterner, born and raised near Wrigley Field in Chicago. I started playing golf with my buddies when we were 12 years old, jumping on public transportation to make our way to the local municipal courses close to a bus route. Back in the 1960s, many of us played baseball, which was more affordable, but I always loved the game of golf. I worked side jobs and used the money to play rounds when I had time.  

As I got older, I wanted to try out for the high school golf team, gravitating instead to baseball as golf didn’t make for a “popular” kind of guy. In hindsight, I wish I would have gone the way of golf. As I navigated through my 20s and 30s, I continued to play golf as a hobby, self-teaching through reading, watching, and playing. The more I played, I found it easy to self-diagnose my swing and improve over the years.  

As I started to approach retirement, I knew I wanted to devote my time to something I enjoyed and had a passion for. I was always good at being able to diagnose a person’s swing and provide assistance, but I knew I would need a certification to ensure I had the proper training and accreditation. Thus, I found the USGTF (my teacher was Bob Wyatt, Jr.) and spent a week in Florida receiving my training/certification – one of the best decisions I ever made. Not only was it a learning experience, but I felt a connection to figure out how I can give back to a game that gave me so much.  

Now that I had the certification I needed, I asked our son, a women’s collegiate basketball coach, if he knew anyone locally that may need a swing coach since he had a lot of contacts in the conference he played. Lo and behold, he knew someone, and I interviewed for the job and found my calling post-retirement at Elmhurst University (Division III) and have been the women’s swing coach since 2021.  

These past four years have been a life highlight. Being able to assist the women’s team in making modifications as needed has helped them improve their game and scoring. I would say that introducing them to the mental side and course management components has been the differentiator in bringing their game full circle.  

As a result, they are more prepared, consistent, relaxed, and focused on the tasks at hand. My first two years with the team, we were 5th and 4th respectively in conference. The last two years we have finished 2nd both times, a huge improvement. I look forward to helping Melissa Schwab (head coach) and Paul Hiller (assistant) continue to build a quality program that will benefit each player to improve their game year after year.  

During the offseason, I provide individual lessons at local venues to help those just learning golf, kids trying to get better from grade school through high school, and adults who are looking to improve their current game. I really pride myself in keeping the communication clear and simple. This game is complicated enough and the more I can simplify things the better it is for my students, which has proven to be a successful strategy.  

I do want to give credit to Jake Thurm who took a chance and hired me to help teach kids through his US Nike Camp summer program. Dan Howe and Kim McComb are the other teaching professionals who have provided a lot of support and guidance that has allowed me to grow each year into a better teacher. The knowledge they have shared with me has made me a more rounded teacher.