When Gary Parker won Boston Magazine’s Best of Boston Award as its Best Golf Instructor in 2007, many avid golfers in the city took notice. Parker doesn’t set up shop at a golf course with green grass, rolling fairways, and a spacious driving range. Instead, his expertise takes place at CityGolf Boston – right in the heart of a bustling metropolis just one block from Downtown Crossing on Bromfield Street. A Westwood, MA native, the 42-year-old Parker didn’t take up golf until he was 17. After earning a marketing degree at UMass-Amherst, he became a PGA Class A professional and first worked at Tom Kite’s signature golf course at the Legend’s Club of Tennessee. He then became lead golf instructor at the Stow Acres Golf School from 1995-1998, before finding his golf oasis at an indoor facility in the retail district.
Parker moved over to CityGolf Boston in 1999 as a co-manager/instructor and by June, 2000, became principle owner. He teaches roughly 25 hours per week and co-manages the facility with Ben Derrick. There are eight PGA professionals and/or apprentices on staff at CityGolf Boston, which features six hitting bays, two teaching bays, two full-swing golf simulators, ball launch monitors, self-use swing analyzers, and a putting green. Parker said the average member or client at CityGolf Boston is either a 25 to 54 year-old male executive who is an avid golfer, or a “newbie” female who is learning the game and then stays on looking to improve their skills. ”We have twice as many women who take lessons, and that makes us women-friendly,” said Parker. “We saw that coming – golf accessibility in a convenient, low-pressure setting.”
With a downtown location, it’s no surprise that Parker is busiest as an instructor during the lunch and dinner hours, when men and women wearing business attire pass by the storefront frequently. Also, Parker said the busy season extends beyond the traditional winter months right to the end of July. CityGolf Boston’s claim to fame is that the average annual member reduces his/her GHIN/USGA handicap by 30 percent per year. It has also outlasted nine other golf facilities in the downtown area in the last 12 years. What makes it tick?
“Lowering your handicap is what our company is about,” said Parker. “That’s year after year. We lower your score. There’s no preconceived notions.” ”CityGolf Boston clients simply hit more golf balls,” added Parker. “We’re convenient and open in the winter. All we do is teach. Clients feel very strongly that they have a game plan in place when they walk out of here.” CityGolf Boston has also expanded to an indoor facility on Route 1 in Walpole, but it also knows where its core of golfers lies. That’s why Parker is hoping to open another instructional facility at the Prudential Center in 2012.
“We like the Back Bay,” said Parker. “The demographics are good. Right now, the Prudential Center is the immediate future, with possible expansion into other cities.”
(Bob DiCesare is the golf writer for The Enterprise in Brockton, MA, and he is also a member of the International Network of Golf)
About Bob Dicesare
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