About Scott Nichol
Scott Nichol is the Founder & President of Golf IQ. Scott brings a lifetime of golf experience to the Golf IQ concept.
- Member of the Canadian PGA since 1994
- Head Teaching Professional at the Calgary Golf Academy
- Accomplished instructor with over 2500 improving students on his client list including LPGA & Canadian PGA Touring Pros
Scott's passion for "Making Golf Make Sense" and his work with over 2500 students has lead him to develop several of the game's best golf training aids. His continuing work with real golfers of all levels allows him to continually develop, test, and refine the some of the industry’s most effective golf training aids.
SCOTT NICHOL
Scott’s Story
Like many golf professionals, Scott’s golf career began as a competitive junior player.
After my first tournament, I was hooked on improvement. I shot 121 in my first competitive round and had never been more nervous or disappointed in myself. I was able to come back in the second round and shot a 91, even though I did not win, the improvement I sure felt good. I was only 11 at the time so thankfully there have not been many rounds in the 120’s since then!
As I moved through my junior golf career I enjoyed some success at the local and provincial level. But it was getting better and improving my swing that really captivated my attention. I spent most of my time practicing on the driving range, which resulted in a very solid golf swing. This golf swing lead to play that was solid but not spectacular; however, it was good enough to be invited to play on the Simon Fraser University golf team.
While playing on the golf team I developed a passion for coaching and understanding the golf swing. This passion lead me to spend most of my time studying the swing and what could make better players play better. Unfortunately, I did not spend enough time working on my own game to have my game progress as quickly as I wanted. I was too interested in the games of others.
So after a couple of years of playing tournament golf I decided to become a professional instructor. I spent my first three summers as a pro teaching tomorrow’s golfers. I was fortunate to land at Mount Royal College in Calgary where I built the College Kids golf program. Over the next 3 summers College Kids grew to over 1000 participants in week long golf programs. After teaching groups of 20 kids at a time to swing a golf club without killing one another, my evenings were focused on the college’s continuing education programs where adults were introduced to the game. Working with thousands of golfers a summer for three years was definitely the best education that a golf instructor could get. After each summer I went back to University to finish my degree and to continue to research golf and golf improvement. At the same time I served as an assistant coach to the SFU golf team, watching my friends play and improve their game was even more enjoyable than playing tournaments myself. Working with my fellow players allowed me to understand what it took to be a competitive player.
Upon graduation from University I continued teaching golf on a full time basis. In that time frame I became enamored with golf training aids and how they can help or hinder a golf swing.
As I was in the process of becoming a certified strength and conditioning coach, I created a winter exercise program and taught it to golfers at all levels in a downtown health club. It was this training that lead me to develop the Swing Accelerator, which is a weighted golf club that you can hit balls with.
After final development of the Swing Accelerator, late in the year 2000 I determined that there was a market for unique and effective golf training aids so I started Golf IQ. We have enjoyed great success, which has been highlighted by two awards from Profit Magazine for being one of the 50 fastest growing companies in Canada.
Today we have a full time office staff of 7 and over 10 sales agents and are continually adding new customers, improving their games and allowing them to enjoy the game as much as I do!
Although my business interests and my busy teaching schedule do not allow a lot of time for playing golf. I still try and get out at least twice a week and still love to work on my game. My career low round is 63 and I have over 25 top 10 finishes in professional tournaments. Not bad for a guy who shot 121 in his first tournament round!
Read Scott’s blog. |