OCTOBER 1, 2009 ISSUE
Business Spotlight
Sharing Secrets, Debunking Myths—All in the Name of a Better Golf Game
An award-winning professional club fitter and former golf pro of many top-level courses, Mountaineer Golf Center’s Lee Sayre has taught golf lessons for more than 40 years and he is eager to share some of the secrets and misconceptions of the game with willing participants. Lessons with Sayre cost $65 and are offered seven days a week. Photo by Sam Calhoun Every golfer wants to know the secrets of the game. Through books, magazines, clinics, friendly advice, secret advice, private lessons and research, every golfer is looking to perfect his or her swing using clubs that are properly fitted.
For years, advice such as “keep your left arm straight,” “keep your head down” and “keep your eye on the ball” has been commonplace in the national golf community, handed out readily by golf pros and teachers. Guess what? You’ve been misled; but help is just one lesson away.
Although the High Country is home to many national-level golf courses and game experts, you can’t slice open the secret to a perfect swing unless you visit Mountaineer Golf Center, located off Highway 105 Extension in Boone behind Papa John’s Pizza, and its golf pro and owner Lee Sayre. An award-winning professional club fitter and former golf pro of many top-level courses, Sayre has taught golf lessons for more than 40 years, half of which has been from the hillside of Mountaineer Golf Center, which includes a driving range, mini golf course, sand trap chipping area, pro shop and a club fitting shop.
“Our main objective is to service people and improve ball flight,” explained Sayre.
Improving ball flight starts with getting fitted properly for golf clubs, and you can bet that Sayre—who won the 2004 national award from Henry-Griffitts for club fitting—can help anyone find the perfect size tools for the game. The next step is forgetting about all the bad advice you’ve received so far and instead focusing on the natural athletic movements involved in golf. And guess what—your left arm doesn’t need to be always straight, your head can move and you don’t have to keep your eye on the ball. To learn more, you’ll have to sign up for a lesson.
“We try to make the golf swing simple,” said Sayre. “As I always say: it’s just a stick and a ball, two turns and a swish,” he continued. “And as Sam Snead said, ‘loose arms and an oily wrist.’”
Sayre is originally from Indiana but moved to Florida in his youth to attend Florida State University, where he graduated with a degree in advertising and public relations. After college, Sayre took a job as a golf pro in south Florida and then moved to California and Hawaii for a year, primarily to surf and play golf. His ultimate goal was to play tournament golf, and, in between his stints as a golf pro, Sayre would work night jobs so that he could free up the daytime to perfect his game.
Sayre came back to Florida—this time in the central region—after leaving Hawaii and took a job as head pro at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Debary, Fla., a position he held for nine years. At the end of his tenure at Glen Abbey and while reading a copy of PGA Magazine, Sayre noticed a golf teacher position available in Boone. He decided to give it a shot and when he arrived in the High Country, he fell in love.
“Not many golf pros stay in the same place for 20 years or more, so I’ve got to love it,” said Sayre. “I love the area and the atmosphere, and I love the people. I guess I found my niche, you could say.”
When Sayre arrived, the present-day Mountaineer Golf Center was one year old and called High Country Golf Center. A group of investors then bought the operation, renamed it and hired Sayre. To this day—22 years after it opened—Mountaineer Golf Center is the only public driving range in the Boone area.
Mountaineer Golf Center features a 10-acre driving range, which, with the pro shop, is staffed with roughly seven part-time employees. Small buckets of golf balls cost $5, medium buckets cost $7 and large buckets cost $9; golf lessons cost $65 per hour.
“This place is hidden from the perception of where you’d think a driving range would be,” said Sayre. “We constantly have locals say, ‘I didn’t know you were here.’”
But they come because they know about Sayre and his game-changing secrets. On the 12 mats at the head of the range, Sayre regularly sees juniors, beginners, experts, touring pros, second homeowners, ASU students and professors, business people and families—“it’s a wide variety,” he said.
“I enjoy the challenge and reward of helping anybody hit the ball better,” explained Sayre. “Through 40 years in the business, I’ve got a vast background and knowledge on the business and the golf industry.”
Throughout his own career, Sayre has been privileged to learn secrets of the game from some of his own golf heroes—Wild Bill Mehlhorn and Moe Norman. Sayre transfers what he has learned from Mehlhorn and Norman to his daily golf lessons, such as how golf equipment can affect motion and how the golf club influences the subconscious mind in the swing. “[Their teachings] have shown me how to help people’s [swing] motion through using properly-fit equipment,” he added.
“That’s the joy for me is seeing the big grin [on the customer’s face] after we solved their problem,” said Sayre. “Golf is a unique and challenging game—even the best in the world have scores that vary day to day. Golf is not a game of perfect—it’s managing your miss-hits.”
Mountaineer Golf Center is located just off Highway 105 Extension behind Papa John’s Pizza at 115 Beverly Heights Avenue in Boone. The driving range, mini golf course, sand trap chipping area, pro shop and pro club fitting shop are open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 12:00 to 6:30 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 828-264-6830.
Mountaineer Golf Center is currently hosting its Fall Clearance Sale where customers can find discounted prizes on last year’s merchandise from a variety of major manufacturers.
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