Earlier in May 2016, myself and eight other influencers were invited to participate in a group golf lesson with Bradlee Ryall at Lionhead Golf Course, fifteen minutes west of YYZ airport. Here’s me with Mary Bratko, Wedding Girl. She’s a lot of fun.
Bradlee Ryall is fun too, and he’s a super talented golf instructor. At the driving range, he can drive the ball at a green, or at the tractor caged person out combining up the golf balls and actually hit the rig and make the man inside wave at the group. But I’d say what makes him a good instructor is that he doesn’t take himself too seriously.
He’s approachable, charming, and disarming. His bad jokes erase nervousness. His teaching style is passive and overall he’s fairly easy-to-take. So if you’re bent on learning golf then it may as well be from a total pro like Bradlee.
I’m sure most golf pro’s have to work on their patience. That’s probably the hardest part of their job.
Here’s Bradlee pointing out something that somebody is doing right cause you know he’d never point out anyone who was doing something wrong. Yikes. Group lessons can be embarrassing enough but if the golf instructor is horrible and highlights individuals then.. it can be a nightmare .
Here’s Bradlee talking physics – the driver has 45 degrees of lift! So simply hitting the ball squarely will make a good shot, in theory.
Bradlee taught us how to properly hold a golf club and how the length of our clubs (women’s golf clubs are shorter btw) work in relation to the distance from the ball and your feet and shoulder posture… I don’t remember the rest.. Sorry Bradlee. Refresher please.
See the white jacket he’s wearing? It’s from his own fashion label SWING athletic wear. These garments are, as I understand, easier to move around in and real easy for people to swing their arms. This is just one more thing that makes him cool – a golf pro with his own clothing line. Love it.
Bradlee is respected as one of Toronto’s top golf pros and his style of golf lessons for juniors is the talk of Mississauga and all parts west down along the lake to St Catherine (Royal Niagara Golf Course). The golf school he made gives all students different coloured rubber bracelets which denote their abilities and makes them desperate to work up to the next colour – i get it.
Look at my foot work here. You can see I’m just wailing on it.
All I really wanted to do was smash the crap out of some balls. One of my fondest memories is driving golf balls with my bro and mom. I’m a born athlete. Sports come naturally to me so when Lionhead came onto my radar I was all about it.
I’m going to go back there in time to perfect my swing. I don’t need any help – just more balls to whack. But yeah Bradlee Ryall is a solid instructor. He’s welcome to watch. He invited us all back again for another lesson. Be careful what you wish for Brad. Fore!
I was dressed the part that’s for sure. Faking it like you know what you’re doing is half the battle and you achieve that by styling your wardrobe, obvs. I was 20 when I started golfing, so, yeah I ain’t worried.
A satisfying crack after an epic swing refined by my exceptional form.
Alright, so what you need to practice when it comes to using a driver, or any kind of club is.. you need to hyperly-(over)-focus on your stance, your grip, and your posture too. So much so, that it can make you nervous. If you’re trying too hard then you have already failed. I’m not bragging that I am the best because not every swing is going to slam one out of there Happy Gilmore styles but you do get better the more you practice. Just hit the ball in its sweet spot.
If you maintain your body position then you’ll make contact with the ball and see it disappear down the fairway. Buying and bashing away a bucket of balls is a great way to spend half an hour.
Sometimes I hit the ball so far i couldn’t see where it landed – it probably went in one of those holes in the distance.
Joel from Toronto Guardian came out with us. He was making the most of it and after twenty minutes he had a much better swinghe.
Great way to spend the morning with a #golflesson taught by @ryallgolf followed by VIP treatment lunch. A photo posted by Raymi Lauren (@raymitheminx) on
That’s Marcus from Dine Palace and Leo from Outdoor Covers ca behind him . These guys are good golfers. Well Leo is.
Can you tell it was a chilly windy day? It was. I had to borrow a thermal. Always pack layers you never know what the weather will be like by the time you actually get out on the course.
Instagram pose – #GolfLesson at Lionhead.
When I smile like that it means I am up to no good. Which is one of my favourite past times. Luckily Bradlee Ryall knows just how to engage with hyper active students. He starts by complimenting and then correcting and then encouraging. He probably said something about my stance. I just wanted to whack them balls.
Leo looked the part. The red hat and golf pants – classy.
All of got to use brand new top of the line NIKE gold gear which was pretty cool as well. I guess there’s a sponsorship somewhere there?
Campbell and I tee off.
Nice work Joel…on all the grass you just obliterated from the green.
Jack Choros is a writer at Huff Post. He wrote about the event I think . I didnt read it but im sure im in it. He also did well in the putting competition… oh yes… Let me tell you about that.
We were all practicing our putts, and putting away passively on the pastoral greens when suddenly… it got serious. We had a little putting competition.
Here’s what happened. I went first …
And totally blew it.
Too much pressure when you go first. Next time I will walk softly and carry a big stick aka shut’er up. Wedding Girl rang bells.
Having Mary there was a godsend because she is a total blog diva like me, and it was nice to feel like the only one who….does as I do. She’s also developing a sweet app right now that I’ll plug if she’s nice enough to me lol.
Why girls “need” to be separated (at times). We get more powerful and snarkier the more familiar we become with each other. You can see the bonding just emanating from our girl power huddle right there. The men seem afraid too. They should be.
Now this funny business. We posed for pics that ended up in another magazine story about couples fighting during golf lessons on the golf course.
We faked some fighting pics. Marcus does frustration really well and I’m great at being angry.
He has had it with my shenans. Men typically do.
I pulled a Britney.
There’s a pedestal mounted iPad interactive kiosk in the pro shop where students can sign up for golf lessons without having to talk to another human. #golfinabox
Some days life ain’t too shabby being a minx. You get to experience great things and then write about them three weeks later. Should have been sooner … bad minx.
Golfing really works up an appetite for the ages. We ate gourmet golf food including this ‘Golf Pizza’ you see below at Iggy’s which is the restaurant in Lionhead and this food was freaking great. really really freaking great
It was an amazing lunch (plus drinks!). Lionhead gold club has it going on in the foodieworld too. Expect quality.
Last minute parting shot at front entrance / emblem with Joel from Toronto Guardian.
Thanks again @RyallGolf.
