Chris Branon gave up the rat race to teach golf
A little more than a decade ago Chris Branon was an independent,
high-tech head hunter for a number of Silicon Valley companies, and
he was successful at it.
Chris Branon gave up the rat race to teach golf
A little more than a decade ago Chris Branon was an independent, high-tech head hunter for a number of Silicon Valley companies, and he was successful at it.
After all, he was able to close the majority of his deals on the golf course – the place he enjoyed being most.
The money was good. The commute wasn’t. So when the dot-com boom headed south in the late 1990s, his wife Christine suggested that he should leave his career and daily drive from Hollister to the Bay Area to do what he enjoyed most – get involved in the golf business.
Branon did so by signing on as an assistant at Ridgemark Golf & Country Club in Hollister for a minimum wage salary, and he proceeded to enroll in the PGA of America’s golf professional apprentice program that certifies Class A PGA professionals. A father of three, he would have never been able to pull it off without the support of his wife and family.
Today, Branon is the head professional at the club where he first started working, the girls’ golf coach at San Benito High and he was recently named the “Best Youth Coach” by the readers of the Pinnacle.
Recently, we had a chance to talk with the 40-year-old pro about his career change, his teaching and coaching philosophies, and life in general.
Q: How did life as a former head hunter wind up leading to a career at a country club?
A: In getting people to move from one job to another I spent a lot of time closing deals on golf courses. But when that business slowed down I decided to try and find a job that I’d fall in love with and this is it. I remember driving home on Friday’s I would need to stop at one driving range on the way home just to hit balls. I’ve always loved golf.
Q: Were you a scratch golfer back then?
A: Not at all. The first time I picked up a club I was 10. I would hit my dad’s left-handed set because that’s all we had. I really started playing in 1989, about the time that I stopped playing football.
Q: Where did you play football?
A: I played my whole life and wound up playing at Gavilan where I became an All-American my freshman year. But I soon realized that I couldn’t play football forever. That’s what I like about golf. You can play it forever. After college, I was playing a lot at Pine Mountain Lake in Groveland; it’s up by Yosemite’s north entrance. I won two club championships up there.
Q: And I suppose that success led you into the business?
A: I thought if I got into the golf business that I’d get to play more golf but it doesn’t work that way I found out. I don’t get to play much now but I do get to interface with a lot of great people, and I’ve built some great friendships. That’s what I like about the golf business; it’s like one big family. The relationships that you build around golf last for a lifetime.
Q: There are not too many people with the talent to just opt to switch careers and have the success that you’ve had.
A: I don’t have any history of playing golf in high school, on mini tours or the PGA Tour. I just loved being around it. When I first started, I wasn’t even a single-digit player now I’m a zero handicap.
Q: A zero is pretty good. I’ve even heard you were better than that. Have you ever considered playing in tournaments?
A: There are some tournaments that I can play in through the NCPGA, but it’s not like I have the time to do it. The second thing it comes down to is 14, 12, 7 (the age of his kids), and I don’t have the money to do it. But I’m only 40 and Mitch Thomas (former Ridgemark pro) just earned his Senior European Tour card, which is a huge accomplishment. He’s a good role model. I talk to him all the time. If he can play at that level at the age of 50, then maybe I can. I’ve already done the math and figured that my kids will be out of the house by then. In this business though, there are players and teachers. I see myself more in the role of operations/instructor.
Q: Tell me what you enjoy most about teaching or giving lessons.
A: I enjoy giving the fundamentals to get somebody started. I enjoy seeing their successes and seeing them get better. Two students that come to mind are Peter Singh, who is now a sophomore on the Harvard golf team. I started teaching him when he was a freshman in high school and Marissa Gutierrez (San Benito High senior). She will be able to play somewhere after high school.
Q: Golf is considered an individual sport so how do you go about coaching the high school golf team?
A: The game is played by an individual but it’s still a team sport. Just as in football. You go out there and play your position the best that you can and it represents the whole team. Seeing the progress is what attracts me to it most. In the three months from the start to the end of the golf season the learning curve is unbelievable. Tiger Woods had no more of a gift at age 5 than any other child. The difference was in how he fell in love with it and wanted to practice and improve.
Q: What is your philosophy on the golf swing?
A: The best way to explain it is that there is no one swing in golf. Everyone is different. I try and take the swing that exists and mesh it with the fundamentals of the game so that they can use it to their best ability. I give lessons to 80 and 90 year olds as well as 5 year olds. The challenge is to take the swing and make it work with anybody.
Q: Tell me how much you enjoy being Ridgemark’s head pro?
A: I would love to stay here for a long time. The members are like part of my family now and I know quite a few of the non-members that play out here too. I don’t miss traveling to Silicon Valley and I’m close to my family here. It’s the right position for me and it keeps me busy. I’d love to stay here for as long as they’ll keep me.
