Lisa Schwinden becomes first woman Master Professional in the Minnesota Section
Lisa Schwinden wanted to add some more power to her teaching arsenal. As Head Professional of Osgood Public Golf Course since 2005, Schwinden has received many honors.
But in December of 2019, she received an honor that ranks at the top of her list.
Schwinden most recently earned her Master Professional Certification after she completed all the requirements, which included but wasn’t limited to a research project, reflection on coaching philosophies and methods along with an in-person presentation.
“The way of game of golf has progressed as professionals we always need to keep improving,” is one of the reasons Schwinden decided to take on this challenge back in January of 2019 she said.
“It was a great opportunity for me to work on something when the winter started and it was a nice combination of golf plus the research side that I enjoy and I’m always just trying to be a better pro and be better educated and keep learning.”
Schwinden used a scientific approach to her research paper and her hypothesis was that there was a direct relationship with the perceived feel a golfer has between the contact of the club and golf ball and percentage of weight on the front foot at the time of impact.
After submitting the research project, she started her personal coaching philosophy segment. Schwinden recorded hour-long lessons and presented them along with the research project to PGA of America.
Schwinden wrapped up the project by giving an on the spot lesson where she submitted her findings.
“I wasn’t able to find a scientific correlation between those things but there were many trends that agreed with previous research,” she added.
“Better players have more weight on their front foot when they make contact, and those shots are than better shots so better players shift better is basically the results, which agreed with all past research.”
Schwinden has received multiple awards that include YWCA Cass Clay’s Woman of the Year in Youth Advocacy (2014), Minnesota Section PGA – Facility Promoter of the Year (2017) and Minnesota Section PGA – Bill Strausbaugh Award (2019).
Schwinden is one of only 12 current women Master Professionals nation-wide and the first woman Master Professional in the Minnesota Section after a yearlong educational journey that started in January of 2019.
“It’s pretty amazing to be a part of a group like that,” she added. “We are slowly seeing more women join in the section and there are some phenomenal women and PGA pros in our section.”
