Many elite high school golfers around the Chicago area have their own instructors to help analyze swings.
For Hinsdale Central junior Jessica Lee, her instructor happens to live nearly 2,000 miles away near San Diego.
Through technology in video and the Internet, Lee’s tips from her coach are only a few key strokes away. Lee speaks regularly to her coach, but when she needs one-on-one instruction, Lee and her mother, Sandy Kwak, will travel to San Diego to see 28-year-old coach Adam Porzak, who is based out of Carlton Oaks Golf Club and Resort in Santee, Calif.
Lee brought along her clubs for personal lessons from Porzak for two or three days, usually over the summer.
“We’ll do video calls with FaceTime and my mom will take video and text it to him,” Lee said. “(The trips) depend on how I feel my swing is. It’s usually two times a month. It’s really important to me. I want to continue to play in college and a lot of the college girls (send video to instructors) anyway.”
After watching Lee’s video, Porzak will discuss her swing at least once a week over Skype or FaceTime. Lee said the slow motion function on smartphone videos has been very helpful breaking down her swing.
Porzak moved back to his native Southern California about a year ago after serving as an assistant to golf pro Todd Sones, who is based in Vernon Hills. Porzak continues to provide long-distance instruction to members of the Vernon Hills boys golf team and other golfers in the north suburbs.
He started working with Lee over three years ago and they wanted to maintain their arrangement after Porzak moved to the West Coast.
Porzak, who has his own golf academy for youth golfers in California, said his philosophy is to teach his students how to correct their own game when problems occur.
“When their swing is off, I want them to learn what causes that,” Porzak said. “I’m about raising your golf IQ. Her family puts it in my hands to make her better.”
Since beginning to work with Lee when she was an eighth grader, Porzak estimates that her scoring average has dropped 10 to 12 strokes and she’s now a top college prospect.
“I’ve always believed in her. She has a great work ethic,” Porzak said. “She’s a wonderful person.”
Red-number day
Lee’s golf game is heating up just as temperatures are falling for the Class AA postseason this was set to begin this week.
Lee won her first tournament of the season with a 1-over-par 73 on Sept. 30 at the West Suburban Conference meet at Village Greens. She was coming off a 74 to lead the Red Devils on Sept. 26 at the Naperville North Invitational.
At the conference meet, Lee used a red marker to write on her left wrist numbers to report to assistant coach Dale Wong, who maintains the team stats and scores. On her arm, Lee wrote “73, 30P, 10F, 11G” — her score, number of putts, fairways hit in regulation and greens in regulation.
“I do it because after I turn in my scorecard I forget everything,” Lee said. “I have to write notes to myself.”
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On her other wrist, she scribbled reminders to herself in a black marker.
The Devils were scheduled to compete in the Class AA Hinsdale South Regional on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at Prairie Bluff, and hoped to advance to the Neuqua Valley Sectional on Monday, Oct. 12, at Naperbrook.
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