Born and raised in Watertown, Wisconsin, Shaun Finley has been playing golf for more than 25 years. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire with a degree in Business Administration.
In 2008, Finley was elected into membership as a PGA Class A golf professional. In addition to The Oaks Golf Course, he has worked at various golf facilities including Watertown Country Club (Watertown, WI), The Hideaway (La Quinta, CA) and Palm Valley Country Club (Palm Desert, CA). Finley has been teaching lessons for 16 years and continues to develop his vast knowledge of the swing. He believes it is important to keep lessons simple while addressing areas of improvement and focusing on patience.
Finley aims to make students successful by:
- Understanding student goals.
- Understanding student learning styles and matching his teaching approach to that style.
- Keeping lessons simple while identifying areas for improvement.
- Creating a success plan that is attainable for the student.
- Giving students the ability to self-diagnose while playing or practicing on his or her own.
Breaking an old habit or developing a new skill takes time. It is not something that can be mastered without continued effort. In my mind, everyone has a unique way to learn, and it is important for me as an instructor to pinpoint my student’s learning style. I must tailor each lesson to maximize my student’s ability to succeed.
— Shaun Finley
Joey Leonard
Director of Instruction
Joey Leonard joined Kestrel Ridge Golf Course as its PGA Head Golf Professional in August of 2018 with more than 16 years of experience in building collaborative relationships, golf development and delivery, player development and golf event marketing. Prior to Kestrel Ridge, he spent time at various courses in Georgia, Southern California and South-Central Wisconsin.
This past October, Joey transitioned into his new role as Director of Instruction, at The Oaks and Kestrel Ridge. Outside of his work at our course, Joey stays active playing professionally and most recently won the Wisconsin PGA Professional Championship in 2018. Joey believes in bringing the aspect of playing golf into each lesson, so much importance is put on improving one’s swing that it can be difficult to transition back to the course.
Leonard aims to make students successful by:
- Control the aspects of the swing that you can control, it starts with a consistent and balanced set-up.
- Pay attention to what the golf ball is telling you, distance, direction, and curvature, will tell you everything you need to know.
- Make your golf goals specific and work hard to achieve them.
- Create a consistent ratio of practice and playing.
- When you think you are practicing your short game enough, practice more.
- Always plan out your practice sessions, you can always modify based on your performance that day.