GVRGA Gets A Kick with Jason Witczak

Former NFL Kicker named Director of Instruction at Green Valley Ranch

Colorado AvidGolfer

Kicking a football and driving a golf ball have more than a tee in common. Jason Witczak should know. He’s done both at the professional level.

The new PGA Director of Instruction at Green Valley Ranch was a professional placekicker in the early 2000s for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills. He also competed in NFL Europe and the Arena Football League, where he once booted a 57-yard field goal and set a record by going a perfect 10 for 10 on extra points in his final game.

Witczak, however, didn’t just suddenly trade in his cleats for Softspikes. He’s taught golf for 18 years, and in addition to football, the Wisconsin native played collegiate golf for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and Marshall University. He honed his playing and teaching skills at the knee of the great Manuel de la Torre at Milwaukee Country Club, won his professional debut at the 2005 Southwest PGA Section Pro-Assistant tournament and qualified three times for the
RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship.

“Football was fun, but I knew I could teach golf the rest of my life,” he says, adding that he strives to bring the gridiron values of teamwork, perseverance and training to Green Valley. “I want to surround myself with people who love what they do and create a passionate atmosphere where everyone can thrive,” he says. Fewer than two weeks after his arrival, he’d already repainted the place, set up a Titleist Regional Performance Center for club-fitting and dedicated an area for TPI-style workouts.

“My background is kinesiology,” he explains. “But fitness isn’t just about being muscular. Fitness can simply be walking nine holes.” Having had great success working with elite juniors at Orange Tree and Camelback Ranch in Scottsdale, Witczak loves the fact that Green Valley Ranch has its own chapter of The First Tee and plans “funneling and college-placement programs” at the facility. Between GVR’s par-three course (“It blew me away,” he says), The First Tee chapter and his refurbished academy, Witczak sees numerous opportunities for parents and children and husbands and wives to spend time together. “Golf’s about human development, improving relationships,” says the father of three sons under the age of five.  “The unique path I’ve taken has taught me a lot, and it’s just the beginning.”

More info: gvrgolfacademy.com

This article appeared in the April 2016 issue of Colorado AvidGolfer.

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Colorado AvidGolfer is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it. It publishes eight issues annually and proudly delivers daily content via www.coloradoavidgolfer.com.