Different Strokes for Different Folks

By John Torsiello

Tex Kane says a good golf instructor doesn't teach every student in the same way.
"My idea is to look at the ability of the individual and build around what he or she does naturally," he says. "There is no one way to teach everyone." But while Kane subscribes to the different strokes for different folks theory, there is one common characteristic of a good golfer that Kane tries to emphasize to his students: the repeating golf swing. "The whole idea of golf is to repeat the golf swing. I tend to teach more body than arms and legs. If we could only hit the ball using a proper swing, then I think we would all become better players. Most players spend too much time actually hitting the ball rather than swinging properly," Kane said.
Kane knows what good golf instruction is all about. He was the overwhelming choice of golfers as Best CT Golf Instructor in CTGolfer Online's 1997 "Best of CT Golf Poll."

Tex Kane of Hunter Golf Course in Meriden is this year's choice as Best CT Golf Instructor.

Kane, 52, has been a golf instructor at Hunter Golf Course in Meriden for the past two years. The Texas native -- hence, the nickname -- loves what he does, and it shows. "I find teaching very enjoyable," he said. "You never get rich, but I want to get up every day and enjoy what I do."

Hunter's head professional, Dave Cook, hired Kane, and is glad he did. "He's very well-liked and well-respected," Cook said. "I've turned over a tremendous amount of my students to him, and I don't do that lightly." Added Patsy Papandrea, who heads Hunter's golf committee, "He does a great job, and we're lucky to have him. He's excellent with the kids, and they are the future of the game."

Kane has been a PGA Professional for 25 years. He didn't begin playing until around the age of 20, but once he got a taste, he knew that he wanted to make golf a career. He served as head pro at Pilgrim's Harbor Golf Club in Wallingford from 1975 through 1984 before landing a job as teaching professional for Sony Corporation's in-house golf program. There, he handled the company's corporate golf outings and worked with renowned golf instructor Peter Kostis.

Kane traveled on the PGA and Senior tours for Sony, demonstrating swing analysis equipment and giving tips to spectators. "I traveled mostly during the winter months and got to see a lot of the country. I also got to watch how Kostis and other top pros conduct their business," he said.
After the Sony project ended, he worked at New Haven Country Club where he stayed for about two years before joining Hunter. He and his wife Linda have two sons, Bryan and Ryan. Bryan, 28, worked in the golf business, while 15-year-old Ryan plays on the Sheehan High School golf team.

At Hunter, Kane wears a number of hats. "I teach, do some club-fitting, help service the individual golfer and offer advice on playing the course. I'm more involved in the day-to-day operations here than I was at New Haven Country Club," Kane said. In addition to individual lessons, which make up a majority of his teaching assignments, Kane also runs spring and fall adult clinics and junior clinics during the summer.
Kane relies heavily on drills as part of his instruction technique. "Let's face it, life gets in the way of the game," he said. "I can't ask somebody to be at the range five times a week. That's why drills are important, especially in the north where the weather comes into play."

He also emphasizes the mental side of golf, which often separates good golfers from the not-so-good. "The best player leaves a bad shot behind. The decent player dwells on it. People tend to demand too much of themselves. We aren't robots. The pros come as close to being robots as there is, and even they hit bad shots. The best players leave a bad shot behind and move on," Kane said. For example, he'll advise players to mentally block out hazards such as water and bunkers, and concentrate instead on putting the ball in a safe place on the fairway or green. "Most players worry about not hitting the ball somewhere bad and they over-adjust," he said. "The good players are not affected by hazards and they can hit a better shot because of it. I call it using an eraser. Just erase the sand, water and trees out of your mind after you have processed them into your formula of how you are going to hit a shot." Kane said that stance and lie are the two most important determining factors when hitting a shot. "Lie overrules everything," he explained. "Your swing is grooved for an ideal situation. You have to adjust according to your lie, be it downhill, sidehill or uphill. My advice on any shot where you have a lie that is anything but level is do not make a full swing and perhaps add a club."
While his objective is to improve the scores of his students, Kane said his ultimate goal is to produce smiles. "I want them to come back and say they were happy on the golf course," Kane said. "If they tell me they have improved and have had fun, then I've done my job."

By: Dan Ivers | Posted: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 10:35 pm
MERIDEN - Even in the midst of a two-year battle with cancer, Arthur "Tex" Kane could not be kept away from the game he loved.
Just weeks before his death on Tuesday at 64, the longtime local golf pro was out on Hunter Golf Club's front nine, where he played six or seven holes with his friend of more than 30 years, Les Zimmerman - and had barely lost a step.
"Despite all the stuff he was going through, he still took a pretty good rip at it," said Zimmerman, a former Meriden City Golf Championship title holder.
Over his more than three decades at courses around the state, Kane helped shape thousands of golf swings. Zimmerman recalled his gift not just for playing the game, but helping to share his love of the game.
"He had just a tremendous knowledge of the game and particularly the golf swing. He was a wonderful teacher," he said.
Born in Temple, Texas, Kane began his golf career as an assistant pro at the Clinton Country Club in 1974, before becoming an assistant pro at the Farms Country Club in Wallingford the following year.
Kane soon moved to Pilgrim's Harbor, now the Tradition Golf Club, and later spent time traveling on the PGA tour as a swing instructor for Sony. He also worked at the New Haven Country Club before landing at Meriden's Hunter Golf Club in 1996.
He was named the state's best golf instructor by CTGolfer in 1997, and served as an assistant pro at Hunter's until taking over for David Cook as head pro in 2004.
Bob Tiedemann, who caddied for Kane as a youth and served as an assistant pro at Hunter's for the last six years, said his jovial presence would be missed around the course by players and employees alike.
"Everybody's taken aback a little," Tiedemann said Wednesday. "He was a lot of fun - either playing golf with him or having a drink with him."
Outside the course, Kane was a dedicated father to his sons, Bryan and Ryan, who shared his love of the game and worked in the pro shop at Hunter's during his time there. He also leaves a brother, sister, and three grandchildren.
"I could pick up my cell phone on the fifth hole and call him, he could tell me what I was doing wrong and he'd straighten my shot out over the phone. His teaching techniques were just very unique," said Bryan Kane, who lives in Meriden.
Outside the golf course, the two shared a close bond, and Bryan recalled his father's honesty and willingness to speak his mind as particularly notable.
"He was a class act," he said. "He impacted so many people, and touched so many lives."
City Golf Commission Chairman Patsy Papandrea called Kane "the epitome of a golf professional" and recalled his dedication and passion for working with children.
"I don't think you could find a better person than Tex Kane," Papandrea said. "It's going to be a difficult job to replace a man like that."

They took care of the first piece of business in style. A day after shooting a cumulative 603, they went 10 strokes lower to win the 14-team event by a whopping 33-stroke margin. Finally, after 75 years, after a handful of second-place finishes, including last year to rival Timberlin, Hunter had that New England Public Links team trophy.

Not too long after they raised it - mere minutes, perhaps - Tex Kane passed away at age 64. Team Hunter got the call as they were driving home. "Obviously, we were on cloud nine, winning the thing for the first time. It was something so special," said Zimmerman. "Then to hear what took place afterward was a letdown. We certainly wished he was still with us so he'd know we were fighting for him." "We" was the operative word. Hunter took something of a dream team up to Montaup, and this dream team - not hand-picked, but determined by a 36-hole qualifying event - delivered.

Each of the 10 players had at least one individual score count in the team total. (All 10 play; the two highest scores are thrown out each day). On the second day, all 10 shot in the 70s, the range that Zimmerman, who's been playing this tournament since 1977, knows is imperative for victory. Wedge's 70 was the team's low round. One-time pro Todd Tremaglio, playing with Hunter for the first time, had the team's overall low at 147 (74-73). That placed him sixth in the individual competition behind winner Len Caggiano of Alling Memorial-New Haven (142). Wedge (149) was 13th. Zimmerman, Stupakevich and Besch, the former Lyman Hall player now playing for Bryant University, tied for 15th at 150. Zimmerman's sons, Brett and Kyle, were back on the Hunter roster. Jose Diaz was aboard for the first time. "This was definitely the best and deepest team we've ever had," said Brett Zimmerman. "I think everyone played to their potential for two days."
The New England Public Links, which dates back to 1921, is one of the oldest continuing tournaments in the country. Hunter has had individual champs in the past. Kyle Zimmerman won last year's event at Long Hill Country Club in East Hartford. Bill Dokas won in 1970 and Ed Allison in 1959, years in which the event was played at Hunter. This team title, though, meant more. "As individual a sport as golf is, (this tournament is) really our event where you're out there not playing for yourself, you're playing for nine other guys and you're playing for Hunter Golf Club," said Les Zimmerman. "That's been the deal, that is the deal and anyone you talk to on the team would say the same thing.

"There was also the Tex factor this year. En route to Tuesday's final round, Wedge shared his dream with the team. "They were definitely interested; they took it very seriously," he said. "They thought it was very cool; they thought it was a good omen." Wedge was already certain it was. "After I woke up, I knew I was going to have a good day."