Todd Sones, Dr. Jim Suttie

I had a question regarding Todd Sones, Top 50 Golf Instructor.


I'm from Vernon Hills Illinois, and his academy/institute is a 5 minute drive away, White Deer Run GC (which is really not that great imo).

I also attend Loyola University, and Todd just opened up a golf facility called Golf Nation, which is the winter home to Loyola University. I use to be a 2hdcp golfer junior in high school before I took my hiatus to focus on premedical studies.

Money is not a problem, however I'm expecting realistically to train hard for 4-6 months to get back to single digits and play competitively (like in high school).

If anyone has any opinions about Todd Sones, and/or his teachings, please post here! Thank You.


Also, I'm guessing he knows the golf coach at Loyola so I was thinking that would be a great plus!

Hey iacas, thanks for the warm welcome back
I've really been missing this forum
of the 3 golf forums wrx, bombsquad, the sand trap is definitely the most personable and family like which is rare for something like an online forum.. kudos to you for doing such a great job!

As for Todd, I practice at the facility usually once a week in the summer and I see him maybe twice a month, so about half the time I'm there - that might have changed by now

Here's my plan/sketch though:
I'm a junior premedical student and my grades are decent but I don't think I could live with myself if I don't give it a shot playing golf here. Supposedly we just signed the number 1 high school golfer from michigan, which I think is a joke, considering Northwestern across the bridge is a much better golf program - alumni (Luke Donald, etc)

My clubs are pretty dated, and my swing isn't the same as when I was a scratch golfer. My swing coach was the pga pro at the local golf galaxy, certified, but he just helped me with my basic fundamentals and my issue with flipping the club at the last second - not visible to the naked eye, but barely there at super slo-mo - I'm estimating 6 months to get back to the level I use to play at, as Golf hasn't been my primary priority the last few years
(this is kind of fueled by a couple of my friends, one who has qualified for nationwide tour events as a high school student, and another friend who has finished top 50 in the barclays singapore, winning on the kpga tour and even doing well in australia - both high school friends)

I'm not really sure how good loyola university is at golf but the connection there is that the Loyola Golf team practices at the new Golf Nation facility which is partly ran by Todd Sones - so I might be able to get a recommendation and a invite to tryout as a walk on

After I graduate, I'm willing to put a year in of my life (barring I play at Loyola) to grind mintours and qualify for nationwide, if not, I can fall back to medical or pharmaceutical school, or even play online poker for a living (not orthodox).

At this point, I'm writing this message from the Philippines because I've been doing work in the poverty field since June and will be here until march. If I can train hardcore, for 5-6 months, hopefully I can walk-on and train with the team during the winter -

Money is not a problem, equipment wise, I'm sticking with my putter (scotty santa fe - love the small putter head), and the 690.cb's - new wedges I'll be purchasing are either vokeys or j-oem fourteens. I'm needing to purchase a new driver, but the 425 tp is still a gem, definitely getting rid of the sonartec and thinking of picking up a raylor hybrid from last year

Not sure if I'm on the right track, any positive feedback well appreciated. Right now I'm just sketching because I have about 2-3 months to plan for this. I'll post my swing from my HS sophomore year when I get back to the USA - built/based on Jim Mclean's system


wow sorry for the long post - also I need to refit my shafts and get back into the same shape as High School - not far off but not quit there, about 45 lbs lighter from my high school days

My other option is the professional at Cog Hill GC, known as the "Doc", Dr. Jim Suttie.

Prices are about the same for private lessons, Cog Hill, I will need to drive a couple hours to get the lessons while Todd's academy is 5 minutes away.
Any thoughts? Any opinions on Suttie?

Not to offend Suttie as he is one of the "top-rated" instructors but I had a sudent a few years ago bring me his "lesson video" with Suttie and I wasn't impressed....in fact if I remember rightly...he never got off his chair


Just my opinion

Another great chicago area option is Dan Kochevar out of Oak Brook GC. I believe he was a Top 100 at one time. I have taken lessons from many Chicagoland instructors and he is by far the best I've been to.

i just finished reading the book "paper tiger" and it praises dr suttie, for hooking up coyne with a mizuno sponsorship, etc, etc

if he never leaves his chair, that would be quit unfortunate, maybe he's getting old

Does anyone have any experiences working with him? If so, could you elaborate, thank you :)

thanks for combining the thread, that make life a lot easier :)

I've received instruction from Hank Haney and he is quite good. The shows are probably viewed as a failure, but until you learn the actual goings on behind scenes, I don't think you can judge Hank by these shows. Hank was voted PGA Teacher of the Year by his peers in 1993, and that was BEFORE Mark O'Meara won his two majors in 1998. Hank takes a different attitude with people in show business because they want to be the ones in control. That's not good if the student is controlling the lesson. Both Romano and Barkley were head cases and in both situations, there was an interruption during the process...Barkley had to deal with his DUI situation and Romano's dad died. Remember, Romano was also convinced he had to get worse before he would get better. After one lesson, the idiot goes out and shoots a 61 for 9 holes. 61! If that doesn't tell you he was a head case, then nothing will. A student striving to break 80 should not shoot 61 for 9 holes! Here's another signal... Remember when Ray showed up for one of the lessons and left his clubs at home? How stupid is that? Hank also explained to us that Romano had a chipping yip as well. As for Barkley, c'mon, Hank had him hitting the ball beautifully on the range, and he couldn't take it to the course. A shrink is needed in his case. I personally watched Hank teach 10 different students for 20 minutes each and got positive results from each of them. I can't say the same for most pros I've seen.

I would love to get lessons from Hank, but than I would be needed to be flied out of the state to have lessons with him. He is a lot more expensive than Suttie or Sones, but I don't question his genius. He's hell of a swing coach! I know I have the drive to become a golf pro someday, my high school friend is now a pro and has already won on the kpga and has top 25 in barclays singapore and australian championship. I was neck and neck with him and we golfed everyday pretty much and in the winters, we would hit hours into a net and leather target 15 feet away.

Point is, since I am a college student, someone like Sones or Suttie would be reachable because they are at most an hour away - but I still do think highly of hank haney.

I have had personal experience and two putting lessons from todd sones. Currently I am attending the Golf Academy of America which he is on the BOD of. He focuses on the fundamentals and can easily relate to players of all skill levels. He helped my putting setup and overall putting in the two brief lessons he gave me.

i definitely realize his expertise in putting, if you look at the golf channel, his videos all focus on putting - i'm glad he's only a few minutes away from my house; im planning on attending on his free clinic on putting, theres 2 of them actually

Sungho, when and where are his free clinics? I would love to attend!

Todd Sones came to our school and gave individual lessons and classes. This guy knows what he's talking about. He helped me immensely in my setup and stroke. I feel much better over the ball than I did before the lesson. With that said, he is a little heavy handed in his salesmanship of his Coutour putters. You can take his advice and apply them to the putter of your choice.

I'd highly recommend Todd Sones. He has a lot of great information.

Buffalo Grove Dome - We call it the bubble, just check it out on his website! Everything is posted there. Also I know he has his academy at Golf Nation in Palatine during the winter.

My putting isn't really the issue here though, thanks for the replies guys

My goal right now is to be able to walk on to the Division1 team and play some high level amateur golf until I graduate

After I graduate, I plan on making a shot into the mini tours, and if that fails my backup plan is grad school

Thanks for all the rplies!

I took a lesson with one of Todd Sones instructors Jeff Hamilton. He wanted to change my swing completely, which would have taken longer than 6 months to become good at. I don't know if Todd is the same where he wants to overhaul everything? My friend took lessons from Suttie and loved him. I think Suttie works with what you got and fixes it, which would probably fit your time frame. There are other teachers Kevin Weekes at Cog Hill is highly recommended also.