Meet Dr. Jim Suttie, "Doc"
Dr. Jim Suttie, simply known as “Doc” by many of his students is one of the world’s best and most respected golf instructors. He has worked with many of the top players but still loves to work with players of all abilities. Doc grew up in DeKalb, Illinois where he learned to play golf at Kiswaukee Country Club. He stills holds the course record of 63.
In 1970 Doc graduated from Northern Illinois University playing on the golf team all four years. He stayed on to complete his Master’s degree in kinesiology and work as an assistant golf coach. In 1974 he moved into golf coaching at Eastern Kentucky University where he won two OVC (Ohio Valley Conference) Championships in four seasons and was named OVC Coach of the Year in 1976. Leaving Kentucky, Dr. Suttie went to Brevard Community College in Florida, where he coached Paul Azinger who went on to 12 PGA victories and captained a Ryder Cup championship.
Leaving college coaching Dr. Suttie completed his doctorate at Middle Tennessee University cumulating his studies with a doctorate thesis titled: “A Biomechanical Comparison between Conventional Golf Swing Learning Technique and a Unique Kinesthetic Feed Back Technique”. Dr. Suttie returns to college coaching briefly at Northwestern University in Chicago and Florida Gulf Coast University, in Ft. Myers Florida before concentrating on integrating his teaching philosophy into his teaching facilities in Naples, Florida and Chicago, Illinois.
Dr. Suttie has conducted his instruction programs at Medinah Country Club- Chicago, Illinois, Pine Needles Golf Club- Southern Pines, North Carolina, Tamarask C.C. Palm Springs, CA. He has instructed at Twin Eagles C.C. in Naples and Jeremy Ranch G.C. in Park City, Utah. He has taught teachers at teaching summits and many PGA section seminars. He pioneered the use of high speed video as a feedback mechanism for instruction. And developed the first model golf swing in his Doctorial Dissertation.
Facts
- 1970 M.A. in Biomechanics from Northern Illinois University
- 1976 Ohio Valley Conference Golf Coach of the Year
- 1983 Doctorate in Biomechanics from Middle Tennessee University
- 1988, & 1994 Speaker at PGA Teaching & Coaching Summit
- 1990, 1991, & 1998 Illinois PGA Teacher of the year
- 2000 PGA National Teacher of the Year
- Golf Digest Best 50 Teacher since ranking established
- Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher
- Speaker at numerous Canadian and USA PGA Sections most recently being the 2013 Carolina Section
- Featured speaker at 2006 UK PGA Annual Conference
- Featured speaker at 2010 German PGA Annual Conference
- Conducted LAWs Credentialing in Holland: 2011, 2012 and 2013
- Speaker at numerous Canadian and USA PGA Sections, most recently being the 2013 Carolina Section
Full Resume
Education: Doctorate of Biomechanics
- Northern Illinois University – Masters Degree
- Middle Tennessee State University
- University of Kentucky
Dissertation Topic: A Biomechanical Comparison Between a Conventional Golf Swing Learning Technique and a Unique Kinesthetic Feedback Technique
In this study I compared a number of PGA Tour Professionals (averaged them out) and came up with the first modeling technique done on the golf swing. This model was compared to 2 groups of golfers. One group was taught by “feel” while the other was taught conventionally. The Model was considered the perfect swing.
Related Experience: Developed the first four-integrated camera system with side-by-side comparison with a model performance.
Teaching Experience:
- Medinah Country Club, Chicago, IL
- Pine Needles Resort, Pinehurst, NC
- Pine Meadow Golf Club, Lake Forest, IL
- Cog Hill Golf Club, Lemont, IL
- Twin Eagles Golf Club, Naples FL
- Fiddlesticks Country Club, Ft. Myers, FL
Coaching Experience:
- Eastern Kentucky University
- Methodist University
- Northwestern University
- Florida Gulkf coast University – Started their program.
- Eastern Kentucky University
Achievements:
- Top 50 Teacher – Golf Digest
- Top 100 List – Golf Magazine
- Legend of Golf Instruction – Golf Digest
- Hall of Fame Teacher of Golf Magazine
- Three Times Illinois Teacher of the Year
- Former National Teacher of the Year
- Northern Illinois University Athletic Hall of Fame
Goals:
- Find a good job in Florida during their season and Salt Lake during the winter.
- Would prefer to teach players that want to get better as I have an extensive background teaching PGA Tour players including:
- Kevin Streelman
- Leren Roberts
- Paul Azinger
- Larry Mize
- Mark Wilson
- Fred Funk
- Chip Beck
PGA Status: A-1
Have done numerous seminars and clinics.
Author:
- “Your Perfect Swing”
- “The Laws of Golf”
- “Just Fundamentals”