THE TAKEAWAY GOLF

SCPGA COO and SCGA Secretary, Nikki Gatch was born and raised on the golf course. Gatch shares her experience moving to the west coast and raising up the ranks to her current role by creating strong relationships on the way and driven to grow the game.

Feeling that he was not coached properly as a junior golfer, Dana Dahlquist hit the ground running after college to discover how the swing works. In the last 20 years, he has built an Instructing enterprise housed in Long Beach, California with a clientele list ranging from local golf enthusiasts to PGA professional, Charles Howell III.

Born and raised in Long Beach, CA, Dana Dahlquist collected experience at both a high school and Division I level. However, he always regretted the lack of proper instruction in his youth. After graduating from Long Beach State, he set his sights to be the instructor he never had. With his curiosity of how things worked, he started working at Heartwell Golf Course - manning the shops in the morning and practicing his instruction on the range. In 2005, the Internet boom of YouTube and “forums” flooded the golf-verse. In a blink of an eye, Dana created a massive interest on his Lesson Forum with only 200 students but thousands of followers!

After 20 years of lessons and two other golf courses, Dana set-up shop at El Dorado Golf Course with his own teaching methodology that involves a simple breakdown of the golf swing mechanics. He is always looking to adapt this method to create that working golf swing for his student through biometrics and of course, trial and error. With the pandemic, Dana has moved his instruction online, as many others have, to Dana Dahlquist Online Academy. Working hard everyday through advanced learning and consistent lessons, Dana always reminds himself that the extra 1% of effort will make all the difference!

Understanding the “dirty” side of the sports world through his athletic career, entrepreneur, Jay Feagin realized, everyone’s got to clean their clubs. ClubPur is his solution for the pure, polished club.

After picking up the sticks three years ago, Jay Feagin learned the game fast and on the go. He was hooked and looked for ways to get better. His father was in the cleaning business and a lightbulb went off for Feagin. He saw the caddies wash their professional’s clubs after every shot and discovered a lacking niche in the golf business - ClubPur - around cleaning the whole golf club!

Within 15 months, Feagin created a revolutionary kit with all the tools every golfer needs to prep their clubs for a pure shot every time - a strong cleaning solution, brush, towel, and a pouch to carry it all. Although he had little to no knowledge of starting his own business-- like drawing up a purchase order for his customers--he knew exactly where to direct his questions and was willing to learn from every day and every mistake. Now, he is ready to launch two new products through the ClubPur line and starting up a foundation to grow the game in less fortunate areas!

Professional golfer turned Social Media Influencer, Tisha Alyn shares her experience navigating her online platforms to advocate for Women’s Golf and the LGBTQ Community.

Hailing from sunny, Southern California, Tisha Alyn and the Takeaway team grew up competing against each other. Like most of us, Tisha was fully committed to golf, but found a passion outside of the professional circuit. She quickly caught on to the social media wave seeing its growth and potential. After her first paid gig as a tournament promoter, a light bulb went off in her head. Her thought: how cool it would be to share her perspective on the game, showing the entertaining side of it, and its accessibility to all. From then, the rest was history.

Before the pandemic, Tisha would make her living out of a suitcase. She would travel to and from all over the world either promoting a tournament, specific player, or sponsor. Already being friends with many of the professionals, she is able to get inside the ropes and share with her followers the personal side of these athletes. It’s been an incredible journey and even now, she wakes up each morning excited to create!

From goal posts to golf holes, Matt Burke was a

stellar football player and all-around athlete. With his willingness to serve and build relationships, Matt talks about his transition into the golf industry through caddying.

Brittany talks with us about her life in the golf industry, starting from junior golf to becoming an influencer. She is passionate about growing the game to more women and ending social stigmas.