Company History
SNAG® (“Starting New at Golf”) is a proven first touch development program designed for new learners of all ages. It is an easy, fun and approachable way to learn how to play golf and is readily adaptable to non- traditional venues. It is innovative and successful and SNAG® has been embraced by an enthusiastic global audience of schools, golf professionals, associations and national bodies. The journey to create SNAG® and to establish its credibility is a relentless labor of love that has evolved since 1995.
In 1995, two PGA TOUR professionals, Terry Anton and Wally Armstrong, joined forces to discover if there might be a simpler, less threatening way to learn the game. Mr. Armstrong had become famous for developing golf’s first instructional infomercial for his clever use of products aimed at developing golf skills. Mr. Anton was one of the original founders of the American Junior Golf Association and had experience in course design and operations having run Hale Irwin SNAG founder Terry Anton with a pair of Ace G-Ballers in action at Columbus, Ohio. Golf Services. Anton had also taken an early interest in quizzing some of golf’s legendary pros as to how they acquired their skills and he was surprised to be told that learning and playing with one club was what led these pros to the golf course. The pros experienced the “simple” feel of the golf club and the ball versus students of complicated instruction that involved body positioning, correct postures, swing angles, weight transfer, grips and stances. Anton and Armstrong’s quest became a search to develop the most player-friendly form of golf targeted to all ages and genders.
From 1995 to 2001, countless hours were invested researching the best “first touch” methods in a diversity of sports. Anton interviewed and studied professionals and their learning progressions in baseball, basketball, football, tennis, even the martial arts, in order to break down the best way to impart the skills needed to teach golf in the most basic and effective way. Armstrong’s reputation for developing various non-golf related objects into training tools to demonstrate various aspects of golf instruction led to skill specific programming. The use of training tools would become integral in all of SNAG’s® curricula.
Anton also analyzed proven scientific research as a roadmap to designing SNAG’s® equipment and proprietary instructional methods, so to ensure simplicity of understanding for everyone. The most efficient colors and word cues were tested. This was accomplished by collaborating with the most prominent university minds in U.S. physical education. In short, the goal of SNAG® Golf was to create a learning environment that is accessible to everyone and that can be played almost anywhere. This knowledge led to a pilot program in 2002 to introduce golf into schools with developmentally appropriate equipment and a turnkey curriculum that met U.S physical education standards. Its immediate success involving 30,000 children from the Chicago area.
In its early years, SNAG® was mistaken as a toy or kids-only game and too often it was dismissed as a serious learning tool for a complex sport. Tireless promotion and explanation of the SNAG® system and its applications have spanned a decade and the SNAG® craze has captivated golf enthusiasts in 42 countries. The inventive and innovative program now boasts a presence in some 8,000 international schools, a partnership with the World Golf Foundation’s First Tee, a presence in the most prestigious golf academies, availability at golf and country clubs, parks and recreational facilities, senior centers and retirement communities, and in outreach rehabilitation efforts to individuals with disabilities.
Anton has set a goal of introducing golf to one million new players in Asia in 2012. SNAG® has become very successful in Japan with a developed school program that has held nine national elementary school championships and has a pipeline of young eager players for the foreseeable future. Their efforts in China will make the biggest impact on future players for that country and the other ASIAN nations.
SNAG® is growing in Europe as well as the Baltic’s and Russia with expectation for significant growth over the next five years. Anton is working with Brazil on a pilot program there to leverage golf’s return to the Olympics in Rio. His goal is to introduce 300,000 children to the game prior to the start of the Olympic Games in 2016.