Golf instructor’s career stays on course

As a golf instructor, Terese Dynjan will tell you it’s never too late to take up the game.

 

She once gave lessons to a novice who was 94 years young.

 

“I tell all my junior players, whether female or male, that golf is a lifelong sport,” said Dynjan, a Daniel Island resident. “My oldest student has been 94. There are not many sports you can play at 94 but golf you can. It is truly a lifelong sport.”

 

Dynjan, a native of Phoenix, Arizona, has played golf her entire life. Her golf odyssey began when she tagged along and teamed up with her father, who just happened to be an avid golfer as well.

 

She played junior golf, played as the only girl on the boys’ team in high school and then continued to play in college when she attended the University of Missouri.

 

She didn’t slow down when she graduated from college when she became an instructor. And she still hasn’t slowed down today, despite the coronavirus pandemic.

 

“To be honest I have been busier than normal,” said Dynjan, who gives instructions at Snee Farm Country Club and Rivertowne Country Club, both in Mount Pleasant. “The COVID-19 virus has been great for the golf industry. Golf is the one thing that people have been able to do all along. Golf courses have eliminated things for players to touch by removing rakes, sand bottles, etc., and encouraging players to leave the pin in and not shake hands.

 

“You can play a round of golf and literally not touch anything or anyone else,” she added. “I have been able to do golf lessons and maintain social distance, but have also had a large bottle of hand sanitizer with me and used it numerous times throughout the lessons when I needed to get closer to a student.”

 

The virus has produced subtle changes in the way she instructs her clients.

 

“I have become more aware of touching my students’ equipment, and ask if they are OK with that,” she said. “Or I ask if they are OK with me coming closer to show them something or help them feel something. I didn’t think twice about those things before.”

 

After graduating from Missouri, Dynjan returned to Arizona and worked at the Kostis-McCord Learning Center at Grayhawk Golf Club. Peter Kostis and Gary McCord, the founders, are both past CBS commentators. She moved to the Lowcountry in 2011, following her sister’s family migration. Not only that, her parents built a second home in the Lowcountry.

 

“So, I felt the move was meant to be,” she said.

 

She acknowledges golf has long been considered a man’s game. But she’s proved she belongs as a player and now as a coach.

 

“The golf industry is definitely a male-dominated industry,” Dynjan said. “People are sometimes surprised (that I am an instructor), but many think it is really neat.”

 

Dynjan, a successful real estate agent, finds time to coach at the high-school level. She coaches Ashley Hall, a team that features young talent, including Raegan Propes, a Daniel Island resident. Propes is the Panthers’ No. 1 player, who recently played in the Beth Daniels Junior Azalea at the Country Club of Charleston.

 

Dynjan realizes golf is a sport where business decisions are made.

 

“Being a female and playing golf brings with it opportunities,” she said. “Golf is still something people do with clients and co-workers and being a woman who can play allows you to be a part of that. There are a number of charity golf tournaments that companies will participate in and playing in those can likewise be valuable.”