Steve Strausbaugh – Director of Golf
Steve was born and raised in Venice, FL, where he grew up playing baseball and golf. Baseball became his main sport the first year of high school where played 3 years of Varsity. He played Division 1 baseball at Western Carolina University and studied biology. The New York Yankees organization drafted him in 2007, and Steve played professionally for 3 years before a shoulder injury forced an early retirement.
After a father son trip to Ireland, he returned to golf with a renewed passion for the game. Steve attended and graduated from Professional Golfers Career College with an associate’s degree in Golf Course Management. At The Golf College, he fell in love with instructing, growing the game of golf, as well as tournament operations. Steve has been at IMG for 12 years working from PGA associate to now a Member of PGA of America.
Steve’s full swing Teaching Philosophy gets students envisioning the golf swing as an athletic movement executed by their natural ability. He believes everyone’s swing is unique, and there is more than one way to swing a golf club successfully. His goal is to unite his student’s unique characteristics with simple fundamentals, thus creating a sound, effortless, repeatable golf swing. Steve’s short game philosophy creates standard short game swing using full swing techniques. By making small simple adjustments at setup, you can create a variety of shots only limited by the golfer’s imagination. Steve’s putting philosophy simplifies the mechanics of putting into two major strokes. Matching the setup and the stroke makes putting easier and fun to practice.
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Jax Buist – Assistant Golf Professional
Growing up in Bethlehem, PA Jax Buist found his love for the game of golf at a noticeably early age and was a natural from the start. Throughout his life he tried his hand at baseball as well, but ultimately found himself enveloped in golf again, enjoying the social aspect of the game. Jax credits his grandfather with teaching him his initial skills as a child, and his high school coaches molding him further. Once decided that he wanted to continue into a career with this sport, he began taking lessons with a PGA Pro thus honing his skills even further.
Jax went on to play golf for DeSales University in Allentown, Pennsylvania. While in school he worked at Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort, taking in every aspect of the sport that he could. Jax graduated with his bachelor’s degree in Management in 2021 and made his way to the sunshine state shortly after graduating. From Jax’s start with IMG Golf Club he has continually shown drive to better himself and those around him, that reflects heavily in his game. When the opportunity to become an Assistant Golf Professional with IMGGC, he simply could not pass it up.
After his career playing college golf, he was very motivated to continue learning and competing. Jax’s focus began surrounding the golf swing and how different people swing the club. When he teaches, he makes sure students come away with an understanding of how different body motions affect the club, and subsequently the ball flight. He teaches his students not only how to swing the club, but also how to make their swing work for them on the course to improve scoring.
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