Rob is a native of St. Louis, MO where he grew up at the same country club as 1968 Masters Champion Bob Goalby and touring professionals Jay and Jerry Haas and Frank Connor. At the age of six he began playing and was aided by a putting green his father installed in the backyard of their home. Previous to coming to Kelly Plantation he played professional golf for 15 years.
Rob played tournaments on the three major US Tours (PGA, Nationwide, NGA/Hooters). As a player, he won 5 times with his last at the 1999 Energizer Invitational. Rob also earned his reputation as one of the “nicest players on tour” by donating a significant amount of his time to share his expertise at numerous charity events and outings. In 2003 Rob developed a national deaf youth instruction program and he currently travels the country teaching deaf children how to play golf in sign language at PGA/LPGA Tour events. He is the only professional in the world actively teaching out to the deaf kids in the United States.
Rob is a survivor of a rare virus called Guillan Barre Syndrome (GBS). It is a unknown disease which attacks the nerves in the spine that send the messages to the body to move. The individual is slowly paralyzed by GBS. There is no known treatment or cure other than to let it run its course. Rob was hit by this in June of 1982 right after his senior year of HS. Within 2 weeks he was admitted to the hospital and a week later placed on a ventilator in order to breath. At that time he was fully paralyzed from the neck down. He spent 45 days in ICU unable to move and needing 24 hour care. As per the normal course of the virus it began to retreat and Rob slowly regained feeling and movement. As one of the top players in the St. Louis area his battle received lots of media attention. Once released from the hospital in September Rob began the grueling rehab necessary in order to just to learn to walk all over again. He was told by doctors it would be a year before he played golf again, thereby putting his college golf career in jeopardy.
Rob surprised all projections and 7 months after being released from the hospital hit a golf ball for the first time. In June of 1983 he competed in his first tournament, way ahead of schedule, and made front page news with the headline, “Incredible Comeback.” The headline contained the iconic picture of his father with his arm around him after the tournament was done. Rob continues to this day to receive phone calls and contacts from people who are battling this rare virus. Since his comeback Rob has counseled numerous patients on overcoming Guillan Barre and how to battle through and come out better on the other side of the disease. To this day, people is St. Louis still remember his comeback and recently a local doctor revealed that he went into medicine after being inspired watching Rob battle back from GBS.
Originally from Latvia, Laura came to the United States to play golf at East Tennessee State University. For 9 years, she played professionally on the Ladies European, LPGA and Australian LPG Tours. She was the first golfer from her country to play professionally full time. After retiring from the tour, Laura joined the LPGA Teaching and Club professionals and became PGA Coach and American Development Model Coach certified.
In addition, Laura is the assistant golf coach for the University of West Florida women’s golf team in Pensacola, FL. Laura’s competitive nature and fun attitude makes her suitable to teach anyone from the low handicapper trying to get an edge on their weekly scramble to the first time junior being introduced to the sport. She integrates a wholesome, athletic, student-centered approach when teaching golf to all ages. Contact Laura for private junior and adult lessons, playing lessons, ladies clinics, beginner group lessons, junior summer camps and weekly junior group lessons.
View ProgramsFrom Hole No. 4’s spectacular, panoramic view of the Choctawhatchee Bay, to the surrounding Magnolias and Palmettos that are native to the northwest Florida region, this golf experience is sure to please. You’ll also observe miles of waterfront including 11 lakes – the largest being 7.5 acres that surrounds holes 9 and 18. The new Tiff Eagle greens and the best practice facility in the panhandle of Florida make the Strano Golf Academy at Kelly Plantation a must visit location while on vacation or as a destination to work on an improve your golf game.
Kelly Plantation Golf Club, located in Destin, FL, this semi-private golf club features 18 captivating holes, boasts over 7,000 yards of large contoured greens, wide manicured fairways, an array of strategically placed hazards and picturesque views of the Choctawhatchee Bay.
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Every year several academy players sign scholarships to attend college as student athletes competing at the next level. The Strano Academy works hard to produce recruiting videos that coaches enjoy watching and shows some of the personality and skills of the player. It is my goal to do whatever I can for the player seeking to try to play collegiate golf and further their game and get an education.
Golfers enrolled at Golf Channel Academy locations will not only have the opportunity to learn from the very best coaches in the game today, but will be able to track their progress using advanced swing analysis tools and a proprietary player-coach communication platform that will accelerate their progress.
The underlying philosophy of Golf Channel Academy—which all of our coaches reinforce—is that good coaching takes place over a period of time, not just one lesson. The relationship between coach and student is more than just “one and done.” This is how “teaching” becomes “coaching,” which we describe as an on-going relationship devoted to long-lasting improvement. Everything about Golf Channel Academy is devoted to enhancing the “coaching” experience for both teacher and student.
Golf Channel Academy is the hands-on coaching extension of the cable network’s instruction programming, which includes such shows as The Golf Fix, Lesson Tee Live, and School of Golf. Golf Channel Academy allows you to receive personalized instruction from the very best coaches in the game, including many of the teachers who you see on TV. And you should see many more Golf Channel Academy coaches making appearances on Golf Channel instructional programs in the future.
How are the coaches chosen?
Golf Channel Academy’s primary mission is to bring together the best coaches throughout North America under one network. These coaches have a proven track record of creating significant and sustained improvement in their students.
A number of these coaches were selected with the help of Proponent Group, a golf instructor membership-based organization that features hundreds of the game’s top coaches (a large percentage of which form the nucleus of Golf Channel Academy). Golf Channel Academy will continue to study the instruction landscape and add coaches in the future to provide golfers everywhere a chance to learn from the very best.
They demonstrate a clear passion for their craft and learning, and are continually striving to enhance their teaching skills so that they can produce even better results for their students. Golf Channel Academy’s executive team–as well as experts from the golf world and academia– has put years of extensive research into identifying these qualities and assembling its initial group of coaches.
