This so-called spring has been an April Fools’ Day joke here in Indy. Weather once again can not figure out” weather” it is still winter or spring.

Enough of the gloom of the weather forecast. The Brickyard now has been open for play for over a week, and believe it or not, we have had some hearty souls out here to play. The course is doing well but just a little too wet for our liking with the recent rain.

The new GPS system seems to have been a good decision as the players who have used the system tell us what a great improvement it is over our old system. The graphics are much better, and the scoring system is much improved. When we host events here, we will be able to use the scoring feature of the system and send the results to a Web site in which all the players can view the results. This will especially help us with our men’s and women’s club events here at the Brickyard.

A lot of new merchandise has hit our store in the last few weeks, so that has kept us busy. The colors for this spring are bright but not obnoxious.

We also have been giving some lessons and tune-ups for golfers. We have an indoor area with a net that allows us to give some lessons. This is a great time of the year for golfers to take some lessons and have some swing thoughts to work on as the year progresses. As we have talked before, there are many different ways to swing a club – the key is to find one that fits you. In other words, choose a teacher that communicates well.

This brings us to another valuable tool that lessons can provide, and that is having the proper equipment. During a lesson, a good teacher can notice something such as the wrong shaft or the wrong lie on the clubs. A good club-fitting session lasts about 90 minutes and gives the player a lot of information on their swing and their equipment.

The Brickyard is fortunate to have over 80 years of golf experience on its staff, and we plan to use that as we expand our teaching programs. We have some new video equipment that was brought to us by one of our new assistants and teachers, Nick Bianco.

If things are slow in your area due to weather, contact a PGA Professional and inquire about lessons and getting fitted for new equipment.

The Masters is next week, and I think I will take Tiger in my pool. Shock! The second race of the season in the IndyCar Series is this Sunday in St. Petersburg, Fla. Congrats to Scott Dixon on his victory and to all the teams for a good show at Homestead-Miami last Saturday night.

Jeff Schroeder

PGA Head Professional

Brickyard Crossing