Meet Our Pros

Tom Tarsia, born and raised in New Jersey, teaches during the summer months in Atlantic City. Tom turned professional at age 23 after attending Jacksonville University. He has played in numerous professional events and has been with VIP Golf Academy eleven years. Tom has studied under some of the most renowned teachers in the country, all of which are currently ranked in the Top 100 Instructors in the USA. Besides his excellent teaching of the physical side of the golf swing, Tom has an in-depth knowledge of the psychological aspects of the game. This unique insight, coupled with strong swing fundamentals has helped Tom do wonders for all levels of golfers! An Atlantic City golf school with Tom is a true learning experience and for many a breakthrough experience in their golfing lives.

Jeff Bonicky is the Director of Golf at Sea Oaks Golf Club. Jeff is an experienced PGA golf professional that is accomplished in all aspects of the golf industry. An excellent teacher, his lessons with VIP Golf Academy Atlantic City Golf School have been highly praised for there insightfulness and expertise. An excellent player also, his playing skills give his students insights into good player course management and strategy. A golf school with Jeff is an exciting learning experience.

Eric Fitzsimmons  was born and raised in central Connecticut to a couple parents enthusiastic about academics and sports.  From a young age he was exposed to any sport that was readily available.  He excelled at soccer, basketball, and baseball, but baseball won out early on as his true passion, and he continued this passion through college.  This didn’t leave much time for golf, as the seasons are the same in Connecticut.  On the rare occasion a few times year that he did get to golf, the same bad advice everyone gets was shared, so nothing amounted from his casual play.  He always had fun with golf though, keeping a passion for it, and one summer he even made a little chip and putt course in his yard using coffee cans for cups.

He ended up heading to a small school in Lynchburg Virginia where he played baseball, and received 2 degrees, one in Computer Science, and one in Sports Management.  Shortly after finishing school, his job brought him to Las Vegas, but the same injuries that had limited his baseball opportunities prevented him from even playing casually, so he needed something to fuel his competitive nature, and golf was there to fill that void.  His passion for the game came quickly, especially with the quantity and quality of new courses available to him in the area.

He started playing and practicing more and more, but wasn’t getting much better.  He tried out a couple teachers and made changes, but nothing was really clicking, and his body was telling him that something was off.  A chance encounter with a respected employee at the course he practiced at led him to Bob Byman, and his golf world was never the same.  They clicked immediately and lessons were highly anticipated, and why wouldn’t they be going from a 20 handicap to a 6 in 3 months, then to a 3 in another 3 months, and within 1 year of his first lesson with Bob he was a scratch golfer, and had started playing some competitive events.  His body was feeling good, he kept working hard at his game, and he kept getting better with a newly learned understanding of the direction he was headed.  Within the next few years he won a number of events, and had been player of the year for the Southern Nevada Golf Association.

Towards the end of this time he had decided to pursue golf as a profession, where he could compete in tournaments, and teach the same things he learned that had changed golf for him forever.  He has a great passion for this sport, and truly enjoys helping others get better making the sport more enjoyable for them as well. This is an example of a golf success story which inspires us all.

Born and raised in Phoenix, AZ. Zachary grew up playing baseball as it was his dad’s favorite sport. He played on multiple club teams at one time. A hip injury took him out of the game and brought him into golf. Zachary improved rapidly and quickly got addicted to this great game! By his junior year in high school, he was one of the Top 20 high school golfers in Arizona. That summer he was also a Quarter Finalist in the State Amateur. A shoulder injury took him off course to be able to get into a four year college playing golf right out of high school, so he had to pivot where he went next.

Zachary walked on to the golf team for Scottsdale Community College, and was immediately put into the starting five. By his second year, he was leading the team and had 6 straight rounds under par (5 in the 60’s). This stretch lead him to earning All-American honors, as well as earning a golf scholarship to play at California State University, Chico in northern California. It was and still is, a competitive program which really helped his game evolve. Traveling up and down California playing at that level really taught Zachary how to be mentally tough and how important the mental game is in golf.

Zachary trained and prepared for a life of living off his golf skills for six months after returned home to Phoenix. He played on the Pepsi Tour with success and made money playing golf. Shortly after turning professional, he met his wife and now has two kids. He doesn’t play competitively anymore, but now he puts that dedication and commitment into his clients through coaching. Zachary has been coaching for 7 years helping golfers of all ages and skill levels to reach their goals while finding enjoyment in the game he loves.

Scott’s current position is Lead Golf Instructor at the Missing Link Golf Academy located at Legacy Golf Club in Lakewood Ranch Florida. He spent the last 23 years as a Senior Performance Coach at IMG Academies in Bradenton Florida. While at IMG he coached multiple professional golfers including both men and women that play on tours all over the world including Julieta Granada the winner of the first million-dollar prize on the LPGA Tour. He has been responsible for training hundreds of students to become more recruitable that are placed into Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3 Universities in the United States.

Scott’s Passion for golf started as a junior in Westerly, Rhode Island where that lead to moving to Orlando Florida and graduating from the Golf Academy of the South in 1994. He spent 4 years in the golf business working at Miacomet Golf Club on Nantucket Island and Hanover Country Club at Dartmouth College. After the birth of his first son Jakob he and his wife Amy moved to Bradenton Florida to pursue a career in teaching golf at the David Leadbetter Junior Golf Academy.

Scott’s mission is to identify every student’s strength and area for improvement. As a coach and mentor, he communicates their personal blueprint that enables them to become the best version of themselves.

• PGA Life Member
• BS. In Education from Central Michigan. Member of the Golf team.
• Taught school for four years.
• Golf Instructor 42 years Lansing Community College-beginning, intermediate, and advance classes.
• 20 years coaching high school and college golf
• District and Regional coaches awards for both high school and
  college.
• Lead instructor at Pine Lake CC,Haslett Mi. 1970-1981. Lead
  instructor Owosso CC Mi. 1982-84
• General Manager Boca Woods CC Fl. 1985-86
• Lead instructor at The Applegate Golf Center 1987-2006.
• Runner-up in the 1983 Central Chapter Championship. Michigan
  Section.
• 2020 Super Senior Champion. Michigan Section.

West Sharkey is a retired National Team Athlete from Canada with 7 years of experience coaching with National Team Programs and Professional Athletes.  West is a PGA Golf Swing Coach and TPI Athletic Therapist specializing in corrective movement patterning to tackle golf movement from all angles. West Sharkey has worked with high-performance golf programs from Highschool and D1 up to the Professional Tour Pro level helping athletes find the keys to unlock prime performance and stay injury free.

Charlie Bolling is an American professional golfer. Early in his career Bolling had much success, winning six significant amateur events in the mid-Atlantic region, including the 1980 Pennsylvania Amateur. Shortly after graduating from Duke University in 1981, Bolling attempted to earn membership on the PGA Tour. However, he was unsuccessful for three consecutive years at Q-school. In the interim he played overseas, culminating with a win at the 1983 South African Open. In late 1984, Bolling earned PGA Tour membership. He played on the PGA Tour for four seasons in the mid-1980s, recording four top-10s. Since 1990, Bolling has worked primarily as a Club professional and as a Golf Instructor in the northeastern United States.

Herb is a four-time winner of the Northeastern New York PGA Teacher of the Year Award. He was a member of the National PGA Teaching Advisory Board from 1993 through 1996 and was elected to the Northeastern New York PGA Hall of Fame in 2005. During his 41 years at Western, he has enjoyed much success in teaching. His students include:

• 45 Club champions
• 31 Division I Scholarship athletes
• Three New York State Junior Girls Championships
• A runner up in the United States Women’s Public Links Championship
• Three Northeastern Women’s Golf Association Champions
• An All American woman and a men’s captain at Florida State University
• Two LPGA tour members: Moira Dunn and Kris Tamulis. Kris Tamulis is in her fifteenth year on the tour and was 41st on the 2015 year-end money list. Kris recently enjoyed her first victory winning the 2015 Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic. Moira Dunn has been on the LPGA Tour for 23
  She won the Giant Eagle LPGA Classic in 2004. She also has three-second place, two third place, and 23 top-ten finishes. Moira is in 103^rd place on the LPGA’s all-time money list.

David is motivated by his students desire to get better, their want for improved results and the opportunity to help them reach their goals. His main focus is bringing value to every single person he interacts with. The training is based on simple achievable goals to build confidence in each players own personal process. These small victories become the building blocks towards building the knowledge, skill and mindset to reach your individual goals no matter what level your game is at. The competitive edge is not about perfection, but the ability to respond and build resilience to situations and problems that are in your control. His programs and practice are action based plans designed around what/why/how training programs that have achieved high results out of his students at all levels and ages.

CERTIFICATIONS

• TrackMan
• Flightscope
• TPI
• SAM Putt Lab
• BodiTrak
• Gary Gilchrist Coaches Certification
• US Kids Golf

CAREER COACHING HIGHLIGHTS

• Taught over 50,000 hours of individual lessons and group training at all levels throughout his past 15 years of coaching.
• Assisted Gary Gilchrist with past #1 ranked professionals and multiple players on every major tour including PGA, LPGA, and European / Asia / South American tours.
• Performed Junior golf clinics and training across the world in China, Taiwan, Colombia, Chile and Central America.
• Executed the first Adult Clinic for ExxonMobil executives in Colombia.
• Student wins in high ranked AJGA events and other national elite junior tours around the nation.
• Junior Golf Academy Coach for 7 years with Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy and 3 years with IJGA in Orlando Florida.
• Coached and Caddied for multiple players through LPGA Q Series, Symetra and LPGA Tour.
• Students have accomplished major junior tournament wins, elite college golf program scholarships, national team members and amateur / professional wins around the globe.

 Paula Thompson, a gifted and passionate golf instructor, has been teaching golf for over 40 years. She currently resides in Kentucky where she teaches golf at the Bardstown Country Club. She also travels to Arizona, seasonally, to teach golf at the Sedona Golf Resort and to facilitate golf schools for the VIP Golf Academy at Oak Creek Country Club. Starting in the summer of 2023, she will also be facilitating golf schools for VIP at the Bardstown Country Club in Bardstown, KY. 

A natural athlete in several sports, Paula learned to play golf when she was 14 years old. She became a local legend because of her ability to outdrive most men. She graduated from college with a BA in Fine Art form Chico State University where she played for the women’s varsity tennis team (there was no golf program available for women at that time). 

After college, she started her golf career in California at the Ojai Valley Inn as an assistant golf professional where she obtained Class ‘A’ status with the LPGA. She moved to Sedona, Arizona in 2001 and was hired to teach golf at the Sedona Golf Resort and the Oak Creek Country Club for the next 20 years. 

Officially retired in 2021, she moved to Kentucky to live near her children and grandchildren. Word spread quickly about her teaching ability. Missing her teaching career, she came out of retirement to help coach a local girl’s high school golf team and then established herself as a teaching pro at Bardstown Country Club. 

Paula has the unique ability to determine a golfer’s learning style within the first few minutes of the lesson and then applies this knowledge to help her students achieve a successful golf swing in a short amount of time. By relating the golf swing to other familiar everyday motions and activities, Paula keeps the learning process simple and does not overload the mind with excess information. A firm believer in the importance of increasing flexibility, avoiding injuries, and learning to play golf tension free, she makes learning fun and keeps her clients entertained with her golf and life analogies. 

Accomplishments: 

• • LPGA Class ‘A’ status. 
• • Owner/Operator of “Swing Easy Golf, Inc.” in Sedona, AZ, from 2001 until 2021. 
• • Established the “Let’s Get Tee-Gether” Sunday Scrambles, a fun and unique one-of-a-kind golf tournament mixer and founded the “Naughty Niners” golf group for novice women golfers in Sedona, AZ. 

Paula is available for private instruction, seasonally, at Bardstown Country Club in Bardstown, KY, the Lebanon Country Club in Lebanon, KY, and the Sedona Golf Resort in Sedona, AZ. 

Director of Instruction at Twisted Dune golf club.

Prior experience Director of Golf at Linwood Country Club for 30 + years. Playing achievements are multiple wins in the Philadelphia section PGA . Golf lessons should be tailored individually to the student and not a theory for everyone to follow .

Different golf abilities should receive lessons best suited to them, so improvement is achieved. As always improvement on all levels is based on the student’s enjoyment.

Paul was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. After moderate success as an amateur, Paul turned Professional in 1989 and played various tours throughout the world. Paul has won a number of Professional events with his lowest competitive round being 62. On the recommendation of friend Chip Beck, three time Ryder Cup player, Paul ventured to the USA in 1992 to take instruction from Hank Haney. In 1995 he started teaching for Hank and by 1999 was one of the head golf operators for Hank Haney Golf, Inc. While working for Hank he assisted in building Hank Haney Headquarters in Lewisville, Texas. Paul has also been a student of Jim Hardy since 1995. Paul credits both Hank Haney and Jim Hardy as having the biggest influence on his playing and teaching. In 2005 Paul and his wife relocated to the Northeast to be closer to family. He was hired as the Head Golf Professional at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. While at the Cricket Club he conducted regular teaching seminars to fellow Golf Professionals. In 2006 nearby Meadowlands Country Club hired him as their Head Golf Professional. Paul and his wife started the Barnsley Golf Academy to promote golf through player development initiatives. In April 2009 they moved further north to a wonderful opportunity at Race Brook Country Club. He was the sixth golf professional in the club’s 100 year history until the end of 2021 when he relocated to Port St Lucie, Florida. Paul is a Life Member of the PGA of America and a great addition to the VIP Golf Schools.