Chris Candelaresi: One Swing Thought at a Time · BirdieYard
Featured Coaches
Chris Candelaresi’s second act: one swing thought at a time
After 15 years away from the golf industry, Cincinnati PGA professional Chris Candelaresi is back doing what he loves. But what stands out most is how much he genuinely enjoys helping people play better golf.
Chris Candelaresi with his PGA HOPE certificate. Photo courtesy of Chris Candelaresi.
Article contents
Meet the coach
Chris Candelaresi · Coach Chris Golf · Cincinnati, OH
Chris Candelaresi is a PGA golf coach in the Cincinnati area who returned to the golf business in 2024 after roughly 15 years away. His teaching starts with the golfer’s goals and setup, focuses on one change at a time, and includes written follow-up to support practice between lessons.
After 15 years away from the golf industry, Cincinnati PGA professional Chris Candelaresi is back doing what he loves. He's got the experience, the credentials, and the technical knowledge. But what stands out most is how much he genuinely enjoys helping people play better golf.
At 24 Precision Golf in Phoenix, Eric Brasch combines decades in the game with video, simulator data and a simple goal: help golfers understand their swings and enjoy the golf they play.
From a backyard net to Perform for Golf in San Rafael, Dylan Smith has kept the same aim: help golfers understand their swings. His RBFS system starts with four movements: turn, tilt, bend and sway.
Most golfers don't celebrate a bogey. Chris Candelaresi remembers one that made his day.
During his senior year at Mississippi State University, Chris was attempting to pass the PGA Playing Ability Test, a demanding 36-hole examination of a golfer's playing ability. It was his fifth attempt.
He'd started the day with a 40 on his opening nine, wondering whether another opportunity was slipping away. But he settled in, shot one under on the back nine, and eventually arrived at the final hole of the day, a long, double-dogleg par five.
He could make double bogey and still pass.
"I made my bogey and was just as happy as could be to finally get it done," Chris recalls.
It's a great story about persistence, and a fitting introduction to a coach who now spends his days helping others work through the frustrations of improving at golf.
But after spending nearly an hour talking with Chris, that wasn't what stuck with me most.
As the co-founder and CEO of BirdieYard, I make a point of trying to personally connect with every coach we welcome to the platform. It's partly about understanding their experience, what they need, and how we can build something that actually helps them. But it's also become one of my favorite parts of building BirdieYard.
I get to talk golf with people who have spent their lives playing, teaching, and working in the game. Not a bad perk.
Chris was one of those conversations I particularly enjoyed.
He's got an impressive résumé. He's worked at some incredible golf facilities, coached competitive juniors, studied the mechanics of the swing, and built relationships with hundreds of students. He's also broken 70 in competition and has a hole-in-one to his name.
But more than any of that, he just struck me as a genuinely good dude.
Thoughtful, humble about his accomplishments, generous with his time, and clearly passionate about helping people enjoy golf. The more we talked, the more obvious it became that Chris doesn't just understand the game. He really enjoys teaching it.
And there's a lot that golfers can learn from someone like that.
From a trailer clubhouse to The Broadmoor
Chris grew up in Cincinnati and started playing golf around age 10 or 11, using clubs borrowed from a neighbor. By his junior year of high school, he knew he wanted to pursue a career in golf.
He enrolled in Mississippi State's Professional Golf Management program, earning a marketing degree while learning the business of golf through coursework and extensive internships.
Those internships took him across the country and gave him an education that went well beyond the golf swing.
At a new semi-private course in Lexington, Kentucky, he watched a facility get off the ground while its clubhouse operated out of a trailer.
At The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, he learned what five-star hospitality looked like through 5 a.m. starts and 12- to 13-hour workdays.
"That experience made me appreciate ... a very hard work ethic and the attention to detail that's needed to really deliver a five-star experience for your guests and customers."
At Champaign Country Club in Illinois, he worked under a fellow Mississippi State alumnus who gave him opportunities to develop his teaching skills and run a junior golf program.
After graduating in 2003, Chris worked at several clubs before joining GOLFTEC, where his interest in teaching became a genuine passion.
Video analysis, body mechanics, and the relationship between movement and ball flight gave him a deeper understanding of how golfers improve. Just as importantly, he learned how to translate that knowledge into something a student could actually understand.
Since returning, he's worked with nearly 180 students and delivered an estimated 400 to 500 lessons, while continuing to develop junior golf programs.
It's been quite a second act.
Chris with his PGA HOPE certificate of completion. Photo courtesy of Chris Candelaresi.
The best coaches understand the golfer, not just the swing
One of the things I appreciated most about Chris was hearing him walk through what happens during a first lesson.
He doesn't start by telling you what's wrong with your swing. He starts by getting to know you.
What brought you here? What are you hoping to improve? Have you had any injuries? What other sports have you played?
These aren't just icebreaker questions. They help Chris understand how someone moves, how they learn, and what they're hoping to accomplish.
"I always look at teaching somebody as a team effort. It's not me just being a dictator," Chris explained.
He went a step further.
"I love my students who maybe challenge me a little bit or question things."
I think that's a telling quality in a great coach. Chris has decades of experience and a deep technical understanding of the golf swing, but he still wants his students to ask questions. He wants them to understand why they're working on something.
His approach combines video analysis, an assessment of the full swing, and a focus on the root causes of problems rather than their symptoms.
But he also knows when to simplify things.
"We look at setup, we look at the root cause, and we focus on one thing at a time."
That last part is worth remembering.
Golfers are already pretty good at collecting swing thoughts. A lesson, a YouTube video, a tip from a buddy at the range, and suddenly there are seven things to remember before making contact with the ball.
Chris wants his students to leave with clarity rather than more confusion.
And the lesson doesn't end when the hour is over.
After every session, whether it's a student's first lesson or their tenth, Chris sends a written recap with key takeaways, drills, and supporting photos or videos.
It's the kind of attention to detail that helps a student keep working between lessons, and another example of how seriously Chris takes the relationship between coach and golfer.
Chris demonstrating a swing at the practice range. Photo courtesy of Chris Candelaresi.
Want to get better? Slow down.
When I asked Chris what golfers commonly misunderstand about improving, he didn't hesitate to talk about practice.
Specifically, our tendency to want immediate results.
"I really stress the concept of starting short and slow to build to long and fast."
Chris sees golfers learn a new movement and immediately try to incorporate it into a full-speed swing.
Sometimes they hit a great shot. Problem solved, right?
Not quite.
Chris explains that when golfers take an unfamiliar movement onto the course, especially under pressure, the body tends to fall back on familiar habits.
The answer is to build comfort through repetition. Start with shorter, slower swings, learn the right movements, and gradually build toward full speed.
It's not the most exciting advice in the world, but it makes sense. Particularly for golfers who want to become more consistent.
Chris also shared some strong opinions about the advice golfers hear most often.
His least favorite?
"Keep your head still."
That one hit a little close to home because I admitted to Chris that I've given other golfers exactly that advice. More than once.
Apparently, I should probably stop.
Chris explained that golfers often take the instruction too literally, restricting natural movement and creating problems with posture and swing sequence.
It's a great example of why generic golf advice can be misleading. Something that sounds simple and logical might create a completely different problem for the person trying to apply it.
The best advice Chris ever received was almost the opposite of trying harder.
A professional he worked with in Illinois challenged him to take two extra clubs on every iron shot for an entire week. His normal 150-yard 8-iron became a 6-iron.
The exercise forced Chris to develop better tempo, control, and a more connected swing instead of simply swinging harder.
"It really put things in perspective in terms of ... how to increase distance without trying to swing faster or harder at the ball with my arms."
There's probably a lesson in there for the rest of us.
Chris at the practice range. Photo courtesy of Chris Candelaresi.
Helping someone discover golf is a pretty good reward
Chris has coached golfers of all abilities, but two groups clearly hold a special place for him: juniors and adult beginners.
Throughout his career, he's helped run junior programs with as many as 80 to 100 kids participating over a summer. More recently, he's been involved with PGA Junior League, introducing young players to competition, teamwork, and course management.
Junior golfers on the putting green. Photo courtesy of Chris Candelaresi.
For adult beginners, the motivations can be completely different.
Some want to participate in company golf outings. Others have friends who play, want a new hobby, or simply want to stop feeling intimidated by the game.
Chris enjoys those early stages of improvement, when someone who has barely held a club starts to understand how the game works.
"Watching that improvement take place before your eyes. It's always fun to see the growth."
As someone whose own young son is getting into golf, I could relate to that immediately. We talked about how quickly kids can improve when they're just getting started and how much fun it is to watch.
I also liked how Chris described his responsibility as a golf professional.
"As a PGA professional, my role is to bring people into the game of golf."
Not just helping already-good golfers get better. Helping more people feel comfortable picking up a club in the first place.
That attitude matters.
Golf can be intimidating, especially for someone who didn't grow up around the game. A coach who understands that and genuinely enjoys working with beginners can make all the difference.
His proudest golf moment wasn't his own
Toward the end of our conversation, I asked Chris to brag a little.
What's his lowest round? Longest drive? Any memorable accomplishments?
He has a few.
Chris has shot 69 in competition, once carried drives around 280 to 285 yards, and made his only hole-in-one with a 7-iron during a team competition.
"We didn't win the match, but it did go in," he told me.
I appreciated that detail.
But when Chris started talking about his proudest accomplishments, the conversation quickly shifted away from his own game.
He told me about coaching a high school team at Centennial High School in Illinois when he was just 23.
One of his players was a talented freshman with competitive experience, but also some swing issues to work through. Chris had taken over the team only a couple of weeks before the season, so there wasn't time for a complete overhaul.
Instead, they concentrated heavily on short game and putting, preparing the young golfer to perform under pressure.
The freshman went on to finish seventh at the state championship, beating several older players who had gotten the better of him earlier in the season.
For Chris, watching that happen remains one of the highlights of his career.
When I asked about his biggest accomplishments, he put it pretty simply:
"I think the biggest thing ... is my coaching."
I think that tells you a lot about the kind of coach Chris is.
He knows what it feels like to hit great shots, compete, and achieve personal goals. But the moments he remembers most fondly are the ones where he helped someone else succeed.
Why coaches like Chris are what BirdieYard is all about
There's one other small detail from our conversation that stuck with me.
As we were wrapping up, Chris thanked me for the opportunity to share his story. Then, without being asked, he offered to help with BirdieYard, share feedback, and be a sounding board as we continue building the platform.
He didn't need to do that.
But after talking with him about his career, how he approaches teaching, and how much he enjoys helping people learn, it seemed perfectly consistent with the person I'd just spent the last hour getting to know.
That's one of the reasons I'm excited about building BirdieYard.
There are talented, experienced, genuinely good golf coaches all over the country. Some have spent decades working at clubs and resorts. Some are accomplished competitive players. Some are building their careers and growing their student base. They all bring something different to the game.
What matters is helping golfers understand who those coaches are, how they teach, and whether they're a good fit.
Chris is a great example.
He's got the technical knowledge and the playing experience to help golfers improve. But he also brings patience, curiosity, and a genuine enjoyment of the teaching process.
And whether you're a junior preparing for competition, an adult picking up the game for the first time, or a longtime golfer trying to become a little more consistent, those qualities are worth looking for.
Are you a golf coach? Join Chris and other coaches on BirdieYard. Create a professional profile, share what makes your teaching different, and give golfers a better way to find and connect with you.
“We look at setup, we look at the root cause, and we focus on one thing at a time.”
Chris Candelaresi
Coach Chris Golf · Cincinnati, OH
Explore Chris Candelaresi’s coaching
Junior golfers, adults getting started, and golfers who want to understand their swings and practice with a clear plan.
Find the root cause, focus on one thing at a time, build from shorter and slower swings, and support practice with written recaps and visual feedback.
Patrick McCarthy interviewed Chris Candelaresi via Google Meet on October 21, 2026. The article was revised from Patrick’s edited draft on October 27, 2026. Quotations are reproduced as supplied. Career stories, teaching totals, and the high school coaching account are Chris’s recollections. His public PGA coaching profile provides background on his location and teaching career.
Chris Candelaresi has a coaching profile on BirdieYard. Featured Coaches is an editorial series about the people behind the lessons. Photographs were provided by Chris Candelaresi and are used with his permission.
At Alameda Precision Golf, Larry Zhou brings an athlete’s enthusiasm and a data professional’s curiosity to the swing. The goal: give golfers something they can see, understand, and take back to the range.
