Blazing a Trail on the Golf Course
By Steve Stein
Martin Hanna doesn’t want to be alone, so he’s doing everything he can to get others to join the party. After doing all the requisite research, Hanna believes he’s the first Chaldean golfer to pass the PGA’s player ability test.
To pass the test, Hanna had to shoot under 156 for 36 holes on one day last August at Bedford Valley Golf Course in Battle Creek. He shot 152, and was one of just four golfers out of 23 to make the cut.
Because he passed the test, Hanna, a 36-year-old Sterling Heights resident, now is a PGA associate and he’s in the PGA’s Professional Golf Management Program, the next steps to becoming a PGA professional.
These are remarkable accomplishments considering that Hanna started playing golf only nine years ago when his brother handed over his used clubs to him and encouraged him to give golf a try because of his athleticism and competitive nature.
Hanna was fitted for his own clubs about a year later and three years after that, he took some golf lessons from Steve Vickery, the PGA professional at Paint Creek Country Club in Lake Orion.
Those days with Vickery, whom Hanna calls his teacher and friend, solidified Hanna’s love and passion for golf.
“If you would have told me nine years ago that I’d be working in the golf profession, I would have said you’re 100% crazy,” Hanna said. “I love what I’m doing. It’s a blessing.”
What Hanna is doing these days after a lengthy career in the cell phone industry is working as an assistant professional at Paint Creek, an 18-hole private course that is scheduled to open for the season April 1. Hanna has held that full-time job since last August, when he passed the player ability test. He began working at Paint Creek the previous April in the part-time position in charge of outdoor services.
A new member of Team Callaway, Hanna can custom-fit players for Callaway golf clubs at Paint Creek. Hanna also has his own company, the Swing 180 Golf Academy, which he launched in June 2019.
A certified teaching professional, Hanna teaches golf during the winter at area domed facilities and during the nice weather at Paint Creek when he’s off the clock there. He recently reached the 100-student plateau from the time he started his company. His students have ranged in age from 8 to 95.
Many of Hanna’s students are Chaldean. He said he’d love to see more Chaldeans get involved in golf and perhaps make that their career, too, even as a PGA professional. He doesn’t want to be the only Chaldean to ever pass the player ability test.
Hanna’s teaching philosophy is simple: it’s all about mindset. He said he gained that perspective from his training as a life coach. “Don’t fight it. Fight through it,” he said. “Mindset enters into everything in golf, including course management and shot selection. Also, golf is a great game because it teaches discipline and there’s etiquette and rules. That’s especially important for kids to learn.”
Simplifying the golf swing into a more accessible and natural feel is another of Hanna’s teaching goals.
Hanna’s playing resume is impressive considering his relatively short time as a competitive golfer. In addition to passing the player ability test, he won Golfweek Amateur Tour tournaments in 2019 and 2020. Right now, he has his sights set on the Rocket Mortgage Classic, a PGA Tour event scheduled for July 1-4 at the Detroit Golf Club.
If he survives a pre-qualifying tournament June 23 at TPC Michigan in Dearborn, he’ll move on to the qualifying tournament June 28 at Katke-Cousins Golf Course on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester. The top four golfers at the qualifying tournament will earn spots in the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Hanna is happy to represent the Chaldean community, but he’s even happier to pave the way for more golfers from the community to join him in the professionals.
