Mistwood Hires Award-Winning Golf Instructor

Submitted by Mistwood Golf Club

Mistwood Golf Club owner, Jim McWethy continues to make significant enhancements to his top golf facility in Romeoville. McWethy has announced that national award winning golf instructor, Dr. Jim Suttie, has joined the teaching staff at the new Mistwood Performance Center.

Suttie, named the 2000 PGA National Teacher of the Year, was listed by Golf Digest as one of America’s 50 Best Teachers, and is also a GOLF Magazine Top 100 Teacher. He said that the chance to work in the new state-of-the-art facility at Mistwood led to him ending his long relationship with Cog Hill, in Lemont.

“That was the overriding factor,’’ Suttie said. “I’ve always wanted to have a place like this. I couldn’t pass it up.’’ “They’ve got serious technology here (at Mistwood),’’ Suttie added. “The people who see me are real serious. They will come from everywhere. It doesn’t matter where I go, they will find me.”

“We’re delighted to have an instructor with the experience and national recognition that Dr. Suttie brings,’’ said McWethy. “It fits our goal of having absolutely top quality in every aspect of our operation at Mistwood.”

Director of Golf Dan Phillips echoes that same thought. “We have the best teaching facility and technology in the Chicago area, and now we have the best as far as teaching is concerned. This will set us apart as the place to come to for lessons and taking your game to the next level.”

With the addition of Suttie, Mistwood is now home to perhaps the most prestigious roster of teachers in the state. John Platt, the 2011 Illinois PGA Teacher of the Year, also calls Mistwood home.

Suttie was a well-recognized and respected instructor in the Chicago area long before his selection as national teacher of the year in 2000. He grew up in DeKalb, Illinois, and learned the game at Kishwaukee Country Club, where he once covered its 18-holes in a course record 63.

A Northern Illinois University graduate in 1970, Dr. Suttie moved on to Middle Tennessee University to earn his doctorate degree in biomechanics. As part of his studies there he did his thesis on “A Biomechanical Comparison between Conventional Golf Swing Technique and a Unique Kinesthetic Feed Back Technique.”

Prior to teaching full-time, Suttie was a successful college coach, directing teams at Northwestern, Florida Gulf Coast and Eastern Kentucky. He has also worked with top PGA players including PGA champion and Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger and local Chicago players Kevin Streelman, Mark Wilson, and Chip Beck.

Suttie’s Chicago area teaching stops have included Medinah (1988-96), Cog Hill (1996-2002 and 2005-2013) and Green Garden, in Frankfort (2003-04). He’ll continue to work at TwinEagles in the winter, but – in a departure from previous years – he’ll leave that facility in Naples to make periodic teaching visits to both Mistwood’s Performance Center and McQ’s, the McWethy-owned indoor facility in Bolingbrook.