Welcome to Kelli McKandless Golf!
My mission is to improve your golf game and optimize your enjoyment for a lifetime.
I love teaching! I love working with all ages, and all abilities. I have taught both 3 year olds and 83 year olds to love of the game of golf. Whether you are a beginner or a single-digit handicap, I’ll find the best way to communicate the changes necessary for you to enjoy the game more. We’ll laugh, we’ll cry, we’ll sweat, we’ll get blisters…and we’ll both come back for more. My favorite things about the game of golf are the life lessons, the relationships, and that one great shot that keeps you coming back.
If you are looking for a quick fix to get you through that annual office scramble, or looking to build your game from the bottom up, I can help you set goals, problem solve, and find various ways to fix the challenges in your golf game. Through my pre-screening questions, we will get to the main reason you want to improve your game. Once we establish the direction we are heading to create a better movement, we can use our technology and various drills to expedite that learning process.
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Kelli grew up in the small Central Texas town of Hamilton, where there wasn’t much to do other than play sports. Kelli’s goal early on was to earn a college scholarship, in either basketball or golf. Kelli soon realized that she’d have a hard time being recruited as a 5 foot 7 inch post player, so she chose golf as her primary sport in her junior and senior years. Kelli took lessons from legendary LPGA instructor Amy Fox, and with Amy’s help, Kelli won multiple Texas State Team and Individual Honors. Kelli’s hard work paid off, and she was awarded multiple offers to Division I schools. Though Kelli was honored, the offers were not quite what she was hoping for. She turned them down and spent a year on the Junior College squad of McLennan Community College. From there she received a full scholarship to Baylor University to complete her last 3 years of College, with a Degree in Health Fitness.
After graduation, Kelli went to qualifying school for the Futures Tour (now Symetra Tour), where she received partial status. While playing professionally from 2004 to 2006, she worked and studied under Amy Fox. After this, Kelli went into teaching at Granbury ISD, where she taught 7th and 8th grade Science until 2012.
In October 2012, Kelli found a way to combine golf and teaching, and took a position as the Director of Instruction at Brookhaven Country Club, where she grew the program by $500k in five years. As the program continued to grow, Kelli found she was spending less and less time teaching golf. Kelli sought out the Teaching Professional position at Gleneagles Country Club in order to focus completely on her students. In the fall of 2018, Kelli and her wife, Audrey, relocated to Denver for Audrey’s job. Kelli transferred within ClubCorp to Blackstone and Black Bear. In the 2019-2020 offseason, Kelli converted their horse barn into an indoor simulator teaching facility called Golf Barn Parker. This is where Kelli’s students get world class instruction during the offseason, utilizing the Golf Barn’s top of the line technology.
In early 2021, Kelli moved to Spring Valley Golf Club for outdoor teaching. Spring Valley is about five miles north of Elizabeth, CO and 8 miles southeast of Parker, CO. in 2023, Kelli moved her outdoor lessons to Murphy Creek in Southeast Aurora.
Kelli is the Founder and Director of The Summit Junior Tour. The tour was created out of a necessity to have more options for competitive events in Colorado. SJT was started in 2022 with just 6 events, and in 2023 had a full tour schedule with 10 events plus an end of the year celebration called the Summit Cup. Kelli is extremely passionate about bringing more opportunities for competitive golf to juniors in the Denver area. We look forward to many years being a part of the competitive Denver junior golf community.Â
Professional Accomplishments:
- LPGA Central Section Golf Professional of the Year, 2022
- LPGA Central Section Junior Leader Award, 2018
- US Kids Golf Top 50 Kids Coach, 2016 and 2017
- Club Corp Rookie Teacher of the Year Award, 2014
- Club Corp Team of Excellence Award, 2013, 2016 and 2017
- Top 50 US Kids Golf Honorable Mention Kids Coach, 2014Kelli McKandless, PGA, LPGA