Growing up going to George and Mary Tate’s Putt-Putt on Wabash Ave., Lance Flury could not have guessed where his love for golf would take him. Fast forward to today, where Lance serves as the Head Golf PGA Pro for the Springfield Park District. The road in between was full of interesting twists and turns. As a student at Springfield High School, Lance was once cut from the golf team, but that didn’t deter him. Graduating in 1986, Lance enlisted in the Air Force where he was assigned to the security forces. After serving in Germany, Lance was transferred to Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida. It was there that Lance started playing golf regularly. The Air Force has the best golf courses of any of the branches of the military and Lance took advantage of this fact.
When Lance's Air Force commitment ended in 1990, he enrolled at Lincoln Land Community College. Lance worked at Memorial Medical Center, Lone Star Steakhouse, and Pasfield Golf Course before he enrolled at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, looking to get a biology degree and a real job. The itch to play and teach golf kept coming back but Lance wasn't sure he could make a career of it. In the summer of 1994 there were only four programs in the country that had a business management degree with a focus in marketing and golf. New Mexico State University was one of these programs, and in the fall of 1994, Lance enrolled in the program to pursue his dream. After graduating, Lance's first job was as an assistant golf pro at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Dothan, Alabama. He eventually moved up to the head pro position.
In 1999, Lance moved closer to home and took a job in Bloomington at the Weibring Golf Club at Illinois State University. He spent four years at Weibring. One day, Lance was in the pro shop with the pro when a customer came in to play the course. The customer said "hi" to Lance and that it was good to see him. When this person left the shop the pro asked who it was and Lance told him that it was Ron Ziegler, the golf coach at Springfield High School who had cut him from the team in high school. In 2003, Lance came home to Springfield to run Pasfield Golf Course. Twenty one years later Lance is still here and has made Park District golf a fun family activity for all ages. Getting kids exposed to golf early is a priority for Lance. As Lance points out, “Golf is an activity that can be enjoyed by everyone, no matter the age. Park District golf is affordable too. No excuses - get out and enjoy the beautiful golf courses of the Springfield Park District." Catering to younger golfers, Lance started the Pasfield Junior League, for golfers aged 6 to 13. The District conducts three junior golf camps every summer which are extremely popular and sell out quick! The District also hosts four teams in the PGA Junior League. In 2017, the Springfield area PGA Junior League All-Star team won the Gateway PGA Championship and traveled to Kansas City for the regional tournament. When Lance is not teaching golf or working at the courses, he is busy as a member of the Board of Directors of the Gateway PGA, which is headquartered in St. Louis and encompasses portions of Illinois and Missouri. Lance and his wife Robin live in Williamsville and will soon be empty nesters. Their son is currently in the United States Air Force in Texas, and their daughter recently graduated from Lincoln Land’s nursing program and has accepted a position at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis.
The Springfield Park District has four golf courses - Lincoln Greens, Bunn, Pasfield, and Bergen. Each course has league opportunities. Group and private lessons are also available. To assist golfers with physical impairments, the Park District partnered with St. John's Hospital to purchase a SoloRider golf carts, which can be reserved with advance notice. For more information about Springfield Park District golf, please visit www.springfieldparkdistrictgolf.org.
