Jon Decker, PGA, is the Director of Instruction at The Medallion Club in Westerville, Ohio. He also teaches in the greater Naples, Florida area in the winter. He is the author of two books, Golf Is My Life and Fairways to Heaven.

Pieces of this interview have been edited for clarity and brevity. 

SOPGA: You’re an author of two books – Golf is My Life and Fairways To Heaven – what made you decide to write them in the first place? What inspired you to undertake something so huge?

Jon Decker: Well, I’ll preface this by saying never in my life did I want to write a book.

I never had a desire to write a book and I never had a teacher or professor in college tell me that I had a great gift for writing. So it was never anything that I thought I would do. 

It all started when I started teaching the game of golf in Orlando, Florida. As I was teaching lessons and working at a golf school, you’re standing up in front of people doing a presentation on chipping or putting or whatever and I would be demonstrating shots. As I was doing that, I had stories from my life that started just pouring into my mind.

It was like God was downloading stories from my life and I knew that these stories were to be used in a book. I knew that there was a spiritual Christian element to the book that was going to have to be told. 

SOPGA: What was that story and how did that experience compel you to become an author?

JD: I was a sophomore in high school and I was extremely sick. I went to bed knowing the next day that my parents were going to take me to the hospital. I was extremely sick. In the middle of the morning hours, I had a dream and in my dream God spoke to me.

I heard the audible voice of God. Jesus came to me and healed me in this dream and I woke up the next day and I was completely healed. I went running to tell my mother and she couldn’t believe it. I held on to this dream and I just kind of buried it away in my subconscious and I told very, very few people about it. 

[Years later, during those golf lessons] I knew that God wanted me to write a book and I was scared to death. It’s probably the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life because I knew that I was exposing myself to the world, my friends and it was a very difficult thing to do.

But I’m so glad I did it. Now I’m not afraid to tell anyone. I’m very excited now to be able to spread that message.

SOPGA: How has getting comfortable with the vulnerability you had as an author made you a better golf instructor and teacher?

JD: It’s really helped define my purpose. I thought 30 years ago that my purpose was to work with Tour players. I wanted to be a famous golf instructor and I was working in Orlando during the Tiger boom and all that stuff. Golf instruction was just going through the roof and that’s how I learned. I’m so thankful for that time because I learned the nuts and bolts of how to teach so I thought that was my purpose and I did reach that [goal]. I worked with Bob Sowards in 2008 and I was his instructor while he was on the PGA Tour.

I went with him to events and was with him at four PGA championships. So I’ve reached that pinnacle, you know, my dream of working with a Tour player, but that didn’t fulfill me. That didn’t make me a better person. 

It kind of lifted me up in the circles of teaching and becoming teacher of the year kind of lifted me up, but that didn’t fulfill me. What this has done is this has shown me that I have a very limited amount of time on this earth and the purpose that I’m here for is to use the game of golf to grow Christianity. I understand my purpose now and I did not understand my purpose even ten years ago when I started this writing journey in 2012.

I don’t care if you’re a teacher, a doctor or whatever you’re doing with your life. You’re supposed to live your life and purpose to the best of your ability and glorify God. 

SOPGA: Mentors are so crucial for PGA Professionals and Phil Rogers is mentioned in your books as a significant influence on your life and career. How did he impact you and why was that so specifically important to you?

JD: He’s a huge influential factor, from a Golf perspective, but also, you know and just in general He was a huge influence on my life in the fact that he took the time to help me as a teacher. Every time I teach a lesson now, something that I say is something that he gave me or something that he taught me so I’m passing that along. Paul Runyon was his teacher when he was a junior golfer and the chipping method that he taught me – using the air to ground ratios with six iron, seven, eight, nine, and pitching wedge – learning to use different clubs around the green was taught to him by Paul Runyon. It’s something I still pass on to my students.

Phil Rogers, PGA, giving a lesson to Davis Love III

The thing that I remember most about Phil is that Phil was not afraid to change people when it comes to golf instruction and he wasn’t afraid to tell somebody they’re not doing it right. He was very adamant about it, very much like a drill sergeant. Now, people are afraid to be told that they’re doing something the wrong way. It’s not because you’re trying to criticize someone or you’re trying to hurt someone, you’re trying to make them better. I learned that from Phil.

I learned how to take someone who’s doing something wrong and how to constructively get them back to do it the proper way – the importance of being able to say the same thing a number of different ways. He was the master at that.

SOPGA: What do you want people to take away from your books?

JD: Number one is I want them to fall in love with golf. I want them to learn to love golf. I want them to learn to understand that golf is more than just driving the ball 300 yards and making a birdie putt.

It’s about the time that you spend with people.

It’s about etiquette.

All these things are so important and can translate to making this world a better place. I also want them to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. That is ultimately the ultimate goal. If I could have anything from the book is for someone to say I read your book and I gave my life To Jesus and I would know that it wasn’t because of me. It was because of how God used me.

You can find Jon’s books on Amazon or on his website, here.