MEET THE TEAM

The Redwood Canyon Golf Academy was founded in 2015 with the goal of creating and promoting a community of golf lovers in the Castro Valley/Hayward Cherryland area of the East Bay.

By offering premium coaching services based on performance-based metrics, you’ll have access to the most sophisticated and comprehensive game-improvement curriculum in all of golf. 

The advantage to you of working with an Academy is that all of our coaches are trained on our performance curriculum. 

You’ll improve faster, you’ll have a lot more fun, you’ll know how to practice better, and you’ll know how to play smarter with our coaching. 

Not only that, you’ll know what to do when your game goes sideways (which it always seems to do).

With our coaching, you’ll be equipped to address every part of your game, and you’ll know how to take it to the ultimate level. 

Our pro instructors

Eric Jones

PGA Head Teaching Professional

Eric is the founder of the Redwood Canyon Golf Academy.

Eric has led a Hall-of-Fame career stretching over 20 years as a PGA teaching professional, Long Drive competitor, and author. 

He was named Northern California’s PGA Teacher of the Year in 2014, Horton Smith Award for Education Excellence in 2016, and Bill Strausbaugh Award winner for mentoring and coaching in 2020.

Eric is a graduate of Stanford University and holds a Masters Degree in Sport Psychology from John F. Kennedy University.

Eric is a former assistant Coach at Stanford University, where he also played his college golf.

In 2003 he captured his first World Long Drive Championship title, and followed with his second world championship title in 2012. He was named the LDA Tour Rookie of the Year in 2004.

An expert in the physics of distance, Eric is the creator of The 5 Keys to Distance, the longest-running and most popular long drive training program in golf.

In addition, Eric is the author of multiple best-selling golf instruction books, including: The Clutch Golfer Formula, Play Strategic Golf: Course Navigation, and How To Make A Yardage Guide, all available on Amazon.

He is a frequent Keynote Speaker, has presented educational seminars, webinars, and workshops for the PGA, LPGA, and National College Coaches Association.

He serves on the board of directors of the JGANC (Junior Golf Association of Northern California), the oldest junior tournament organization in Northern California.

Eric is the founder of iGolfU.com, where he is leading the evolution of online golf instruction, performance training, and coaching.

Joe Narcisso

Lead Instructor

Joe Narcisso is a master at teaching the art of scoring. He can teach you how to keep the ball in the fairway, how to put it in scoring position, and how to get it in the hole. 

Joe has been in the golf industry for more than 30 years, and he loves sharing his passion with new golfers. 

Growing up as a fleet-footed center fielder, Joe was a highly touted baseball recruit. Joe ultimately played center field on (on scholarship) for Menlo College, where he still holds the record for stolen bases. 

But golf caught his passion after graduation.

Joe went on to become the First Assistant Pro at San Jose Muni, Deep Cliff and Eagle Ridge, and in Arizona at Longbow and Trilogy golf club. Joe has taught junior classes, clinics, and adults of all skill levels. Joe also taught at the Dave Pelz short game schools, where he developed his expertise around the green.

A certified Titleist club fitter, he has worked with teaching luminaries Mike Malaska and Dr. Bob Rotella, whom he credits for helping shoot a career low round of 65.

Joe’s expertise is the short game, as well as on-course strategy and game management, and he golf competitive every chance he can get.

CLUB FITTING: Joe is also an expert in club fitting, so we direct every golfer who needs new clubs to Joe to get the perfect set.

Phil Marrone

PGA Teacher Extraordinaire

Phil Marrone is one of the most accomplished and knowledgeable instructors in all of the PGA. 

As an instructor at Stanford for 38 years, Phil is a “lifetime” PGA member, a singular distinction awarded only to PGA instructors with 25 or more years of service.

Phil has taught more than 50,000 lessons over his career, so there is little that Phil has not seen.

In conducting private lessons at Stanford and Redwood Canyon, Phil has run every imaginable program offered through the PGA, including PGA Summer Camps, a Junior Academy, Get Golf Ready, Patriots Day, clinics, and seminars.

He is an adjunct professor at Stanford and 5-time winner of the JS Knight Fellowship.

He coached the St Francis girls high school golf team, winning four NorCal titles and three CCS titles, and is a multiple-time winner of the NorCal and WCAL Coach of the Year award. Phil is an expert at developing young ladies from beginner to accomplished players worthy of college scholarships. 

In Phil’s capable hands, you’ll know how to swing, how to adjust, how to practice, and how to score better with no stress. 

Phil is an absolute joy to work with, because he so willingly shares his passion for golf with all his students, along with his devotion to mastering the game.

Tara Ng

Director of After-School Programs

Tara Ng is the Director of After School programs for the Academy.

Tara is a recent graduate of Cal Lutheran, where she compiled many accomplishments over her college career.

She set the record for season stroke average, tied for the fourth all-time lowest tournament round, and led the team to the best conference finish in school history.

She was named to the All-American Scholar Team by the WGCA (Woman’s Golf Coach Association) three consecutive years, reflecting her commitment to both golf and academics. 

Tara played high school golf for Castro Valley, where she started on the Varsity team all four years, and was team captain her senior year. 

Tara loves sharing her passion for golf with junior golfers. She is a wealth of knowledge about what it takes to develop as an up and coming junior player, and how to earn both a playing spot as well a college scholarship, particularly for young women. 

For juniors interested in joining our year-round Junior Academy but who have not yet participated in our PGA Summer Camps, joining Tara’s After School program is the best way to learn all the basic shots and routines required to qualify for a spot in the Academy. 

 

Josie Clements-Cain

Staff Coach

When it comes to teaching rhythm in the golf swing, nobody can beat Josie Clement-Cain. 

An extremely accomplished musician, Josie is a graduate of Cal State Northridge who went on to attain a Masters Degree in music from San Francisco State University. 

Josie was an AP Scholarship award winner coming out of high school, and made the Dean’s List all four years in college. 

Along the way she managed to play college golf for the Woman’s team at Cal State East Bay. 

Josie is a shing example of combining athletics with academics plus the arts. Her dream is to play flute for the San Francisco Symphony. We know she will accomplish her goal. 

Josie has been working for the Redwood canyon Golf Academy since 2017, and is one of our most experienced coaches. 

Staff Coaches and Volunteers

Staff Coaches & volunteers

In addition to our full time coaching staff we regularly employ local high school student golfers on a part time paid or volunteer basis to supplement our Academy coaching capabilities. 

We do this for a number of reasons. 

First, it provides additional coaching time and expertise for our regular Academy students. All of our Academy students benefit from the additional attention. 

Second, it allows us to maintain an exceptionally low student-to-teacher ratio compared to other teaching venues. That allows us to provide more individualized coaching for all our Academy students. 

Third, we provide jobs and/or required community volunteer hours for local students, giving them an opportunity to earn income and/or community volunteer hours, while learning valuable coaching and leadership skills. 

We are extremely proud to have initiated this local community-building program. It benefits everybody.

Student-athletes who are interested in this opportunity should contact us for availability. We are always looking for accomplished golfers.

Featured above: Hailey Young. multi-year Castro Valley HS golf team member and 2024 Team Captain. 
Hailey is a volunteer assistant coach, and has leveraged her experience with our Letter of Recommendation through the Academy to apply for a number of top tier Ivy League and California colleges. 

 

Frequently asked questions

The quickest and simplest way to schedule a lesson is to send an email directly to your coach. 

If you are just getting started, send an email to Director @ RedwoodCanyonGolfAcademy.com. Please include your full name, phone number, and email address. 

Tell us a little about your game: the kind of scores you shoot, how often you play and practice, and your goals. 

Please also let us know what town you live in, and if you are available during the week or on weekends only. 

That will help us direct you to the right Coach and program.

If you need clubs, we can provide a loaner set during practice. 

In addition, we can fit you for a new set of custom clubs that match your swing and speed. Our Pro Shop can order the clubs for you and have them delivered.

Plus you get a 20% discount when you order through the Academy. 

Yes! We love tandem lessons.

You learn the same information at the same time, which really helps when you practice and play together.

Plus you can split the cost!

For groups of three or four friends who want to take lessons at the same time, we recommend 90-minute sessions. That way everybody gets enough individual time and coaching attention. 

We prefer to take payment with a credit/debit card. That way we can save your info and make it easier for future coaching sessions. 

We can accept cash for a single lesson. But multi-session coaching programs require a card for payment. 

In most cases the program you should pick is our Complete Game Coaching package. 

That’s because you’ll want a plan that will help you develop your skills in the four major parts of the game in order to be a complete player: driving, putting, pitching, and irons. 

With Complete Game Coaching you’ll be introduced to Block Practice, Performance Training for consistency, and Execution Rehearsal for scoring. 

You’ll get a highly targeted set of drills and performance metrics that you need to move your game to the next level.

Generally speaking you should take lessons on a regular basis throughout the year. But as a rule, we recommend at least three to four practice sessions between sessions.

If you practice two times a week, you could schedule sessions every two weeks. If you practice once a week, then book sessions once a month. 

That will give you enough time to practice what you learn and see results between sessions. You’ll also be able to provide feedback to your Coach on what is working and what is still a challenge.

FIRST PRIORITY = PUTTING!

Without a doubt, improving your putting is the fastest and surest way to lower your scores. There are two aspects of putting to master:

  1. Eliminate 3-putts: Mastering distance control from 25ft or more so you are always within the magic 3ft circle will have the single biggest impact on lowering your scores
  2. Make 6-footers: We call 6-footers Scoring Putts. They are “round makers or round breakers.” If you can consistently make putts from 6ft and in, you can score, and your confidence will soar!

Note that these two priorities also tell you how you should practice your putting. Spend half your time on distance control outside 25ft, and half on making putts from 6ft. 

SECOND PRIORITY = DRIVER ACCURACY

Yes, driver accuracy. Not driver distance.

You can always add distance later, and we’ll show you how. But you need to get your ball in the fairway if you want to consistently shoot lower scores. 

We’ll show you how to use Performance Training to develop consistency in your driver accuracy to hit more fairways. 

The simple answer to hitting the ball farther is to learn how to swing faster. 

With your driver, every 1 mph (mile per hour) increase in your swing speed translates to 2.5 yards of distance. 

If you want to hit your drives 20yds farther, increase your swing speed by 8mph. 

We’ll show you how, and we have a complete online training program created by a two-time World Long Drive Champion dedicated to helping you gain both distance and accuracy off the tee. 

Yes!

We can straighten out your drives. 

The most important thing to know about a slice is that it means your clubface is open at impact. 

The way we cure your slice is to help you understand how to “release” your club so that the clubface is square at impact. 

Slicing is one of the most common ailments in golf. There are many variables that contribute to a slice, including grip, alignment, posture, grip pressure, swing plane, balance, weight shift, swing sequencing, and even physical and rotational limitations.

Because there are so many potential causes of a slice, it is one of the most aggravating issues to solve on your own.

But we know all the ins-and-outs, and can diagnose the issue and prescribe the correct remedy for your unique swing characteristics. 

The most important 

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