Kiss My Putt, so to speak

Kiss My Putt, so to speak

By Neville Idour

There is a new kid on the block in the golf tour business based in the Queenstown area near Lake Hayes.

Caption: Jani Reese of Kiss My Putt.

Janie Reese, who moved from Auckland in December 2020, introduced a new take on the golf holiday/tour offerings that is rather unique, as is the business name of Kiss My Putt.

Her business is primarily aimed at learner women golfers. But rather than offer only traditional coaching it is more about mentoring and education on the course as well as very special “rookie retreats”. More on this later.

How did Janie arrive at this point in her life?

``I am a born and bred Cantabrian. My parents had a bach at Hanmer Springs so as a child every holiday was there.

``So rather than have to find babysitters for me I would always go out on the golf course with my parents. I would have a seven iron in my hand and potter around.

``When I scored my first double bogey I thought it was exciting. I was probably about nine years old.

``My father said you have got one double bogey. You only need 17 more and you will have a 36 handicap. So I thought that makes sense.”

That was where golf really began for Reese and she said she had wonderful mentors.

“Val Cullen, an incredible woman from Canterbury Golf was a standout. She motivated and inspired me because at the stage there weren’t a lot of female golfers.

``This encouraged me to carry on and I went to my first junior nationals at the age of 15 with six golf clubs in my little old gun bag. They had leather grips and wooden shafts.”

That sounded terrible. Janie agreed but the good news was that her father said: “When you get to a 28 handicap I will buy you a new set of golf clubs.”

Janie progressed from there and played for Canterbury and really enjoyed it.

However, she revealed: “Here I am in my early 20s and disappeared off and didn’t play competitive golf again. Since then I have just played and pottered with golf.”

Reese then revealed a long held passion.

“I have always had a passion for helping women with golf. I used to love being drawn with high handicappers at my golf club because I enjoyed helping them a little bit and giving them motivation and excitement to play.

``So if someone didn’t like their driver but liked their seven wood I would say, all right, tee off with that.”

Her career gives a little insight into her passion.

“I have spent my whole career in the tourism industry, most of it in Auckland after moving there in my early 20s.

``Firstly with STHC (Safeer Tourism and Hotel Company) who had Park Royals and Travelodges. I started at the Christchurch Park Royal. (This writer remembers that wonderful hotel that was destroyed by the earthquake).

``I then moved to Australia and worked five years as marketing representative for Destination Queenstown. It was the best job in the world selling all things Queenstown to Australians.

``Then the last 14 years I was with (French multinational hospitality company) Accor until I left hotels completely before covid hit. I needed a break and ended up with a woman who advertised for someone to help with their golf. So I said I will be that person.”

That seemed an unusual approach rather than just go to a professional.

Reese explains: “They didn’t want a coach, so I became a golf mentor. She was wonderful so we started on a journey to improve her golf. From there I started telling people what I was doing and then it kept snowballing as word of mouth spread. So I ended up with quite a few clients in Auckland although once covid hit it was very hard to get on a golf course.

“So when I launched my business here it had two sides to it. One is my private mentoring where I take people around the course and help them become more confident and better golfers, as well as teach them all the things they don’t learn on a driving range. Therefore I am different to a golf pro. I am a mentor and do not give swing instruction like a golf pro does.

“Because I have come from the world of tourism the other side of my business is I offer rookie retreats’ in Queenstown. These are three nights/four days where we have lots of golf and we might do cooking classes, massages, degustation dinners and wine tastings.

``In other words all those things that girls love to do when they go on holiday. We try and make unique experiences which comes from my Destination Queenstown days of creating unique experiences for people. We aim to send them home better and more confident golfers.”

The other initiative Reese is involved in is the she loves golf website which was launched in collaboration with the Arrowtown Golf Club.

“We put an ad on Facebook and Instagram in December and within 10 hours we had 62 bookings for 30 places to come to a have a go day at Arrowtown. So we had to have a second day and that filled.

``Following that we set up an eight week programme of she loves golf learn and play sessions. Then we created other experiences for them such as twilight golf or six holes after work, games for them, really lots of fun.”

So what does the future hold?

“Very much focussed on more of the same, but I have an agent who is based in Sydney who I am working with.

``He has already launched my packages but of course we have to wait until Australians are allowed into New Zealand. The packages are for rookie retreats. Girls trips from Sydney into Queenstown for four or five days. All about being a better golfer and having lots of fun. My other market is Auckland and there is a lot of interest.”

Kiss My Putt is certainly an excellent alternative for women. As Reese said; “Golf can be scary for a learner so my aim is to remove that fear.

And so say all of us.