Scott Kirkwood
Director of Golf
skirkwood@oceanreef.com
Class ‘A’ Golf Professional of both the PGA of America and the PGA of GB and Ireland
Scott Kirkwood comes to Ocean Reef after serving as the Head Golf Professional at Metedeconk National Golf Club, a 27-hole member owned private club, located in Jackson, NJ.
Scott was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. Being born into a family of golfers he started playing the game of golf at a young age and soon developed a keen knowledge of the history and traditions of the sport. He first experienced life in the United States when he accepted a golf scholarship to attend Walter State Community College in Morristown, TN. Scott then began his career in the industry as Assistant Golf Professional at his home club, Gullane Golf Club, where he spent three valuable years learning the profession and developing a strong passion and respect for the game. Scott went on to further his career as Golf Professional at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, an international resort in the Middle East rated the number two course in Africa and Asia by Golf Magazine.
Having spent six years in Dubai, Scott’s desire to develop his experience of the game world-wide took him to the United States where he was employed as 1st Assistant Golf Professional at Metedeconk National Golf Club. Before returning there in 2007 as Head Golf Professional, Scott was the Senior Golf Professional at Hidden Creek Golf Club, a Coore Crenshaw designed course located 20 minutes east of Atlantic City in southern New Jersey.
Whether in the workplace or at home, Scott’s love and passion for golf is engaging. He enjoys nothing more than ensuring members have the best possible golf experience and sharing with them his stories from some of the best loved courses in the world. Scott’s international experiences also make him a great tour guide when taking members abroad on travel opportunities.
David Feightner
Head Golf Professional
dfeightner@oceanreef.com
David was born in Chicago, IL and raised in Chatham, MA.
Growing up in a coastal town, David had the opportunity to explore different types of jobs. A popular choice among friends was shell fishing, which turned out to be a great lesson in self motivation and taught him the value of hard work. However, his love of sports was always in the forefront of his lifetime ambition.
David began playing golf at the age of 12 and before long had started a daily program of playing 36 to 45 holes at Chatham Seaside Links until he entered high school and joined the golf team. This opportunity led him to play the private Eastward Ho! Country Club in Chatham and only added to his passion for the game.
After High School, David attended Methodist University in Fayetteville, NC where he earned a B.S. degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Professional Golf Management. This program helped him attain his Class “A” certification with the PGA of America while he played Methodists’ golf team and the nearby Pinehurst courses.
Part of this PGM program involved internships at Eastward Ho! Country Club, The Nantucket Golf Club, The Club at Cordillera, and Pine Needles Golf Club. These great experiences fueled his drive to become a golf professional.
With his sights clearly set on becoming a Head Professional, David achieved 1st assistant professional at Nantucket Golf Club. After three seasons on Nantucket, he was referred to the Ocean Reef Club where the learning experience “is a step above” any other he has experienced to date. He now serves as Ocean Reef Club’s Head Golf Professional.
David’s hobbies include exercising, cooking, and any sport including a new found enjoyment of tennis.
Matthew Eckert
Assistant Golf Professional
Meckert@oceanreef.com
Matt was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. Being from Buffalo his first love was hockey. He grew up skating on the pond behind his house. After playing three years in high school and one year of Junior hockey in Syracuse, NY, Matt decided not to attend college right away like all of his friends did, but rather pursue his hockey career in Canada. After a year and a half of playing hockey full time Matt decided is was time to start college.
He first attended Erie Community College where he started on their golf team. Loving the game of golf so much he decided to transfer to Coastal Carolina University and make golf his career. He later received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Management with a minor in Professional Golf Management.
After serving four years as Assistant Golf Professional at Quail Creek Golf Club in Conway, SC, and three years as Assistant Golf Professional at Brookfield Country Club in Clarence, NY, Matt decided to further his career in 2009 and accepted the position of Assistant Golf Professional at Ocean Reef Club.
Matt loves growing the game of golf, and teaching people of all skill levels, he one day has aspirations of being a Director of Golf at an extremely prestigious club. Currently, Matt is responsible for coordinating member and group events throughout the season and serves as the coordinator for the Ladies Golf Association.
Brian Mulvin
Assistant Golf Professional
bmulvin@oceanreef.com
Class “A” Golf Professional of the PGA of America
Brian Mulvin returns for a second season at the Ocean Reef Club after serving the summer months at Grandfather Golf & Country Club, a 36-hole member owned private club, located in Linville, North Carolina.
Brian was born in Richmond, Virginia. However, he spent the majority of his childhood in Orlando, Florida. Brian started playing golf at the age of 10, where he developed a strong passion for the game. He has played competitive golf at the junior, amateur and now professional levels. Last year, Brian finished runner-up in his first Bag Room Open appearance.
In May of 2010, Brian graduated from Florida State University where he majored in Professional Golf Management. While attending Florida State University, Brian completed internships at several renowned golf facilities such as Mission Inn Resort, The Cliffs and The Breakers. As a freshman, Brian received the Jim Riscigno Leadership. Previously the award had only been given to seniors and Brian remains the only underclassmen to win the award. In 2008-09, Brian also served as the President for the Florida State Professional Golf Management Program.
After having developed this strong passion for the game of golf, matched with the desire to help others with their golf game, Brian looks forward to another great season at the Ocean Reef club.
Eric Woodward
Assistant Professional
ORC Golf Cart Sales Representative
ewoodward@oceanreef.com
golfcartservices@oceanreef.com
Eric Woodward comes to Ocean Reef after serving a 4 Year term at Wintergreen Resort, a 45 hole member owned Semi-private club, located just outside of Charlottesville, VA.
Eric was born in Whittier, California and took up golf at the age of twelve. Playing 4 years of high school and amateur golf and having realized how much he loved spending his days at the golf course Eric decided to make a career out of his love for the game. After pursuing collegiate basketball at Biola University for two years he picked up a summer job working at Hacienda Country Club in La Habra Heights CA. He then moved to the east coast and began working at Wintergreen Resort. Over the next four years he would serve in many positions for Wintergreen including, Senior Assistant, 1st Assistant, and finishing as the Tournament Coordinator. Eric also served as an instructor for the Wintergreen Golf Academy where he developed a love for teaching and refined his teaching skills. Eric has thoroughly enjoyed his professional career up to this point and is proud of his playing development as well. In 2009 Eric finished runner-up in the Southern Chapter Assistants Championship with a 3-under par total and also had an 8th place finish in the Section Championship, a tournament that featured over 100 assistants. Eric followed up his great season in 2009 by continuing to play well in 2010. He was invited to represent the Middle Atlantic Section on the 2010 Independence Cup team, which featured 16 of the section’s top assistants to travel and play a Ryder Cup format tournament against other sections in the eastern region.
Eric is honored to have been given the opportunity to join the Ocean Reef Golf Professional team and is thoroughly enjoying his role in Golf Cart Sales for the Club. He loves nothing more than engaging with Members and sharing great golf stories. He hopes to develop many wonderful relationships with the members and looks forward to serving the Ocean Reef community for many years to come.
Brett Jones
Head Teaching Professional
bjones@oceanreef.com
Brett is a class A member of the PGA of America, fully certified by the Titleist Performance Institute, devoted to becoming a world class instructor. Born and raised in Australia, Brett grew up playing golf, surfing, playing soccer, basketball, cricket and fishing. After moving to the United States in 2003, Brett began teaching at Fairmount Country Club in NJ and competing as a PGA member. This enabled Brett to expand his playing history beyond Australian amateur and Australian PGA tour events including, Nationwide and New Jersey PGA events of which his most notable finishes have been victories in the New Jersey State Open, New Jersey PGA Matchplay and being named 2009 New Jersey PGA Player of the Year.
Brett’s teaching experience began over fifteen years ago, learning from 2001 Australian Golf Teacher of the Year, Gary Barter. Most recently he worked as the Director of Instruction at Trump National, Bedminster developing a first class reputation for successfully guiding beginners and professionals to their golfing goals, in addition to offering skill specific group clinics and corporate outings.
Complementing his playing, club fitting and teaching experience, I have also completed the TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) Golf, Junior and Biomechanics Professional certifications. This highly specialized training combines biomechanics with technical swing analysis to provide an understanding of how the body influences what an individual is capable of and hence what is necessary to help them improve.
Dave Vihlen
PGA Teaching Professional
dvihlen@oceanreef.com
I am a true Florida Native. I played two years at Miami Dade and two years at Florida International with a golf scholarship. I qualified and played in the 1976 U.S. Amateur. I turned pro in 1979, while teaching at Homestead Air Force Base; I taught an officer how to play that had been blinded from a bomb blast... I learned a lot from that experience. My belief about the golf swing is to make the larger muscles lead the smaller ones. Small muscles should react, not dictate. I love the game and my goal is to make the game more enjoyable at all levels of play.
