South African native now teaching golf at Co-Lin, The Clubs at Ole Brook
Published 10:00 am Saturday, July 23, 2022
PHOTOS BY HUNTER CLOUD Co-Lin’s new Assistant Golf Coach Dejoné “Dee” Lee shows Linda Moak how to line up her shot in the fairway on No.10 at The Clubs at Ole Brook. Lee teaches lessons once a week at the course.
PHOTO BY HUNTER CLOUD Golf coach Dee Lee demonstrates how Linda Moak should finish her swing while chipping near the green.
PHOTO BY HUNTER CLOUD Brittany Rushing fires a shot from the fairway. She had the longest drive in the group on No. 11 and No. 10.
PHOTO BY HUNTER CLOUD Deb Strong starts her down swing at the tee box on No. 10. She has played golf off and on throughout her life.
PHOTO BY HUNTER CLOUD Sharon Langley chips onto the green at No.10. She said the lessons have been fun and she has enjoyed the format of learning while playing.
PHOTO BY HUNTER CLOUD From left, Deb Strong, Sharon Langley, Linda Moak, Dee Lee and Brittany Rushing look at putting on the green at No. 10.
Newly hired Copiah-Lincoln CC assistant golf coach Dejoné “Dee” Lee is bringing her talents for teaching the game to locals via private lessons. A former Blue Mountain College golfer, Lee is now teaching lessons at The Clubs at Ole Brook.
She is a native of South Africa where she taught some lessons at a golf academy for kids. In 2017, she came to the United States and played golf at Blue Mountain and earned a bachelor’s in psychology in May of this year.
Dee met her husband Will Lee, who is originally from Brookhaven, in college and decided to stay in Mississippi. She began teaching golf at Ole Brook in June and is about a month in.
“Teaching is a big adjustment. What I am telling them is not what I have to tell myself,” Lee said. “It is different and you have to go into teaching with a different path for them. It is a creative process and that is the fun part.”
Golf is an individual game which means she has to take little things into account when teaching her students but it has the same core elements for everyone. Each golfer needs to focus on something different, for one golfer they may need to work on their alignment, others need to work on turning their hands at the point of impact.
Deb Strong of Brookhaven said she has played golf off and on for a long time. Her parents played golf and that is how she started playing the game. Now she is retired and trying to get back to playing golf. Dee’s lessons are helping her get back to the fundamentals of the game.
“The lessons are fabulous. It is all about the fundamentals and the rest of your game starts to fall in line,” Strong said. “I started lessons at the start of the summer and this is my third time meeting with Dee. The biggest lesson I have learned is to always check where I’m lined up.”
Strong tries to play golf at least once a week but occasionally is able to get out twice a week. She said she does not play as much as she wants to. Golf is a game where the individual is responsible for how they see the game.
“You can find the reason why you play. It can be for anything. For fun, for competition, for peace and quiet,” Strong said. “I like that it is outside and you can play with nice people. It is a sport you can play for a long time.”
One of the reasons Club General Manager Jeff Henning wanted Lee to start teaching the lessons is to get more women involved in the game and for them to have fun. Ladies who are interested in the lessons can call 601-833-4347 to reach the pro shop at the Clubs at Ole Brook. Each lesson is $20, there is no time limit to the lessons.
Typically, Lee said they try to get three holes in where they can work on the different aspects of the game from driving, hitting irons, wedges, chipping and putting. Golfers are able to skip some weeks and there is no contractual obligation, she said. Her hope is to continue teaching the lessons year-round.
“I want these ladies to feel confident. I want them to feel like they belong here,” she said. “You are never too late or too old to start playing golf. Golf is a lifelong game. I want it to be a fun sport for the ladies and grow the game in general.”
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