Local Golf Instructor Goes National: Steve Holmes to Compete With Ernie Els and Vijay Singh
Sylvie Belmond 
From Ventura County fairways to Congressional Country Club, teaching pro joins game’s greats
(CLAIR | Simi Valley, CA) — Most days, you’ll find Steve Holmes at Rustic Canyon Golf Course in Moorpark, offering guidance on a grip adjustment or coaching a junior through their first round. But come May 22, he’ll be trading the familiar terrain of Ventura County for the storied fairways of Congressional Country Club, teeing off alongside legends in the 2025 Senior PGA Championship.
Holmes, 52, earned his spot in the prestigious tournament by finishing fifth at the 2024 Senior PGA Professional Championship. He is one of just 36 PGA professionals aged 50 and older selected to represent the Corebridge Financial Team, a group of instructors and mentors from across the country who will now compete against some of the game’s greats—Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Bernhard Langer, Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker among them.
While those names are known worldwide, Holmes’s journey has unfolded closer to home. Born and raised in Ventura County, he picked up golf as a freshman at Newbury Park High School, later earning a scholarship to UC Irvine and graduating in 1995.
“Ventura County has helped me grow both as a person and a golfer,” he told CLAIR.
He credits the local public courses and the Ventura County Junior Golf Association for giving him the space and support to develop his game. He became a PGA Class A instructor in 2002 and for more than two decades has been a steady presence in regional golf—shaping players, building programs and keeping the game accessible.
At Rustic Canyon, Holmes runs a junior golf academy with over 100 students, instilling fundamentals and confidence in new generations of golfers. His teaching extends far beyond the public course. Since 2013, he has served as a volunteer assistant coach with the top-ranked UCLA women’s golf team, helping guide three players to No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. Over the years, he has coached elite junior players as well as PGA and LPGA professionals, gaining deep insight into what it takes to succeed at every level of the sport. In 2022, his dedication to instruction earned national recognition when he was named to Golf Digest’s Top-50 Instructors list.
“My philosophy for teaching is to educate,” Holmes said.
“I want people to understand their own swings or tendencies so that they can improve, especially when I’m not there. The more people improve at the game of golf, the more they want to be on the golf course. It’s a snowball effect.”
He said his goal has never been to produce PGA Tour players, but to help kids and adults associate the golf course with joy and belonging. “Once kids associate golf as being a safe and enjoyable place, most take it upon themselves to improve,” he said.
Holmes also knows what it’s like to get started without financial advantage.
“At the time that I started playing golf, our family was going through some hard times financially,” he said.
“I was able to go the public golf course route to fulfill all of my needs.” He worked at courses to earn both money and playing access and praised Ventura County’s range of options today—from exclusive clubs to public programs and junior leagues that keep golf affordable. As a junior, he hunted for balls near the course and practiced his swing in parks.
He also sees the sport as a powerful teacher.
“Golf is, in my opinion, the best possible sport,” he said. “It offers an opportunity to learn etiquette, hard work, accountability and socialization skills.” For adults, he added, “golf is a great way to reconnect with nature and unite with friends while getting good exercise.” And for competitors, he said, “golf is a great arena to test your skills.”
Holmes has competed in two PGA Tour events—the 2010 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and the 2014 Northern Trust Open—experiences that gave him a firsthand view of high-level tournament play and helped refine his approach as both player and coach.
Beyond golf, Holmes’s connection to the outdoors runs deep.
“I really enjoy fishing, hunting, all sports, construction and gardening,” he said.
During the COVID shutdowns, when golf instruction was paused, Holmes worked on a friend’s local farm in Ventura County. “These were some very fond times for me,” he said, adding that local farmers taught him the difference between surviving and thriving. “That completely changed my philosophy on gardening—and to some extent, life.”
His wife is head coach of the UCLA women’s golf team, and Holmes continues to volunteer with her players when time allows.
Now, drawing on more than two decades of coaching and competitive experience, Holmes enters the Senior PGA Championship not as a celebrity, but as a representative of the sport’s foundation—local professionals who make the game possible.
For the hundreds of Ventura County golfers who have learned under him—or watched their kids do the same—Holmes’s appearance on a major stage is a hometown victory. And for anyone who has ever wondered whether persistence and passion can carry you to the top, Steve Holmes is about to answer that question one shot at a time.
