It’s precisely 8:30 on a sweltering summer morning in Texas. During the past 45 minutes, I’ve discovered why, in recent years, my golf scores have been rising like today’s temperature. The epiphany occurred as Thomas Deegan, certified conditioning specialist at Gleneagles Country Club in Plano, Texas, conducted a baseline physical evaluation. A disciple of the California-based C.H.E.K (Corrective Holistic Exercise Kinesiology) Institute, he identified as many culprits as appear in an Agatha Christie anthology. Basically, I’m tighter than security at a presidential appearance. Adding to the equation for inefficiency is inflexibility, as well as an inability to rotate my hips. In short, my range of motion is that of a statue. It’s a surprise pigeons don’t seek me out to roost.

On the cusp of its 20th anniversary, Gleneagles, with 36 well-manicured holes (the King’s and Queen’s courses), had just unveiled its Golf Development Program, or GDP. Created by director of golf John Kyle, GDP is an intensive seven-step, eight-hour submersion into the game’s intricacies. GDP at Gleneagles focuses on the three sides of the game-improvement triangle: fitness, technique, and technology.

Having underwhelmed Deegan, I moved to Step 2, a full-swing analysis supervised by director of instruction Stephen Aumock. Employing cameras to capture the swing sequence from two perspectives, facing the golfer and down-the-target-line, Aumock zoomed in on two of my most egregious flaws — an improper path and a collapse of the left wrist prior to impact. In Aumock’s words, "The club is stuck behind you." Seeing their swings displayed on a video monitor might unnerve many golfers, but the images are revealing and don’t lie.

Aumock, a Ben Hogan devotee who has photographs of "The Hawk" adorning the walls of his hitting bay, spent the rest of the session trying to ingrain the sensation of keeping the club in front of my body. While I was still trying to process this information, I moved to Step 3, a return engagement with Deegan. He went over the data collected during Step 1 and outlined a conditioning program for the months ahead. The program outlined exercises to elongate balled-up, underused muscles and create stability in several wobbly joints. Over time, he said, I could expect to add endurance that would ward off fatigue.

Step 4, an equipment evaluation, completed the morning’s agenda. Integral to the equipment evaluation was the Nike Launch Monitor, a sophisticated apparatus that processes such information as launch angles, spin rates, ball speeds, and angles of attack.

Perhaps the coolest part of the process was when the Nike Launch Monitor verbalized its findings with a synthesized, Big Brother-ish voice. I was wary it might interject some subliminal messages, but the monitor remained objective and professional.

Things improved after lunch. Step 5 was a second session with Aumock, who asked me to swing a 7-iron and 3-metal while focusing on a better swing path. Within 10 minutes, I was making crisper contact and authoring a few passable shots. Step 6, a putting analysis, was my brief time to shine. Wielding a Ben Crenshaw model heel-shafted putter, I sank 11 of 12 putts from roughly 10 feet. Even more impressive were the read-outs from a device called Super SAM (Science & Motion), which employs lasers to collect data on every aspect of each putt (length, speed, path, arc, skid, roll, etc.). The seventh and final step involved the so-called scoring clubs — wedges. The customized 60-degree sand wedge I’ve had in the bag for the past decade performed as well as several new models I tested, so no change was deemed necessary.

The attitude of the entire Gleneagles staff remained encouraging and upbeat throughout my activities. As a parting gift, computer whiz and golf shop assistant Stephanie Anticona handed me a CD containing photos of my swing sequence in Step 2. The images, she indicated, would be kept on file and used for future comparisons and to monitor progress. As politely as possible, I asked Stephanie if she would accept cash in exchange for destroying the master.

Frequent Private Clubs contributor Russ Pate, an unabashed "feel" player, says Gleneagles’ Golf Development Program has given him a newfound appreciation for the benefits of techno-instruction.