Student Stories: Jake Thurm

Student Stories: Jake Thurm


Major: Business

Jake Thurm came to College of DuPage primarily for golf.

“I played on the golf team during my time there, which was a big reason for having attended COD,” he said. “I was all conference both my years at COD and it was the best golf team I ever played on, comprised of future golf professionals, D1 players and scratch golfers.”

Jake Thurm Website

COD also allowed Thurm to figure out what to pursue as a major. While he earned an associate degree in Business, he also took an interest in psychology before transferring to Millikin University, where he received an academic scholarship and continued to golf. He was all-conference for two years before receiving a bachelor’s degree in Psychology.

Golf became Thurm’s career, and he has an impressive list of accomplishments so far. He has worked with more than 20 PGA Tour players and at more than 200 PGA Tour events; has coached in each major championship multiple times with multiple players; and serves on the PGA Tour advisory board for BodiTrack Sports, Swinguru, HackMotion, MySwing Golf, Motion 2 Coach and FlightScope, helping to create certifications and curriculums for educational programs. He has appeared on the Golf Channel as an expert and traveled the world as a keynote speaker at summits designed to teach teachers on ground force and 3D applications to modern golf instruction.

His students have won PGA tour events, state championships in high school and state opens for both male and female players, including the 2023 Illinois Open. He is the Midwest director for the USA Junior National Golf Team. 

In addition, he runs the top sports camp in the country for junior golf, is the Midwest regional director of instruction for his corporation Arcis Golf and the USA Junior Golf Team, and is the co-founder/Director of Instructional Technology for SwingBalance (soon to be Terra Forza) with Terry Hashimoto and Jim McLean. He also works with Hashimoto on “Golf Rehab.”

COD put me on the road that led me to where I am today.

Jake Thurm

Golf Digest has named Thurm “Best Young Instructor in America 2016-2020” and “Best Teacher in Your State 2017-2023,” Chicago Golf Report has named him “Instructor of the Year 2017-2018,” and Golf Magazine has named him “Top 100 Teachers to Watch 2016-2024.”

“The thing that first attracted me to golf was the fact that everyone told me it was the hardest sport to play,” he said. “After playing and now teaching the game for a quarter century, my opinion on that has not changed. I also owe a lot of my success to the best coach I ever had in team sports: Lou Solarte, PGA. Without his guidance on and off the golf course, there is no question in my mind I would not have achieved what I have so far in this business.”

More COD Success Stories

College of DuPage was the right choice for Thurm at the perfect time in his life.

“COD allowed me to continue on in golf while giving me the time to find my true calling and passion,” he said. “ I can assure you during my time there I never once thought I would coach the best players in the world at the Masters but I can also promise you COD put me on the road that led me there and where I am today. I am very proud to have been a Chaparral.”