Teaching
About Jason
A Life Built
Around the Game
Golf found Jason Peterie the way the best things in life do — by accident, at exactly the right moment. At thirteen, after years of high-level tennis and baseball left him with two broken-down knees and a year spent in full leg casts, he needed something new. Driving west on the 8 freeway back into San Diego, he spotted a driving range. It was Stardust Country Club. He'd never swung a club in his life.
The next day he was out there hacking range balls when an instructor named Scott Mahlberg walked over and asked how long he'd been playing. When Jason said it was his first time, Scott invited him to a group lesson — and when Jason explained that he and his mom couldn't afford private instruction, Scott offered him a job at the range and a good deal on lessons. That was the beginning of everything.
What followed was the story of a grinder. After just five months of playing, Jason made his high school team as a freshman and became the number one player after three matches. He spent that off-season grinding at Stardust alongside the junior members — kids who had been playing since they were three. One of them was Phil Mickelson. The two became close friends, practicing together every day, and Jason even stayed at Phil's house, where the backyard had a chipping green, a bunker, and lights for night practice. His sophomore year, Jason won CIF and the city match play tournament — defeating Mickelson in the semifinals along the way.
His path to professional golf was interrupted by a series of injuries that would have stopped most people entirely — two broken wrists, a snapped Achilles, two broken arms, and a fall from a two-and-a-half story balcony that put him in the hospital for nearly two weeks. He kept coming back. He also came within one shot of qualifying for what is now the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines during his junior year of high school.
When his playing career wound down, Jason turned to teaching — first at Stardust, then for thirteen years at La Jolla Country Club, then twelve-plus years at Tecolote Canyon alongside his close friend and PGA Tour veteran Chris Riley. After COVID disrupted things at Tecolote, Jason brought his game to Riverwalk Golf Club, where he's been teaching ever since. Over 30 years of teaching. Over 40 years of playing.
His philosophy reflects where he came from: less technical, more feel. He wants students to learn their own swing — to understand what they're doing right and wrong from the inside out. Growing up competing with future tour players, Jason learned that the ability to create and feel different shots matters far more than perfect mechanics. That's what he brings to every lesson.
