Do you want to have more fun and shoot lower scores? 

Hey - my name is Michael Leonard and I'm the creator of Wicked Smart Golf. My goal is to help you become "wicked smart" so you can improve your mental game and course management skills to reach your potential. 

Here's how... 

If you're like most golfers, you want to shoot lower scores and play more consistently. As you know, golf is an endless quest to see how low you can go... 

It starts with wanting to break 100, then 90, then 80, and maybe even becoming a scratch golfer. 

After playing the game for more than 25 years, I have a unique perspective as I've been in each of those scenarios. I shot a 124 in my first tournament in high school... a few years later, I shot a 74. 

Here's the thing... golf isn't easy (as you know) and would argue it's the hardest sport in the world. But most golfers struggle because they spend all their time working on their swing and neglecting the most important parts of the game (like putting, mental game, wedges, and more). 

Improving these parts of my game have made the biggest difference by far. Unless you're trying to make golf your job, spending hours and hours at the range trying to make the perfect swing is nearly impossible and not the best use of your time. 

This is where Wicked Smart Golf comes in... 

Golf is A LOT more than just working on your full swing...  

After competing in more than 200 days of days of tournament golf (including Q-School), I've seen what separates the good from great players... and it's not a perfect swing. 

Instead, it's all about a strong mental game, effective practice techniques, putting, short game, and course management (aka playing wicked smart). When you improve these five areas, you WILL start shooting lower scores and trust your game under pressure. 

Short Story

• Started playing golf at 10 years old. 
• Dropped 50 shots in high school (124-74). 
• Had a horrible college career including a topped first tee shot in my qualifier and quit golf for six years.
• Got back into golf in 2016 after booking a trip to Pebble Beach. 
• Quit my career in 2017 to go all in on golf and entrepreneurship.
• Published my first golf book in 2017 and started freelance writing. 
• Got back into competitive golf and now average 60 days per year including Arizona Golf events, city championships, USGA qualifiers, and more.
• Launched Wicked Smart Golf podcast and published Wicked Smart Golf Book in 2022.
• Launched Wicked Smart Golf Academy in 2023 using my mental golf coaching + tournament knowledge to help golfers play better without swing changes
• Launched AZ Golf Wizard in 2023 to help locals and out-of-towners navigate AZ golf. 

Long Story

 I've been obsessed with the game since I started playing at 10 years old. But just because I've been playing for 20+ years doesn't mean the game came easy for me. 

The truth is I couldn't have been further from a child prodigy or a "natural" at the game. Getting to where I am today took an incredible amount of work, endless learning from mentors, swing coaches, mental golf coaches, and more. 

At 14, I tried out for the team and barely made it. In fact, I didn't even technically make it, but the coach - Steve York -  gave me a chance as he saw potential, so I got the last spot of the JV team. In my first tournament, I shot a 124... and in the next one, a huge improvement... 123! 

But I didn't let that hold me back, instead I used it for fuel. In my first tournament senior year, I shot 74... a 50 shot improvement in a few short years.

Then, I walked on at Cal-State San Marcos and played for two years. After playing for so long and realizing my game was far from the collegiate level, I burnt out and gave up the game for years...

Until we booked a bucket-list trip to Pebble Beach in 2016. While getting my game ready for one of the best courses in the world, I caught the bug again. 

By the time we arrived in Monterey, I was a full-on golf addict. Playing the tips, I shot 79 at Pebble Beach and 73 at Spyglass Hills. It was at that time I knew I had to give my childhood dream one more attempt.

Seven months later, I quit my 6-figure job at Yelp.com to start building online businesses and pursue golf at the highest levels.

Along the journey, I paired my two loves (golf + writing) to become a top golf writer online. My work has been featured on sites like Breaking Eighty, Curated, The Left Rough, Quintessential Golf, The Golf Bandit, and more.

When I'm not growing my business, I'm playing golf non-stop. Since quitting my career, I've competed in hundreds of days of tournament golf in Arizona. And in 2019, I even went to Q-School to see where my game stood (it was one of the best memories of my entire life).

My work ethic and determination to succeed has never wavered as I'm truly obsessed with this game. It's given me some of my favorite memories of my life and want others to experience it as well. 

Now that I'm where I'm at today, I'm confident I can help others speed up success. I'm a full-time golf writer, podcast host, mental golf coach, and golfaholic. And I'm excited to share what I've learned (and keep learning) to help the everyday golfer shoot much lower scores with advice that almost no one talks about. 

Here's to helping you make golf fun and shooting more consistent scores than you ever imagined. 

Ready to start playing better fast? Here's how I can help...

• Pre-Shot Like a Pro
• Wicked Smart Golf Academy 
• 1:1 Mental Golf Coaching (3 & 6-pack coaching includes access to all programs inside Wicked Smart Golf Academy).