Empire of One · The Workshop
Golf gives you four hours to talk yourself out of it. Or into it.
Now taking founding golfers for the 2027 season
I'm not a swing coach.I coach the golfer swinging the club.
Ian Mackay, founder of Empire of One
Do the math
Start with your round.
You'll swing for 3 minutes. You'll spend 4 hours 27 minutes inside your own head.
The swing game
0 s
The mental game
0 min
The quotes are examples. Everyone carries their own.
The Workshop
The hardest part of golf is the time between shots.
That is where we spend our time. The Workshop is private, one-on-one golf mindset coaching with me, Ian Mackay. We start with what already works. The next shot is yours to hit, and I help you get ready for it.
01
Prepare
How you get ready for the shot in front of you.
02
Decide
How you choose the shot and commit to it.
03
React
What happens in you after the ball lands.
04
Recover
How you get back to the next shot.
The season, hole by hole
Seven steps.
It starts this winter with your First Look and Shop Talk, moves to the simulator and the course, and runs through October 2027.
Part 1Getting to know your game
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01
First Look
A conversation about you and your golf. It is an audio interview of about 30 to 40 minutes, in your own words. There are no right (or wrong) answers.
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02
Shop Talk
We sit down in person, over a coffee or a beer, and just talk golf. I have listened to your interview and I want to hear more about the parts that stood out. No swing talk, just a good conversation about you and your game.
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03
Bag Check
An indoor session at a private simulator before the outdoor season, up to 90 minutes. We talk through what is in your bag, how you think about your game, and your tendencies.
Part 2On the course
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04
Observe Nine
Our first on-course session, in early spring. I am with you for nine holes, watching how you prepare, decide, react and recover. I am not giving advice, just watching.
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05
The Read
Our first feedback conversation. I share what I noticed, starting with what already works, and we agree on what to try. You leave with a plan written for you alone: the steps that fit your game, set down in plain words.
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06
Apply Nine
Our second on-course session. We try the plan on the course while I watch what changes.
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07
Second Look
Our second feedback conversation. We look at what worked and what did not, and adjust the plan together.
Between Rounds
A whole season with me in your corner.
From your Bag Check to the end of the season, text, call or email me about your rounds and practice.
1 business day
The longest you'll wait for a reply.
Every week
I check in with you, all season.
Anytime
Short calls are always welcome.
Not live coaching mid-roundNot a crisis line
What you take home
Your Playbook.
A handwritten A5 booklet that records what we found together over the season. It belongs to you.
- Your golf story
- What you already have
- What we noticed
- The work ahead
- A few simple tools
- Three things for the first tee
- Signs of progress
- Your own field notes
Plus the First Tee Chit Pad: a pad of cards to carry on the course.
Who it is for
New to the game or a competitive amateur.
It is for golfers who care about their game and are curious about themselves as players, whether you compete at your club or play for the love of it.
It is
Private, one-on-one coaching on how you prepare, decide, react and recover on the course.
It is not
Swing instruction. Your teaching pro is the right person for that, and I will point you toward the right help.
Counselling or mental-health treatment.
About
Ian Mackay
I coach golfers on the mental game. Here is who I am and how I got here.
Player card
Ian Mackay
Handicap
Single digit
Playing
50+ years
Home club
OslerBrook
Golf and Country Club
- Started
- At the cottage in Grand Bend, Ontario
- Training
- Golf Psychology Coaching certificate with Dr. Brian Hemmings, completed November 2026 (golfpsychologycoaching.com). Strategic Coach program, completed several years ago.
- Rules
- R&A Rules of Golf, Level 1, November 2026
- Business
- Self-employed for more than 25 years
- Influences
- Marcus Aurelius; Timothy Gallwey, The Inner Game of Tennis; Gary Keller, The One Thing
In my 30s
The mental side matters as much as anything in the bag.
I started noticing what helped me perform and what got in my way, and then I started seeing the same patterns in the people I played with.
Three years ago
The injury was physical. The hard part was mental.
I hurt my back and could not play for six months. A big part of my life was missing, because golf is an outlet for so many things. The first round back felt like opening a present on Christmas morning.
This year
If I could do anything with my time, what would I do?
My answer: I love golf. I love playing and competing, meeting new people and spending time with people who are close to me. I love sharing my passion for golf, and I love helping my fellow golfers in any way that I can.
The pattern I see most is golfers letting one bad shot ruin the round.
Your story as a golfer is not defined by one bad shot.
Ian's story
I grew up playing everything I could: hockey, football, tennis, squash and golf, then rugby in high school and again at university. Later I completed a triathlon and two marathons. I loved them all, but golf was the sport I loved the most. I've played golf for more than 50 years. It started at my cottage in Grand Bend, Ontario: the range and the beach first, then a par 3 course, and eventually Oakwood Resort, the 18-hole course.
Over those years I have been fortunate to play golf in Ontario, across Canada and around the world. I have attended the Canadian Open, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup in person. Golf takes you to places and introduces you to people you would never otherwise meet. That is part of what makes it extraordinary.
I'm an enthusiastic, humorous competitor. Ask my playing partners and I think they would tell you that I'm a gamer and always fun to play with. I'm a member at OslerBrook Golf and Country Club and play off a single-digit handicap.
I have already helped several golfers with mental cues, what to think about over the ball, and staying present. What I do best is notice the nuances and take a complex problem and break it down into understandable, actionable steps.
What I want most is for a golfer to be able to say they found out new things about themselves and their golf, and that the game became more enjoyable.
Why Empire of One
Empire of One isn’t about being alone. It’s about being responsible.
I
The shot is individual. The experience is communal.
You can have friends, family, competitors and an entire community around you. The “One” isn’t isolation. It’s the recognition that, eventually, the next shot is yours to hit.
II
Golf is a mirror.
It has a way of showing you who you are when things don’t go according to plan, and when they do. Patience, ego, resilience, honesty, humility. They all eventually make an appearance.
The game doesn’t care what you think you deserve. It simply hands you the next shot and asks what you’re going to do with it.
Maybe that’s why we keep coming back. We think we’re trying to get better at golf, but if we’re paying attention, golf is quietly giving us a chance to get better at being ourselves.
III
Most sports hide you in a team, in noise, in speed. Golf leaves you alone with yourself, over and over again.
That’s the canvas. Everything else is just what gets painted on it.
Empire of One grew from a simple realization: you don’t control the wind, the lie, the bounce, or the other guy’s putt. But you always control what you do next. And that’s the only empire that’s ever real.
The breaks aren’t something to hide. The bad round. The missed putt. The year you didn’t play at all. Those aren’t parts of the story to edit out. They’re part of the story.
Underneath the score, the game is a thousand small opportunities to choose a little better. To notice. To learn. To adjust. To begin again. No finish line required.
And somewhere in all that seriousness, there has to be room for mischief. A smirk. A wager with your friends. The understanding that something can matter deeply without needing to be taken too seriously.
IV
None of that is really about golf. Golf’s just where it’s easiest to see.
Empire of One isn’t only for the person who wants to win more than anyone else on the course, although they’re welcome here too. Wanting it badly and holding your composure aren’t opposites.
It’s for anyone curious about what this strange, beautiful, maddening game might teach us about competition and acceptance, ego and humility, confidence and doubt.
V
The score matters. It just isn’t the whole story.
Because sooner or later, every round brings us back to the same place.
That’s the empire. One choice at a time.
From the founding golfers
In their words.
[Testimonial from a founding golfer: what changed in how they prepare, decide, react or recover.]
[Name] · [Club or handicap]
[Testimonial from a founding golfer: the moment on the course where it clicked.]
[Name] · [Club or handicap]
[Testimonial from a founding golfer: what the game feels like now.]
[Name] · [Club or handicap]
Placeholder. Collect after Season One, with each golfer's written permission to use their name and words.
Season One
Founding golfers. Up to 10 spots.
Season One is the first season of The Workshop. You would be one of the golfers who help shape it with honest feedback along the way.
Spots
Up to 10
Founding golfers for the 2027 season
Applications close
Dec 31, 2026
December 31, 2026, or sooner if the spots fill
Founding rate
$1,500 CAD
Standard rate $2,500 CAD [HST?]
Where the money goes
Most of the money goes to the smallest part of your round.
On the swing
$4,253
for 1.1% of your round
- Driver$911
- Irons$1,970
- Two wedges$500
- Putter$347
- Five lessons$525
Season One
$1,500
for 98.9% of your round
First Look, Shop Talk, Bag Check, two nine-hole sessions, two feedback conversations, a season of Between Rounds and your Playbook.
Each bar is your whole round, from Do the math above. Canadian prices before tax, November 2026: TaylorMade Qi4D driver and P790 irons (Scheels Canada), two Titleist Vokey SM10 wedges (titleist.ca), Odyssey Ai-ONE putter (Scheels Canada), five one-hour lessons with a PGA of Canada professional (City of Kitchener Golf Academy).
In the bag
What is included
- First Look and Shop TalkYour First Look interview, and a Shop Talk over a coffee or a beer
- Bag CheckA Bag Check of up to 90 minutes at a private simulator
- Observe Nine and Apply NineTwo nine-hole sessions on the course: Observe Nine and Apply Nine
- The Read and Second LookTwo feedback conversations: The Read and Second Look
- Between RoundsBetween Rounds, with a check-in from me every week and replies within one business day
- The PlaybookYour handwritten Playbook and the First Tee Chit Pad
The work happens in Collingwood and Georgian Bay, Ontario. It starts this winter with your First Look and Shop Talk, moves to the simulator and the course, and runs through October 2027.
Not ready to apply?
Take the one‑round challenge.
Write down the first thing you say to yourself after every bad shot for one round, then send it to me. That is your First Look already started.
Questions
Fair questions.
Do I need to be a good golfer?
No. Golfers new to the game and competitive amateurs share one thing: the next shot is theirs to hit.
Will you fix my slice?
No. Your teaching pro will. I will ask what you were thinking about when it showed up.
What does the time commitment look like?
A 30 to 40 minute audio interview, a coffee, a simulator session of up to 90 minutes, two nine-hole rounds and two feedback conversations, with Between Rounds running alongside from the Bag Check to the end of the season.
Where does it happen?
In the Collingwood and Georgian Bay area.
What happens with my interview and notes?
Your interview, our conversations and my notes stay between you and me. I use them only to build your plan and your Playbook. I will not share or quote them, or use your name or story in anything public, without your written permission, unless the law requires otherwise. You can ask me to delete your interview recording at any time.
How do I get started?
Start a conversation. We talk about your game and whether The Workshop is a fit. If it is, you will be one of the founding golfers.
Start a conversation
The next shot is yours to hit.
If it sounds like a fit, the next step is a conversation. Tell me a little about your game and I will get back to you.
- 01
Tell me a little about you and your game.
- 02
I will reply by email, usually within one business day.
- 03
We talk about your game and whether The Workshop is a fit. If it is, you will be one of the founding golfers.
Between Shots
Short notes on the mental game.
By signing up you agree to receive Between Shots emails from Ian Mackay. You can unsubscribe at any time. I never sell or share your email address.