Brian Keck is a PGA golf instructor at The Preserve Golf Club in Carmel Valley, a private course carved through the oak woodland and chaparral of the Santa Lucia foothills south of Monterey Bay in one of the most ecologically rich stretches of coastal California. The course was designed to minimize disturbance to the preserve's natural habitat, which means the routing has an intimate, almost hidden quality — fairways that open unexpectedly from between trees, approach shots that require careful targeting to avoid natural hazards, and greens that sit within the landscape rather than on top of it. Teaching at a course of this character requires an instructor attentive to strategy and precision, qualities that come through in Keck's work with members.