Marc Gelbke
USGTF Teaching Professional, Port St Lucie, FL

My interest in golf came pretty late in life compared to most other teaching professionals. Growing up in Germany, my interests in sports were soccer and tennis.

I graduated high school in Germany in 1987, and went on for two more years to study business and retail management at a business school in Berlin. In 1989, I began to work for the US Air Force at Tempelhof Air Force Base in Berlin, where I was able to join the Berlin Country Club as part of my benefits.

Pretty soon I realized that golf was going to be my new sport. After a short time, I became a pretty good player and broke 80 consistently, and even got to play a couple of matches for the Air Force team in Berlin.

In 1993 my wife and I got transferred to Naples, Italy, where we spent the next two years of our lives. Besides managing the on-base restaurant, bar, and arcade, I also began to work (volunteer) at the military-owned golf course, and helped with tournaments (set-up, scoreboards, scoring etc.). It was also where I gave my first golf lesson to a friend and realized how much I enjoyed doing that.

Once I moved stateside (Florida), I began to look for work in the golf industry. My first job was that of a laborer in the maintenance department at World Woods Golf Club (top 50 courses by Golf Digest), before I was offered an assistant job there and moved into the clubhouse. Later, I continued to work as an assistant at a private country club, enrolled into the PGA program and began to give lessons to members.

Then I began to research the industry for the best organization that could teach me more on "how to teach golf," and that's when I naturally found the USGTF. I enrolled into its program immediately and passed the course in 1994, at Tapatio Springs north of San Antonio, Texas. It was an experience I will never forget, due to the fact that long-time touring pro, Mr. Bruce Crampton, showed up at our final ceremony.

Soon after I returned to Florida, I ventured out on my own and began to teach full time as an independent teaching professional in central Florida at various golf courses. In 1999, I was offered a new opportunity as head golf professional at a newly-opened golf course (St. James Golf Club) in Port St. Lucie, Florida. I developed a nice customer base of students, implemented a summer program for juniors, and initiated several other golf clinics and camps.

It was there when I met a very interesting young women (16) from the island of Trinidad, where she held the title of amateur champion, and was captain of the national golf team. For the next several years, I began to work with her on her golf game (she came to visit about three times per year), and she improved considerably. Last year, in 2001, I helped put together a videotape of her to present to colleges for scholarships (she was accepted to Florida State).

Currently, I can still be found at St. James Golf Club, and since early this year have held the title of General Manager/Director of Golf, and also have hired another USGTF teaching professional to help teach golf at the club.