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GOLF TEACHING PRO%u00ae 19 WINTER 2O26In 1997, the inaugural World Golf Teachers Cup was held in Naples, Florida, with participants from several different nations. The tournament was the first that brought international teaching professionals together from multiple nations to represent their countries, and still today it%u2019s unique among competitions. The second World Cup was held in Spain in 1998. Golf has always been healthy in the United Kingdom, and continental Europe continues to see more of its players and teachers play an international role. Canada saw its first certification class held in 1994 at Upper Canada Golf Course in Morrisburg, Ontario. Since that time, first Bob Bryant and now Marc Ray have served as presidents of the Canadian Golf Teachers Federation, and its members have made a lasting impact in teaching the game in that country. In Australia, Gary Cooney has ably led the Australian Golf Teachers Federation for a number of years, helping to promote the game in the Land Down Under.Golf in Brazil became a focus with the inclusion of the sport in the Olympic Games in 2016, bur prior to that in 2005, Sao Jose Golf Club just outside Sao Paolo hosted the 7th biennial World Golf Teachers Cup. Despite the game being still a relatively minor sport in South America, 88 players teed it up in February of that year for individual and team honors.China became the first Asian nation to host the World Golf Teachers Cup in 2013, and the event was a rousing success. That country is currently facing some adversity in golf with the state-ordered closings of several golf courses, but USGTF-China is successfully meeting those challenges with Steve Mak at the helm.In 2020, Brandon Lee, who had been running USGTF-Korea after Oh retired, took the helm of the USGTF as president and CEO. His main focus has been on strengthening the entirety of the WGTF and improving the training and certification process of the USGTF, with the aim of taking the USGTF and WGTF to even greater heights as we are now a quarter of a century into the new millennium ushered in 2000.A Worldwide InfluenceGolf has seen tremendous growth internationally the past three and a half decades, and the USGTF and WGTF have been there, serving to train and certify the instructors who have been instrumental in this growth. The future of the game certainly looks bright, no matter what language you may speak.KNOWLEDGE USGTF