USGTF Congratulates Recent Graduates
The month of September brought many new faces to the USGTF. Certification courses were held in Texas, Nevada, Missouri and New Jersey throughout the month, and we would like to extend our sincere congratulations to the following new members who gained their Certified Golf Teaching Professional® certifications: Pan Han Bae, Jack Broyles, Mannie Cooper, Ike Han, Jaeyong Jang, Jin Jang, Chan Mi Kim, Hangyang Kim, Ho Jae Lee, Jin S Lee, Soo Mee Lee, Taewoo Lim, James Linder, Tong Lu, Earl Mason, John Michelsen, Jiyoung Oh, Joe Paniccia, Tae Young Park, Tracy Polk, William Ryan, Inbae Song, Hyun Jae Song, James Thomas, Jerry Thompson, and William Wozniak.
We would also like to extend congratulations to the following new Associate Members who completed the Associate online course: Sungyong Bang, Douglass Hartley, Will Joslin, Ari Rieger and James Swafford.
MASTERGOLF: A Unique App that Helps Your Students Become Better Golfers
Master Golf, the new must-have app for all golf enthusiasts, is now available in app stores!
Offering 12 preset exercises that cover all key golf strokes from driving to putting, the app helps your students with their training. Along with your instruction, the app will enable them to practice more easily outside your lessons. A scoring system provides immediate feedback and stimulates practice. The app also records the results of every training stroke, which gives you insights into your students’ performance and allows you to give appropriate feedback.
Want to challenge your students even further? Calculate a Virtual Handicap: a unique, never-seen-before feature, that uses the in-app data on performance and accuracy to determine their handicap. It will improve as your students improve.
Teachers and students, from beginners to scratch players, will benefit from this app. So why wait? Download the Master Golf app for free in the Playstore or Appstore, check out the features and try it!
For downloads and more information, visit www.mastergolf.app.
International PGA Renewals Now Available at USGTF Headquarters
The International PGA is a strong supporter of the USGTF, the WGTF, and golf professionals everywhere. Certified Golf Teaching Professionals and Master Golf Teaching Professionals in good standing are eligible to become members of the International PGA. To either become a member or renew your current membership, log on to www.InternationalPGA.org or contact the USGTF National Office directly at (772) 88-USGTF ([772] 888-7483).
DeChambeau Powers Way To Open Title
He announced last year that he was going to spend the offseason bulking up to gain distance, all in an effort to hit shorter irons into the holes and therefore produce lower scores. The pause in the PGA Tour season due to the COVID-19 coronavirus gave him further opportunity to become a behemoth, both figuratively and literally.
Bryson DeChambeau dominated the field at the recent U.S. Open at Winged Foot, besting runner-up Matthew Wolff by six strokes. DeChambeau was the only golfer to finish under par at -6.
DeChambeau was one shot ahead of Wolff at the turn on the final day, but soon separated himself. A Wolff bogey at #10 followed by a DeChambeau birdie at #11 stretched the lead to three, and with DeChambeau making all pars on the rest of the holes, Wolff couldn’t keep up. DeChambeau claims he has another 20 yards in him. If that’s true, the rest of the golf world may be playing catch-up for the next several years.
WGTF of Great Britain Hosts 1st Onsite Course After Shudown
Peter Hudson, president of the WGTF of Great Britain and Ireland was happy to report that they were able to successfully hold their first onsite course since the government “lock down” earlier this year. In April these participants attended a 45 day online intensive training program. The residential course was hosted by the Dudsbury Hotel and Golf Club on the South Coast of England.
Using a “switch of roles” method the course instructors delivered intensive training including teachings on Strategies and Philosophies, Techniques and Teaching and more. Hudson states, “It is wonderful to be back delivering trainings, even if it may be a while before we can do another but in the meantime, we have 5 more coaches who can deliver outstanding lessons because they have rained with the WGTF!”
“PRO” File – Hudson Swafford
It seems the University of Georgia has been nothing short of a professional golfer factory for the past decade, and Hudson Swafford is another in a long line of Bulldog golfers to find success on the PGA Tour. He won the recent Puntacana Resort & Club Championship for his second win on Tour.
Many people think the life of a PGA Tour player is all good all the time, and sometimes it is, but then there is the other side of the coin. Swafford, who previously won in 2017, battled a series of injuries, leading to poor finishes and having to take a medical extension. Although now fully recovered, his mindset wasn’t where it should be until he revealed on Sirius/XM radio that his sports psychologist needled him, saying, “You’re going to lose your card, anyway. You might as well go out and quit worrying about it and have fun playing. You just might get into contention.” Swafford did more than get into contention, assuring himself of a job for the next three seasons.
Editorial – Don’t Be Afraid To Take A Lesson Yourself
By Mark Harman, USGTF National Course Director
In early 2005, a hook crept into my game and caused me all sorts of problems. Although I was fortunate enough to win the United States Golf Teachers Cup at The Quarry in San Antonio, Texas, in the fall of 2005, I did it with smoke and mirrors. I couldn’t keep my driver in play at all, and halfway through the first round I shelved it for my 3-wood…which wasn’t much better, but at least I could keep it down to a healthy draw.
Finally fed up with being unable to fix the hook on my own, in 2008 I went to see a teaching professional in Fernandina Beach, Florida, named Mike Benjamin. I knew Mike from my days of living in Tallahassee, Florida, and knew he could teach high-level players. He accurately diagnosed the reason for my hook: My left shoulder moved up and out and my right shoulder moved down and behind me to start the downswing, producing a clubhead path that came from too far inside. This is something I could not see on video or figure out on my own. Mike gave me several things to work on.
There were good days and bad days going forward, but I knew I was on the right path. It took me about six months before I could say the hook was cured. Today, while I hit the occasional hook, I don’t fear it and it’s no longer part of my normal swing. Mike’s instruction was valuable to me in another sense, because I now have more tools at my disposal to fix a student’s hook. So I encourage every USGTF member to seek out another qualified instructor and take a lesson, whether you think you need one or not. You’ll most likely learn something new, and may even be able to incorporate it into your teaching methodology. We all have an obligation to continue to learn, and taking a lesson is a great way of doing just that.