The year 2022 is certain to bring new changes and for the WGTF one of these is the new WGTF membership card in digital format. These cards may now be found online at www.WGTF.com under the Member Profile feature of the site. Access to your valid WGTF ID card is now at your fingertips anywhere you go through your mobile device or desktop.
From everyone at the USGTF National Office, we wish you a Happy New Year and hope you have a prosperous and successful 2022 season. As the USGTF enters its 33rd year of operation, the National Office staff is ready to serve you, and we welcome your input. Please contact member_services@usgtf.com, or you may call (772) 88-USGTF or (772) 888-7483.
By Mark Harman, USGTF Course Director
Ah, winter golf. Here in the southern part of South Carolina, where I live, golf is a 12-month season. Sure, it gets cold at times from mid-November through mid-March, but there are often days where the average high is in the 60s (F) or even 70s. That’s in contrast to the state of Indiana where I grew up. We had to put the clubs totally away by mid-November through mid-March.
Winter golf up north isn’t like winter golf when I was a kid, though. Today there are golf domes and indoor simulators to keep one’s game sharp until spring arrives. Although in the early 1980s, I do have to give our coach at Franklin College, Dr. Richard Park, credit for trying to find a way to keep our games in shape through the winter months. One year he installed a hitting net in the gym, and I used it religiously. I got real good at hitting the elevated bullseye about four feet off the ground and 10 feet away with my driver. On the first day we could play that spring, we headed out to the course. Often, we didn’t use the range to warm up because, well, we had to buy range balls in order to do so! (Thankfully, things are different for today’s college golfers.) I proceeded to take a mighty swipe at ball #1 for the year. It went dead straight – for all of about 100 yards. It then took a sharp right-hand turn and veered 50 yards into the trees. Yes, I had spent the entire winter unknowingly grooving a slice.
Today’s northern golfers have that all-important feedback from the simulators and being able to watch the ball travel around 90 yards in a dome. It’s a perfect time of year to make those desperately-needed swing changes, and USGTF professionals who have a facility from which they can teach can be just as busy, if not busier, in the winter as compared to summer. By contrast, southern golfers have to deal with dormant Bermudagrass fairways and greens, as overseeding has fallen out of favor in most places. Come springtime, the greens can be a little rough from no growth and heavy foot traffic, but soon all is well. And our northern friends? Time to see if those swing changes work! If the instruction was imparted by a USGTF professional, they are sure to do so.
The USGTF, through Baldwin, Kryatyn, Sherman Partners LLC and RPS Bollinger, can provide its members $1,000,000 of liability insurance with a $3,000,000 aggregate and no deductible. This important, affordable coverage protects you while performing your duties as a golf instructor. Annual premium: $120.00 payable to RPS Bollinger. You may mail your check to: RPS Bollinger, 200 Jefferson Park, Whippany, NJ 07981. *Please note: This is a new address. IMPORTANT: If you would like to use a credit card, you will have to pay your premium online at www.RPSBollinger.com – Click on “Pay My Bill” in the bottom right-hand corner of the home page. We can no longer process credit card transactions in our office. Questions? Call Cathy Fonseca at RPS Bollinger, 800-446-5311, ext 8124 or e-mail Cathy_Fonseca@rpsins.com.
By Matt Smith, USGTF Professional
What about Gracie James? Gracie is a 10th grader at Watkins Memorial High School in Pataskala, Ohio. She placed 11th in the state tournament, and not only was first-team all-league but was player of the year. She also was first-team all-district.
The thing I love about Gracie is her passion to improve. She comes from a great family and has a tremendous work ethic. I have worked with Gracie for three years. Her strengths are her distance off the tee and her love for practicing. Remember her name…because she has a great chance of playing on LPGA Tour someday!
I fell in love with the game of golf at the ripe age of one year old. Dad would take me everywhere with him to caddy in “The Hunt” – a guys’ money game. I used to sell lemonade, golf balls, caddy, cut grass and work around the clubhouse to help pay my golf expenses.
I played golf at Wabash Valley Community College in Mt. Carmel, Illinois, where I was an all-conference player. In 1988 I enrolled in the first class at The Golf Academy of the South in Orlando, Florida, and studied under world-famous golf instructor Wally Armstrong and PGA Tour rules official Gene Smith. In 1989, I founded A Life of Golf for Kids and came back to my hometown of Terre Haute, Indiana. It’s been my life’s mission to promote junior golf and bring quality golf instruction to the kids in the Wabash Valley.
When it comes to golf, it does not matter your age or ability level. The game of golf has so much to offer. Whether you are wanting to brush up on your golf game, prepare for a golf competition, or simply want to beat your friends, I will provide quality instruction backed by the United States Golf Teachers Federation and my lifetime experience. In 2019, I was awarded by the PGA the PGA Jr League National Game Changer Award and the Top Program for the Indiana Section.
I love being part of the USGTF and have no desire to be a club pro. I’ve been teaching and promoting junior golf for over 40 years, and since 1990, I have taught more than 90,000 junior golfers as well as many adults. As for A Life of Golf for Kids, we have produced an endless number of success stories over our program’s history. Giving kids to opportunity to be introduced to the game has built wonderful memories those kids still carry with them today.
It was a feud that began some time ago when Brooks Koepka talked about slow play and that it shouldn’t take that long to hit a shot. Bryson DeChambeau took it as a commentary towards his leisurely habits while preparing for a shot, and a feud was born. A few juvenile back-and-forths between the two behemoths (figuratively and literally) of the golf world ensued, with “The Match” held the day after Thanksgiving this year supposedly going to be the last word. Koepka drilled an out-of-form DeChambeau, 4 and 3, in the scheduled 12-hole match. Why 12 holes? Perhaps it was an ode to championship boxing matches and their 12-round bouts.
Koepka was known for his workout routines first, building his body into that akin to a football tight end. DeChambeau followed suit after the 2019 season in an effort to gain distance. And did he. DeChambeauu finished 7th in the World Long Drive Championship, meaning that professional golf now has a legitimate long-drive competitor playing at the highest level.
Is this feud settled? It probably won’t be until two of the most compelling personalities in golf gain some maturity and put an end to it. But then again, like a lot of things these days, their feud may have more of an air of professional wrestling to it than reality.
The 7th USGTF-Korea Teacher’s Cup was successfully held this past November at Silk River CC in Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do, under sunny skies. Eighty-four participants, including 72 professionals who passed the qualifying rounds (held at Fortune Hills CC, Silk River and Leader CC) to be able to compete in the main tournament, and eight amateurs and four VIPs who participated on the recommendation of regular members of the main federation, showcased their skills.
In the competition, which was divided into four divisions, the winners were: Lee Min-gu in the men’s general division; Heo Lim-ho in the men’s senior division; Yoo Joo-hee in the women’s general division, and Shin Jong-hee in the women’s senior division. The first, second, and third-place winners were awarded prize money, trophies and awards, while other winners were also awarded prizes. Hwang Myung-chul, in recognition of his fair play, earned the sportsmanship award as an exemplary player and was awarded a caddie bag as a prize. Meanwhile, three of the eight amateur players, Lim Kyu-taek, Cho Jae-young and Kim Nak-young, ranked first, second and third, respectively, and passed the Playing Ability Test.
The Winter edition of Golf Teaching Pro magazine, the official print publication of the United States Golf Teachers Federation, will be released this month to all members in good standing through 2022. This annual edition will provide a wrap-up of the recently completed United States Golf Teachers Cup, news from over 20 WGTF member nations, along with timely articles relevant to today’s teaching professionals and golf coaches and is one of our most valuable communication resources for all WGTF members. Be sure to check it out!
