President’s Message: Knowing the Difference
In establishing the new USGTF’s coaching division, the World Golf Coaches Alliance, I have to say that my knowledge of genuinely helping golfers has increased exponentially. That’s because we’ve had specialists in all the various fields of coaching golf come to the production studio at our office to share with us their specific knowledge through the creation of instructional videos. This includes subjects like golf psychology and...
President’s Message
As the front cover suggests, 2014 marks the USGTF’s 25th anniversary! One of the things that I’m most proud of is having taken the golf teaching profession and making it a separate entity unto itself. This certainly needed to be done, because the golf teaching profession was too important to the game to have been ignored. Of course, the other thing I am proud of is having provided over 30,000 people worldwide the opportunity to teach...
Winter 2011: President’s Message
Bobby Jones had an eloquent way of describing the golf swing that made sense to people. When asked what he felt the key to the golf swing was, he said, “When a golfer has reached the top of the swing, it is the leisurely start down with the hands that provide for the gradual increase of speed, without disturbing the timing or balance of the swing.” As teaching professionals, we all know that most high handicappers, once at the top of...
Winter 2012 Presidents Message
Recently we received a threatening letter from the legal department of the PGA Tour. As our goal has always been one of innovation, we established the World Golf Association, which is a social network site for golfers worldwide. The site is similar to Facebook, except it’s for golfers: www.WorldGolfAssociation.com. In our process of trademarking the name World Golf Association, the PGA Tour felt as though we had no right to do so, as...
President’s Message
Teaching Golf… More to the History The one thing that I’m thankful for is the fact that the mechanics of the golf swing are universal. In other words, no one particular nation has a unique way to hit the ball that may for instance be considered the “American Technique,” the “British Technique,” or that of any other golfing nation. Certainly in the ski teaching industry, which I was involved with for a long time, this was not always...
Summer 2008: President’s Message
The USGTF has always been a fiercely ideological entity. In other words, we have always been driven by an original idea – that being the offering of opportunity and value to people’s lives. And, our members have always seemed to follow our activities with intense and proprietary interest. This is a good thing, because over the years we have managed to create an incredible brand, in part by listening to and acting upon the ideas and...
Summer 2009: President’s Message
Recently while waiting for two latecomers on the first tee at Club Med Resort in Port Saint Lucie, Florida, USGTF National Coordinator Bob Wyatt said to me, “Geoff, let’s go ahead and hit. The world belongs to those who turn up!” I liked the connotation of that statement. To me, it could also be construed as “the world belongs to those who take the initiative.” Taking the initiative has always been a common theme here at the USGTF...
Winter 2009: President’s Message
It is said that nothing is more inspirational than an idea whose time has come. This was certainly the case in 1989 when we created the United States Golf Teachers Federation. We realized that teaching the game of golf needed to be a specialized industry in and of itself, and in doing so we took the profession to a whole new level. Now, 20 years later and with 18,000 members worldwide, every golfing nation trains and certifies their...
Summer 2010: President’s Message
Golf Teaching Pro magazine is a unique publication. As all members know, it’s the official publication of the World Golf Teachers Federation. The articles and input, therefore, are designed to keep teaching professionals throughout the world informed on the latest in golf teaching methodology, international events specific to the teaching industry, and membership news. And recently, with the advent of the United States Golf Managers...
Winter 2010: Presidents Message
One of the great things about working each day here at the USGTF National Office in Port St. Lucie, Florida, is seeing the number of cutting-edge and innovative opportunities for teaching professionals that come our way. And then, of course, it’s up to us to determine which of these ideas have merit and then share them with all of our members. Recently, I had a call from Mr. Chris MacDonald, who hails from San Clemente, California. He...
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