“PRO” File – Teaching Professional Benjamin Lance Martin
By Ben Martin, USGTF Member, Trinidad
I got into golf at the age of 5. I grew up near the St Andrews golf club in Trinidad. My dad started me with one club and the rest is history. I have a deep-rooted love and passion for the game of golf. It is a big part of me and my life.
My main golf inspiration was Tiger Woods. He took the game to the next level and was amazing to see what he achieved in his career. The amount of records he set and broke sets him apart from the rest! Our local hero in Trinidad is Stephen Ames, who has also done a lot for myself over my teenage years. I will be forever thankful for the help I have received over the years.
I am a coach at St. Andrews Golf Club in Moka, Trinidad. I also play as often as I can because that is what gave me my love for this game. I hope to play in as many events in the future as I can. It was a pleasure coming to meet the USGTF crew, and even more of a pleasure to be the Open champion with a record-breaking score of -12 for two days.
(Editor’s note: At just 14, Martin represented Trinidad and Tobago on the men’s national team, being the youngest player ever selected. After having a very successful amateur golfing career in Trinidad and around the Caribbean, Martin went on to play in some of the biggest amateur events around the world in countries such as the United States, Canada, South Africa, Peru, Puerto Rico, England, Scotland and Spain in an attempt to further his golfing career. Martin has also won many professional championships, including being a six-time champion of his country’s national championship, the Trinidad and Tobago Open.)
By Sachin Bhattarai, USGTF Member, Kathmandu, Nepal
During 2022, the game of golf has advanced significantly in Nepal. The ladies’ captain of our club organized the Nepal Women’s Open Golf Tournament for the first time this year. The competition has also boosted female golfers’ interest in the present day. Due to the event, I genuinely believe that we may find more female golfers in the next few days who will be competing in more matches and tournaments.
Not only are female golfers interested, but for the first time our academy has also begun offering regular golf lessons where nearly 120 students are interested in the sport and want to develop their golf knowledge. Similar to that, the scramble junior golf competition was also arranged by the club president of Royal Nepal Golf Club this year, and the junior event’s competitors displayed a great deal of enthusiasm. I want to create more teaching professionals and new golfers in the upcoming days. I will do my best to train Nepalese golfers and strive to turn them into teaching professionals there, much like how the USGTF taught golf teachers around the world and made them teaching professionals.
By: Mark Harman, Director of Education
Would Harry Vardon recognize today’s game if he could be magically transported to 2022? While some things would be the same, others would be so vastly different that Vardon might well wonder if it’s even the same game.
Things used to change slowly in golf, but with the dawn of the 21st century, things are picking up at a rapid pace. Where once new technology took years to embrace, today’s players and coaches are quick to adopt a change if it is demonstrated to be beneficial. You would be hard-pressed to find a modern tour player who does not have a TrackMan or GC Quad – or in many cases both – to analyze their ball flight and club data to the nth degree. Experts in analytics crunch the data and lay out very specifically where players need to improve. Training regimens continue to evolve as the latest research comes in.
The game of professional golf was shaken up in 2022 by the advent of the LIV Tour. Whether this tour can survive without a visible means of revenue remains to be seen. In response, the PGA Tour upped the purses dramatically for its marquee events and obtained pledges from its top players to play more golf. A tournament purse of $25 million would have been unthinkable just a few short years ago…and imagine what Vardon would think! But do not be surprised if, within the next decade, a tournament purse of $100 million is offered. So, it seems the game of professional golf, at least on the men’s side, will continue to see escalating purses.
When it comes to teaching, almost certainly within the next decade every full-time teacher will have much of the latest technology available. There will still be teachers who go to the lesson tee with nothing more than their smartphone to take video, but they will usually be the club pro or someone who gives lessons only occasionally.
Finally, the USGA and R&A have made a big deal about reigning in distance, or at least preventing future increases. Their problem is that today’s professional golfer is a true athlete who trains and is larger and much stronger than their counterparts of yesteryear. Whereas Dan Pohl led the PGA Tour in driving distance in 1980 with an average of 274.3 yards using a persimmon driver and balata balls, today’s longest players would probably still approach a 300-yard average with such implements. All indications are that the USGA and R&A will finally adopt one set of equipment rules for the pro game and elite amateur competitions and one for play at the club level.
USGTF members who have students notable for their achievements, accomplishments, or even notable progress, are invited to submit their stories for consideration in the monthly e-newsletter. A picture of the USGTF member along with their student will also be featured in the item. Submissions may be made at 
Mike Stevens has been a USGTF member since 1995 and was formerly the Southeast Region director. He resides in Tampa, Florida, where he operated On Target Golf Schools at MacDill Air Force Base Golf Course for many years. The schools were a unique model in that they involve 6-week sessions of one hour per week, and the concept was very successful, as several other USGTF members also adopted that model.
Stevens has always been devoted to the history of the game, and almost two decades ago he made the move to play exclusively with hickory-shafted clubs. He has won several tournaments, notably the Southern Hickory Four-Ball, and also the prestigious National Hickory Championship three times. When competing among his titanium-wielding peers, he more than holds his own. He was recognized as one of Florida’s top ten instructors by Florida Golf News and also as a top WGTF Teacher. In 2011 he was inducted into the USGTF Hall of Fame at Orange County National in Orlando, Florida, during the World Golf Teachers Cup. A native of Ohio, Stevens hold a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management.
Stevens recently retired from teaching and as the USGTF Southeast Region director to spend more time with his family and grandkids, and to hone his game. He is still active in the hickory golf scene and will once again run the U.S. Professional & Amateur Hickory Golf Championship this coming February at Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club in Tampa. He also runs the Florida Hickory Golfers group that holds events monthly. Stevens also competes annually in the World Hickory Open in Scotland.