Volvik, maker of the famous selection of colored golf balls and holder of numerous patents, has partnered with the USGTF to offer members in good standing a personal use discount. Members will be eligible for 20% off the wholesale price of its entire line of golf balls. For more information and to take advantage of this discount, please contact the USGTF National Office at member_services@usgtf.com or call (772) 88-USGTF or (772) 888-7483.
By Scott Henry, USGTF Professional
As a youngster, Augustin Martinez was introduced to the game by his father, who was a college golfer in the 1990s. He started to play local junior tournaments in the area by the time he was 8 years old, and attending summer golf camps for enjoyment, with it later turning into love of the game, just his father’s.
When he started, he played at a local par-3 course, which gave him his short game skills. As he grew older, Augustin (Auggie) started winning trophies at these local tournaments. When he reached me at PSJA Memorial Early College High School in Alamo, Texas, Auggie was placed onto the varsity boys golf team because of his previous experience. He did, however, struggle to compete with his peers at the time because of his lack of length off the tee and outside of tournaments, he mainly only had played the par-3 course. After a short while, he caught up with his peers and is now consistently finishing in the top 10 individually at high school golf tournaments. his has spurred Auggie on even further, practicing vigorously over the past summer during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Auggie is now a senior in high school with expectations of himself ultimately wanting to land a place on a college golf team, launching him into the best of what life has to offer. His family history and passion for the game motivates him. I am proud of his accomplishments and look forward to watching him grow as a player, but even more so, as a person, in the future.
There may no more enterprising member of the USGTF than Fresno, California’s, Jim Perez. A USGTF member since 1995 and a Master Golf Teaching Professional since 1997, Perez’s start as a USGTF member is memorable. He approached the owner of the local driving range, who informed Perez that he already had three PGA teaching professionals and did not need another pro. Perez pointed out that there was no business at that time at the range and that he would assure more golfers would come. After two such rejections, the owner relented and allowed Perez to teach.
Now, he had to come up with a plan, and it was a doozy. He placed an ad in the local newspaper (when newspaper ads were a thing), selling lesson memberships for $99. Over 200 people bought them in short order (over $20,000 worth), and Perez was off and running.
He also has an interesting philosophy when it comes to how much to charge for lessons. “I make sure I charge more than anyone in the area,” he remarked, “because that gives people the impression that they’re paying for the highest quality.” Of course, it helps that Perez is an extremely competent and accomplished teacher and player. In addition to learning under the USGTF umbrella, Perez has spent time observing teaching greats Butch Harmon and Mike Hebron, among others. And speaking of playing, Perez is a former United States Golf Teachers Cup senior champion and a World Golf Teachers Cup individual senior champion.
Currently, he and his wife Marci own the Bluff Pointe Golf Course in Fresno, where Perez can be seen hard at work most days.
Bjorn Beekman, director of WGTF-Netherlands recently announced they will be hosting a friendly 12-man competition between Netherlands and WGTF-Great Britain in June 2022.
Peter Hudson, WGTF-Great Britain said, “Our federations enjoy long-lasting and deep ties and this will be a great opportunity to discuss and learn how we can help others to play much better golf.”
The 25th annual United States Golf Teachers Cup is in the books! Congratulations go to winners Alejandro Duque, Open division; Pam Montgomery, Ladies division; Chris Richards, Senior division, and Anthony Benny, Super Senior division. Pro-am winners were USGTF professional Seonlin Kim and his amateur partner, Nicolas Kim. Revere Golf Club in Henderson, Nevada, provided a fine test of golf for all participants!
More in-depth reporting and results can be found at www.USGolfTeachersCup.com.
Dues notices for 2022 have been sent out. Look for them in your mailbox soon!
USGTF membership offers many benefits, including industry discounts and recognition, group liability insurance, marketing opportunities, tournament participation, ongoing education, and most importantly, the right to continue to call yourself a USGTF member in good standing. Also this year, we have an updated WGTF website; online member validation search on both WGTF.com and USGTF.com, and job opportunities on USGTF.com. USGTF dues remain modest and are payable online at https://www.usgtf.com/annual-membership-renewal, or through regular mail at USGTF National Office, 200 S. Indian River Drive, Suite 206, Fort Pierce, FL 34950.
By Mark Harman, USGTF Course Director
Growing up in the Midwest, I played golf exclusively on bentgrass greens that may have had poa annua mixed in. These greens are fairly straightforward with no grain to read.
When I moved to Florida in 1989, it was the first time I had played extensively on Bermudagrass greens. There was this concept of “grain” that I had to learn. Today’s Bermudagrass greens don’t have as much grain effect as in 1989, but there can still be some.
The easiest way to read the grain is to look at the color of the grass. Lighter green means the green is growing away from you while darker green means it’s growing towards you. While putts on bentgrass are slower uphill and faster downhill, the grain on Bermudagrass magnifies this. And when the ball slows down by the hole, the roll of the ball can be especially susceptible to the grain. Another consideration is that on the hole itself, you can see if there appears to be a worn or brown area. That means the grain is growing towards that area. On faster greens, putts will break more than they will on slower greens. That is because the ball is rolling slower on faster greens. In my observation, this is an adjustment that many golfers fail to make.
Different greens make for different teaching approaches. Know your grasses and green speeds and your students will benefit.
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VOICE CADDIE is pleased to offer USGTF members in good standing a 20% discount off the wholesale price on all products (limited to two items per year). Members should contact USGTF Member Services at member_services@usgtf.com or 1-777-88-USGTF for pricing and ordering information.
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By Tony McMully, USGTF Professional
Lucas Leamer is a golf success story. And his story continues to be written. Lucas, a senior this year, attends Cincinnati Hills Christian High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. He has been an accomplished member of the swim team there since he was a freshman. He has been a district qualifier every year and is a leader on his team. He loves swimming competitively, but came to golf after an injury in the summer before his junior year made him begin to question whether swimming was the right sport for him. Enter the golf success story.
Lucas came to me in August of 2019, looking to learn how to play golf in hopes of maybe making his team as a junior the next year. I have to admit that, once he told me he had never actually played golf, I was skeptical of how this would turn out. Turns out, I had no idea who I was about to teach!
The first thing I did was to inform Lucas that this would take work – a lot of work! He responded with almost no emotion, the way he still does when I ask him to do something, “Okay, Coach,” and we went to work. Long story made short, he came in every week, prepared for his lesson, homework from the week before completed, and ready to work. It didn’t take very long for me to see that this kid had talent, a ridiculously good work ethic, and a drive to succeed! He started to play in summer tournaments, but had little success, if any, at first. I explained to him that golf is a difficult sport to play well in under pressure at first. He simply nodded yes that he understood, and then worked harder at the fundamentals of ball striking, short game, and putting. Then came tryouts for his high school golf team. I got a text after the third day of tryouts and to my surprise, it simply said, “Made the team. Thanks Coach!” When I saw him for his lesson later that week, he said, “I made the team. Now I want to work harder than everyone else to be the number one golfer on my team.” He has become the hardest working and most focused junior golfer that I’ve ever taught in 20+ years as a professional instructor.
Lucas has climbed the ladder to the position he chased so hard. He is the number one varsity golfer at Cincinnati Hills Christian. His highlights include shooting a 35 (-1) in a nine-hole match and shooting a personal best 75 at the Hadley Invitational for a 9th-place finish. And he continues to write history for a kid who got out of the pool to play golf!
