Job Postings
Since its inception, the USGTF has provided golf teaching professionals with opportunities. Today’s USGTF continues that tradition and has a section on our website in order to serve our members to the fullest extent possible in this regard. New features have recently been added so that your search is easier to navigate and to narrow your search to more relevant opportunities. The most recent postings and the complete list of opportunities may be found at https://www.usgtf.com/job-board-search-view.
By Mark Harman, USGTF Director of Education
Steve Haigler, a high school teacher in Tampa, came to my six-week golf school about eight years ago. He started with the maximum handicap of 36. After completing the class, he applied all he learned and started to really improve. Today, he plays to a 22 handicap and regularly shoots in the mid to low 90s. Steve later followed in his instructor’s path and started playing with hickory golf clubs as a member of the Florida Hickory Golfers. That makes the improvement in his handicap even more significant because of the difficulty playing with clubs used 100 years ago. Steve has traveled to Scotland to participate in several World Hickory Opens at courses like Carnoustie, Gullane and Panmure, where Ben Hogan practiced for the Open Championship. He also played on the U.S. hickory team in 2018 that competed against teams from Europe and Scotland at the Old Course in Musselburgh, contributing to the U.S. victory in the matches. He has certainly taken to the game and can be seen regularly on the links at the MacDill Air Force Base golf courses.
Ken Butler was born and raised in Scotland, the “home of golf,” where he learned the game of golf early on. He says golf and soccer have always been in his blood. Competing competitively, he made his way to the United States in 1984. He stopped competing in late 1980s with a severe back injury that still nags him today.
USGTF-Japan member Naoki Yoshida teaches a number of prominent touring professionals, but his foray into teaching and coaching wasn’t a direct route. As a kid, he started playing golf but preferred baseball, tennis and soccer. Golf was pretty much last on the list.
A recent USGTF onsite certification course held in Fort Pierce, Florida, on April 5-9 had seven candidates. Interest in USGTF certification has increased in 2021 and indications are this trend will continue. USGTF certification courses are being held nationwide to meet this demand as we head into the heart of the golf season for most of the country. Also, in response to many requests, a new certification site in the Midwest will be realized when Evansville, Indiana, joins the roster of locations. The course will be held in September. The exact time and location will be decided shortly. 
Last month, we featured a new section in our monthly e-newsletter where we highlighted a student of a USGTF member and their success. If you have a student and are interested in featuring them in one of our upcoming newsletters, please complete the form at the following link: 
The legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden had what he called a “Pyramid of Success.” At the very top of the pyramid was “competitive greatness.” Can there be such a pyramid in golf? Certainly, but let’s attack it in a slightly different direction, as some of the building blocks in Wooden’s pyramid involve aspects of team play that aren’t relevant to golf. So let’s call it the “Pyramid of Pressure,” and here are its elements, from lowest to highest pressure: 1) Practice shot, 2) casual round, 3) competition, 4) contend, 5) win.