Student Spotlight – Shelby Warner
Coached by Thomas T Wartelle, WGTF & PGA
Shelby Warner is a playing professional originally from Lima, Ohio. Her goal is to play professional golf on the LPGA Tour. Before turning professional, she was a student-athlete at the University of Findlay in Ohio, where she graduated in 2017 with an MBA in Finance and Accounting. Feeling like her athletic career was unfinished, she has decided to pursue a career as a professional golfer. Shelby now travels the country playing on the WAPT Tour to prepare for 2021 LPGA Qualifying School.
Currently based in New Orleans, Louisiana, she is coached by Thomas T Wartelle, WGTF & PGA Professional. The main focus is on her swing, short game, and tournament preparation.
Shelby is pound for pound one of the longer hitters in ladies golf. However, she also possesses great finesse and control both with her irons and short game.
Being a playing professional takes hard work, perseverance, and sponsors. Shelby is building her team on all fronts, from golf coaching to fitness.Shelby trains using the GOATA Golf System. This system uses slow motion technology to identify incorrect movement patterns that cause pain, inconsistent golf, and potential ligament and joint damage. Using this technology, Shelby is able to apply it to her golf swing and workouts. GOATA Golf allows her to move better and play better.
Look for Shelby on tour as she is a rising athlete who works hard on her game. You can support and follow Shelby’s golf career on social media at
Instagram:@shelby.Warner.18
Twitter: @snwarner18
He’s the longest continuing USGTF employee in the organization’s history, and says he’s fortunate to know so many great members over the years. For Mark Harman, it all started in 1991 when he was an examiner at one of the very early certification courses held in Lehigh Acres, Florida. Two years later he became the USGTF national course director (now director of instruction), a position he’s held ever since.
Amidst greater restrictions and lockdowns currently in Canada due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the Canadian Golf Teachers Federation has found a way to not only continue operations, but thrive as increased interest has taken hold. CGTF courses are now held online via Zoom. This interest serves to verify that teaching golf continues to be a viable career even during troubled times, and to cement the CGTF as the leader in the field of golf instruction in Canada. More information about the CGTF can be found at http://www.CGTF.com. 
USGTF president Brandon Lee recently met with Gary Player and Charles Schwab at the Loxahatchee Golf Club in Florida this past month. The group teed off for a friendly round of golf while discussing the growth of the golf teaching industry. It is through the encouragement and applause of legends in the world of golf that we strive to continue to preserve our honor as the world’s best teaching professional training institution.
Player is a nine-time major championship winner, while Schwab is the founder of the Charles Schwab Corporation, the largest discount securities dealer in the United States. Although he retired as CEO in 2008, he remains chairman to this day. 
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 
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.