March 2019

2 Apr 2019 admin

Major U.S. Cup Announcement

For the first time since its inception in 1996, the United States Golf Teachers Cup will change formats. The 2019 edition, to be held Monday and Tuesday, October 7-8 at Oak Creek Country Club in Sedona, Arizona, will feature a concurrent pro-am, similar to what is played every year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on tour.

Each USGTF participant is encouraged to bring an amateur partner with a verified USGA handicap through the GHIN system. The format will be 36 holes of four-ball, using the best score between the pro’s gross score and his or her amateur partner’s net score, with amateurs allotted 80% of their course handicap. USGTF professionals will still be competing for their own individual titles, as in years past.

Look for final information and entry forms available soon at www.UnitedStatesGolfTeachersCup.com.

2 Apr 2019 admin

Richards Wins National Open

Christopher Richards from Trinidad & Tobago, a USGTF member and 2007 World Golf Teachers Cup champion, won the 112th Trinidad & Tobago Open this past March with a four-round total of 280, besting runner-up and PGA Tour player Ben Martin by nine strokes. The tournament was played at St. Andrews Golf Club in Moka, where fellow USGTF member Anthony Benny is the head teaching professional. Richards also won the 2010 United States Golf Teachers Cup. The win gives Richards an exemption into the Jamaica Classic on PGA Tour Latin America.

2 Apr 2019 admin

USGTF Regional Action Starts Soon

USGTF regional championships are a great way to compete and enjoy some camaraderie among your fellow members. Regional championships offer a way to get together without traveling extremely long distances, in most cases.

Southwest Region – The USGTF Southwest Region Championship will be held Saturday and Sunday, May 4-5, at Ridgeview Ranch Golf Course in Plano, Texas. Region director Bruce Sims is the host. A practice round is available Friday, May 3, for a cart fee, and a dinner will be held that evening. The entry fee is $225, and an optional $20 skins game is available. For more information and to enter, please contact Sims at (214) 475-5168, bsimspro@hotmail.com.

Northwest Region – USGTF Northwest Region director Nathan Guerrero has scored a real coup with his securing historic TPC Harding Park in San Francisco for the 2019 USGTF Northwest Region Championship, to be held Wednesday and Thursday, May 15-16, 2019. The entry fee of $295 includes two days of golf and prize money, and division play will be based upon the number of entrants. To enter, send your name, age, gender, telephone number, email address and a check for $295 to Nathan Guerrero, USGTF Northwest Director, 736 Guerrero Street, San Francisco, CA 94110. The entry deadline is April 20, 2019. Please contact Guerrero at prtime.ng@gmail.com should you have any questions.

Southeast Region – May 18-19, 2019, at GlenLakes Country Club in Weeki Wachee, Florida. This private course is challenging, beautiful and impeccably maintained. Mature stands of oak and pine, water features, undulating hills and sand traps provide endless variations of play. A prize fund of $1,000 and the Southeast Trophy is assured with a field of 12 players. Entry deadline is May 10. Send entries to

USGTF National Office
200 S. Indian River Drive, Suite #206
Fort Pierce, FL 34950

If paying with credit card, call the office directly at (888) 346-3290. Questions? Please contact USGTF Southeast Regional director Mike Stevens at ams1127@msn.com.

Central Region – The 2019 USGTF Central Region Championship, a 36-hole stroke play event, will be held Sunday and Monday August 4thand 5th at Pheasant Run Golf Course in Canton, Michigan. For more information and to register, please visit http://www.mogtt.com/central-championship; Questions can be referred to region director Brent Davies at btkadavies@comcast.net or (248) 701-6843. The Michigan/Ontario Golf Teachers Tour also boasts a complete summer schedule. Please visit http://www.mogtt.com for more information.

Northeast Region – The 2019 USGTF Northeast Region Championship will be conducted Friday, June 21 at Mercer Oaks West Course in West Windsor Township, New Jersey. Region director Bob Corbo serves as the tournament host. The entry fee is $165. For more information and to enter, please contact Corbo at simductivegolf@gmail.com.

1 Apr 2019 admin

Letter From Recent USGTF Course Attendee

I would like to officially thank you and the USGTF for the wonderful week of learning and laughs in Las Vegas. The facilities were amazing and the instruction was very insightful. Bill Rice is a top-notch instructor and moreover, a great human being. He clearly knows what he is doing and makes it easy to translate into repeatable action. My lesson calendar is bursting at the seams and I am approaching each student with a new sense of confidence that I didn’t have prior to the class.

My intention is to progress through to the Master level and then become a certification instructor. Further, I would love to entertain the idea of using my facility in the future as a host location for certification classes. All in good time, of course, but I thought that I would put that out there to discuss further down the road.

In closing, I will highly recommend the USGTF to those interested in pursuing their dream to teach and grow the game of golf. Thank you again, I look forward to future interactions.

My best,
Rich Howard

1 Apr 2019 admin

“PRO” File – Touring Professional Jose De Jesus Rodriguez

One of the more remarkable stories in recent times in professional golf belongs to Jose De Jesus Rodriguez. At the age of 15, he illegally crossed the border from Mexico to the United States and wound up in Arkansas, where for the next 10 years he worked at a golf course. Returning home to Mexico after those 10 years, he began caddying and continued to play golf, where a wealthy member bought him a membership, and as Rodriguez’s talent became apparent, sponsored him into the professional ranks. Rodriguez started his career on the Mexican Tour and Canadian Tour, eventually graduating to PGA Tour Latino America and the Web.com Tour. He qualified to play the PGA Tour for the 2018-19 season through his performance on the Web.com Tour. Rodriguez’s story is one of hard work, perseverance and a little bit of luck along the way. As of April 1, he stands 184th in FedEx Cup points.

1 Apr 2019 admin

Editorial – Ten Dollars An Inch!

Ten dollars an inch. That’s how much it costs for a three-foot putter these days. The rack of putters in our pro shop carries a price tag of $360 each. What a country, you can buy accuracy. Yet, even the pros who all have these wands miss three-foot putts when it really counts. Hard to figure how anyone could fork over that kind of scratch for something that sends a ball generally no more than 60 feet. But they do it gladly, as if there is some magic hidden in a head shape or soda-can grip.

It’s amazing how many styles of putters have been created over the centuries. You know the saying, “It’s not the arrow, it’s the Indian.” Just replace arrow with putter and Indian with human. There is no putter out there that can compensate for nerves. Putting is about confidence. If you think you’re a bad putter, then you will be a bad putter, no matter what you have in your hands. Someone once asked Ben Crenshaw why he was such a good putter and he said it was because he liked to putt.

Also, how many people spend time working on their putting stroke? They’ll spend hours on the range, yet barely a few minutes before a round on the practice green. As I said, putting is about confidence, but also good technique. Technique is about repetition, and good technique builds confidence. In my younger days I played with a friend who was the best putter I ever saw, He used one of those putters that looked like it came from a miniature putt-putt operation. He spent more time on the practice green than anywhere else. He almost never missed anything from four feet or less. Maybe it was because he practiced four-foot putts for hours on end. The great humorist Will Rogers once said about golf, “Golf doesn’t need better golfers, it needs better putters.” He meant humans, not implements. He could never figure out how someone could hit a shot from 150 yards to three feet, then miss the hole from that little distance. I don’t think it is because they didn’t pay $10 an inch!

By Mike Stevens, USGTF Member and Contributing Writer

2 Mar 2019 admin

Harman, Team USA Win World Cup

It took 21 years, but Mark Harman is finally back in the winner’s circle at the World Golf Teachers Cup. Since capturing his second individual championship in 1998 at San Roque, Spain, Harman watched other outstanding golfers like Dave Belling, Christopher Richards, James Douris and Ken Butler hoist the trophy. But this past February at La Iguana Golf Club in Herradura, Costa Rica, Harman emerged victorious by shooting 71-75 – 146 to edge Costa Rica’s Alejandro Duque by two shots. Overcoming an opening-hole double bogey, a four-putt on the third hole and three-putting two of the final three holes during the final round, Harman played the other 14 holes in three-under-par. Belling, the 2003 individual champion, finished third for the overall title and earned the World Golf Senior Teachers Cup individual title in the process, shooting 74-79 – 153. Ray Holder’s two-round total of 172 on scores of 85-87 defeated runner-up Peter Louis.  Mary Wolf captured the Ladies title with 87-84 – 171.

Employing a round-robin team match play format, Team USA swept all its matches to emerge victorious in the team competition, with Canada second and Asia third. Competitor Louis summed up the feelings of the participants when he said, “Fabulous golf course, unbelievable facilities. It was a pleasure to meet you all and to play with some of you. You are all exceptional and I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed it. Thanks to Mark and the rest of the team for organizing this treat.”

2 Mar 2019 admin

Florida Pro Wins 2019 US Pro Hickory

February 25, 2019: The Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club, opened in 1922 and laid out by noted architect Tom Bendelow, was described by the Tampa Tribune as a brute of a course, stretching out over 6,400 yards. Probably not worthy by today’s standard, but a stout test for the century-old clubs used back then. The links held up well against some excellent modern-day hickory golfers with Boca Raton, Florida, professional Jeremy Moe carding a 77 to have his name affixed to the John Shippen Cup. Using a 1908-replica ball, Moe shot the same score that Willie Smith did the first round at Myopia Hunt Club in the 1908 U.S. Open. The winning average for four rounds in that Open was 80.5.

The USPHGC is sponsored by the United States Golf Teachers Federation and is open to all golf professionals, male and female. Players compete for the same $5,000 prize fund associated with the original Florida Open won by Leo Diegel. The golf course is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and one of only three in the state.

2 Mar 2019 admin

USGTF Regional Tournament Schedule

Southwest Region – The USGTF Southwest Region Championship will be held Saturday and Sunday, May 4-5, at Ridgeview Ranch Golf Course in Plano, Texas. Region director Bruce Sims is the host. A practice round is available Friday, May 3, for a cart fee, and a dinner will be held that evening. The entry fee is $225, and an optional $20 skins game is available. For more information and to enter, please contact Sims at (214) 475-5168, bsimspro@hotmail.com.

Northwest Region – USGTF Northwest Region director Nathan Guerrero has scored a real coup with his securing historic TPC Harding Park in San Francisco for the 2019 USGTF Northwest Region Championship, to be held Wednesday and Thursday, May 15-16, 2019. The entry fee of $295 includes two days of golf and prize money, and division play will be based upon the number of entrants. To enter, send your name, age, gender, telephone number, email address and a check for $295 to Nathan Guerrero, USGTF Northwest Director, 736 Guerrero Street, San Francisco, CA 94110. The entry deadline is April 20, 2019. Please contact Guerrero at prtime.ng@gmail.com should you have any questions.

Southeast Region – May 18-19, 2019, at GlenLakes Country Club in Weeki Wachee, Florida. This private course is challenging, beautiful and impeccably maintained. Mature stands of oak and pine, water features, undulating hills and sand traps provide endless variations of play. A prize fund of $1,000 and the Southeast Trophy is assured with a field of 12 players. Entry deadline is May 10. Send entries to

USGTF National Office

200 S. Indian River Drive, Suite #206

Fort Pierce, FL 34950

If paying with credit card, call the office directly at (888) 346-3290. Questions? Please contact USGTF Southeast Regional director Mike Stevens at ams1127@msn.com.

Central Region – The 2019 USGTF Central Region Championship, a 36-hole stroke play event, will be held Sunday and Monday August 4th and 5th at Pheasant Run Golf Course in Canton, Michigan. For more information and to register, please visit http://www.mogtt.com/central-championship. Questions can be referred to region director Brent Davies at btkadavies@comcast.net or (248) 701-6843. The Michigan/Ontario Golf Teachers Tour also boasts a complete summer schedule. Please visit http://www.mogtt.com for more information.

Northeast Region – The 2019 USGTF Northeast Region Championship will be conducted Friday, June 21 at Mercer Oaks West Course in West Windsor Township, New Jersey. Region director Bob Corbo serves as the tournament host. The entry fee is $165. For more information and to enter, please contact Corbo at simductivegolf@gmail.com.

2 Mar 2019 admin

Pro Shop Closeout Sale

USGTF logoed solid short sleeve shirts by Nike with Teaching Professional on the sleeve.

Available in red, white or navy – $40.00. Can be purchased by contacting the USGTF National Office by phone or email only at (888) 346-3290, suzy@usgtf.com.