Online membership renewal is available for those who want a quick and convenient way to remain a USGTF member in good standing. USGTF membership offers many benefits, including continuing education opportunities, member communication via our monthly e-newsletter and Golf Teaching Pro magazine, as well as our online community at www.USGTFMembers.com. Equipment and other discounts, liability insurance, networking opportunities at our regional and national events are also features of USGTF membership, as well as the right to continue to call yourself a USGTF member.
To renew your membership for 2018, please click here.
Wednesday, October 4, marks the deadline for entries into the 22nd annual United States Golf Teachers Cup and the 13th biennial World Golf Teachers Cup at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nevada, October 16-19. These premier events bring teaching professionals from around the world together to enjoy a week of competition and camaraderie.
Teaching professionals Bruce Sims, Matt Smith, Michael Wolf and David Belling will be on hand to conduct a teaching seminar during the week. In addition, vendors will be onsite on Sunday, October 15, to showcase teaching aids and products. Although the deadline is near, if you haven’t yet made plans to attend, there is still time to enter. For more information and to enter, please visit www.WorldGolfTeachersCup.com. You may also call the USGTF National Office at (888) 346-3290.
Has it been several years since you achieved your teaching certification
Since the art of learning is an ongoing process, a refresher course could be just what you need to “freshen up” those skills.
We are pleased to now offer a refresher course on the core training topics covered during your USGTF certification process. The online refresher course includes the following:
• Teaching the Full Swing video
• Teaching Faults & Cures video
• Teaching the Short Game video
• Clubfitting for Teaching Professionals video
• How to Teach Golf – The American Golf Teaching Method – 2nd edition
The course is available to current USGTF members only and membership must be verified before course access is permitted. You may go to click here to enroll in the course.
Shafiq Masih took home his first CGTF Cup championship when he bested a stellar field this past September at Bay of Quinte Golf & Country Club in Belleville, Ontario, firing a two-round total of 140 to run away with the title. Conor Hache and Brandon McLean finished a distant second at 149. Bill Hardwick and Peter Jaklic rounded out the top five.
In the Ladies division, Lisa Fleming was a three-stroke winner over runner-up Jennifer MacKendrick, with Donna Dunbar placing third. Greg Salazar won the Senior division, also emerging victorious with a three-stroke win. Paul Duncan and Vito Cisternino tied for runner-up honors, with Don Sugden finishing fourth.
The event was held September 18-19 at the Bay of Quinte Country Club in Bellevue, Ontario. The CGTF Cup is an annual event and brings together teaching professionals from all over Canada, as well as from the United States and other countries.
Gabriel Augustin Wartelle, son of longtime WGTF/USGTF member Thomas T Wartelle, won the USSSA 11 & under National Championship. Gabriel also garnered the Tour’s Leading Points Winner award for this age group. The national championship was held at the TPC Louisiana in Avondale, home of the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic.
Gabriel held the lead from day one of the three-round event. However, he had to hold off two surging competitors during the final round. He sealed the win with a 10-foot putt on the last hole. Gabriel’s solid play during the week provided him the advantage to overcome the other competitors, as he lead the field in driving accuracy and ball striking.
In addition to his recent win, Gabriel was named to the Louisiana Golf Association’s River Cup team, which is a junior Ryder Cup-style format competition, to be played against Mississippi’s best junior golfers. The event will be held at Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant, Louisiana.
Gabriel trains under the tutelage of his father, Thomas. His current home course is TPC Louisiana. As a French citizen, Gabriel normally represents France. However, he holds dual French/American citizenship and will represent Louisiana in the LGA River Cup.
Golfers from India have yet to make their mark as a superstar in the game, but Anirban Lahiri may be out to change that. He has played on the last two Presidents Cup teams for the International team, and is growing more comfortable on the American tour.
Lahiri, nicknamed “Ban” (pronounced bon), learned the game when he tagged along with his father, a doctor. He began his professional career on the Asian Tour in 2008 at the age of 20 and scored his first win in 2011. He continued to do well on that tour with several more victories before moving on to the European Tour. A two-time winner there, Lahiri made his way to the United States after working his way into the Official World Golf Ranking’s top 50. He played in the Masters and PGA Championship, where he finished fifth, in 2015, and qualified for the PGA Tour after participating in the Web.com Tour final series. He has secured his playing privilege for 2017-18, and many believe he has a game capable of winning multiple times in his career.
Lahiri also represented his country in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. The 30-year-old Lahiri is fluent in three languages and is married to the former Ipsa Jamwal.
This past Labor Day weekend, Justin Thomas won the Dell Technologies Championship for his fourth tournament win of the year, which includes the British Open. (He would also later win the Tour Championship for his fifth win.) When asked what had changed this year, Justin emphatically stated it was his caddie, Jimmy Johnson. Justin’s caddie keeps him focused on the present shot at hand, which keeps his emotions under control regardless of situation or score.
While most people do not play golf with a caddie, you really do not need one to perform at your best. Ultimately, you must be your own best caddie.
When the pressure hits, you must tell yourself to stay in the moment, be positive, forget the past, focus on the present and remain calm. This is called self-talk, and all the great athletes and business executives have mastered their self-talk to be their own best caddie.
But when the pressure hits, does your bad caddie come out? It is easy to get into a bad caddie habit. Here are four easy steps to fire your bad caddie:
Step 1: Get a rubber band and tie it around your wrist.
Step 2. When you make a negative self-comment, snap your rubber band. Not so much as it hurts, but enough to startle you.
Step 3: Replace your negative comment with a positive one.
Step 4: Repeat as often as necessary.
Remember, you hired your bad caddie by creating a bad habit. You can un-create this habit by snapping your bad caddie out of existence.
By Dr. Gregg Steinberg, USGTF Sports Psychologist
About the author:
Dr. Gregg Steinberg is the USGTF sports psychology and is recognized by Golf Digest as one of the world’s greatest performance psychologists. He has worked with stars such as Brandt Snedeker and Brian Gay, and is a regular on PGA Tour Radio on Sirius/XM. He has also inspired companies such as Toyota, Hughes International, TRowe Price and Bank of America. His website is www.DrGreggSteinberg.com. See more articles like this at www.MasteringGolfPsychology.com. Also, please check out the USGTF-certified golf psychology course at this site. You can take this course for 1/2 off for the month of October with the promo code iggy199. On this site, there is a free mental game e-book, as well as many free videos and articles.
