Editorial – The Day My Life Changed

I started playing golf in 1959 and became pretty good at it. I won a few junior tournaments and was the medalist in the 1968 Massachusetts Junior Championship. I grew to love the game and everything about it. In college, I played for the school team, but good is not enough for a pro career. Also, the Army and Vietnam had other plans for me. After my honorable discharge, I went to work in the pharmaceutical industry. Golf was still a love and something I still played a reasonably high level.

Twenty years at Big Pharma was becoming a grind. One day in November 1995, I was thumbing through a golf magazine. In the classified section an ad stood out – “Learn to teach golf,” United States Golf Teachers Federation. I registered for a certification course the next month. Turns out it was the best decision I ever made.

So many good things have happened since. Little did I know there would be world travel, three U.S. Cup teams, Top 100 teacher status, Senior championship and election to the Teachers Hall of Fame. The USGTF offered an opportunity and it changed my life. That day was my good fortune and I’ll forever be grateful.

Mike Stevens – USGTF member, Tampa, Florida