news & notes

FIRST WORLDWIDE RANKING OF GOLF TEACHERS  RELEASED

In yet another first, the World Golf Teachers Federation (WGTF) has compiled and is about to release its Top 60 ranking of worldwide golf teaching professionals. Various magazines have published their own top teacher rankings, but these have dealt strictly with teachers within the United States.

“This is the first worldwide ranking of golf teachers compiled anywhere, and we are very proud to continue being a pioneer in the golf teaching industry,” stated Geoff Bryant, president of the WGTF. “With the growth of our organization and the game internationally, we felt it was important to pay tribute to the many fine teachers who belong to the WGTF.”

Seventeen countries are represented in the WGTF’s Top 60. The United States leads the pack with 23 teachers on the list, followed by Canada with eight. Other countries represented include Aruba, Australia, Brazil, England, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Scotland, South Africa, Taiwan, Trinidad, and Vietnam.

The teachers were named to the list by a panel of international experts selected by the WGTF. Various factors, such as years of experience, student and peer evaluations, reputation, and overall teaching ability were used in compiling the Top 60.

The WGTF is comprised of 23 international divisions representing 35 nations. The WGTF has 17,000 members worldwide and its members can be found in all facets of the golf teaching industry. For more information on the WGTF, please visit its website at www.wgtf.com. For more information on the United States Golf Teachers Federation, please visit its website at www.usgtf.com.                

   In a recent issue of Golf Teaching Pro magazine, we presented an opportunity for all members of the World Golf Teachers Federation to participate in an official Top 25 capacity.  We had an outstanding response to the survey from golf teaching professionals and WGTF presidents throughout the world.  In fact, our initial survey called for the Top 25 Teachers.  However, upon further review, the quantity and quality of the nominees was so high that we felt limiting the list to just 25 would be a great disservice.  Therefore, we have decided to recognize 60 teachers as a result.
            Initially, we hesitated in creating such a list in the belief that it would exclude many worthy candidates.  As we stated in our member publication though, we felt the benefits would outweigh any trepidations that we may have had.  Since it is difficult to measure pure teaching ability through any method, it was of course necessary to take into account a number of other factors.
            Those who made this list had to undergo a rigorous examination of not only their teaching ability, but also their overall experience and contributions to the game, their home federations, and to the WGTF in general. 
            This is the first worldwide ranking of golf teaching professionals in the history of the game.  Once again, the WGTF continues its role as pioneer in the golf teaching industry.  Among our many accomplishments:

            Success in the golf teaching profession requires many characteristics similar to other professions.  These include a certain amount of entrepreneurship, salesmanship, subject knowledge, experience, and communication skills.  The successful teacher seems to acquire, over time, all of these attributes and even more. 

                           Geoff Bryant

                                                               President and C E O, USGTF and  WGTF

Florida's Gaines earns top teaching award 

To say Bill Gaines was caught off-guard is a little like watching him after someone tries to tell him the Natural Golf swing doesn't work.

When Ed Woronicz, Natural Golf's Director of Instruction, announced that Gaines was the winner of the inaugural Teacher of the Year Award for Natural Golf Certified Instructors, you could have knocked Gaines over with the proverbial feather.

"In my wildest dreams, I never expected it," Gaines said afterwards. "We have a lot of great teachers at Natural Golf, and it would have been an honor for me just to be mentioned in the same breath as them.

"In my opinion, we have some world-class teachers at Natural Golf, and I figured there were at least two dozen other instructors who might win," said the easy-going instructor who teaches throughout the northern Florida region but primarily around Jacksonville. "When they called my name, I was flabbergasted. It was definitely one of the few times this big, old Alabama boy was speechless."

Judging from the rousing, standing ovation Gaines received from the more than 120 other Natural Golf Certified Instructors in attendance, his peers certainly thought the right person had been selected.

Gaines was one of many Natural Golf Certified Instructors honored during a special awards ceremony held Feb. 25 in Orlando, Fla., as part of Natural Golf's annual Teaching Summit, but it was Gaines who received the top award that was presented for the first time this year.

"We wanted to start recognizing the outstanding teaching efforts our Certified Instructors achieve each year. We have recognized them in the past for sales efforts, but never for their teaching efforts," Woronicz explained. "So, we established the Teacher of the Year Award. Not surprisingly, since this was the first one, it was a very tough decision, but as we looked over the criteria, Bill's name kept rising to the top."

An example of Gaines' extra efforts during 2001, Woronicz said, was when Gaines taught a one-day school to a husband and wife. After a few weeks, the husband felt like he wasn't understanding the Natural Golf swing, so Gaines drove two hours to meet with the man near his home and gave him a free follow-up lesson that lasted for more than two hours. When it was over, the man "got it" and was very thankful for Gaines' extra effort.

"I'll do anything to help my students become better golfers. That's my number one priority," he says.

As a person who enlisted in the Marines at age 17, served in Vietnam and worked in the steel industry for 31 years, Gaines knows the value of appreciating what he has. With four children and having been married for 37 years to his wife Penny, he is also thankful for his new career as a golf teacher, which he began in 1997.

Gaines didn't waste any time after turning "pro," earning a master's certification level from the United States Golf Teachers Federation in early 1998. But he also saw the value of teaching Natural Golf and became a Certified Instructor in May 1998.

"I already had built up a good clientele base in conventional golf, but I quickly realized Natural Golf was the way to go," Gaines said. Gaines, who for a long time played to a 2 handicap, also realized that he had to let his own game go by the wayside, as he devoted more and more time to teaching.

"To be honest, I really don't care about my golf game anymore. I care about my students' games," he said. "Part of my philosophy is that I just can't accept mediocrity in myself, so I put all my energies into teaching now.

"And I just love doing what I do. I'm sure I'll be teaching golf until the day I die."

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