Page 43 - Summer2020GTP
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STORIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD





        That’s what the CGTF course suggested to its            enjoyed meeting professional athletes, Olympians,
        participants                                            TV personalities and my high school drama
             So many experiences that I had with each           teacher again.
        student were starting to shape my own methods                And lastly, the friendships I have with members
        for teaching, but it wasn’t until the phone rang        and examiners. Spending time with guys like Peter
        one afternoon that I was forced to be a better          Jacklic, David Reid, Greg Salazar, Jeff Howe and
        communicator. Bob Bryant called to ask if I             Yves Therrien, just to name a handful of people
        would be interested in being a course examiner.         I call friends and will always be grateful to for
        Thankfully, I accepted. I was about to realize I had    the laughs and rounds of golf we played. I have
        the best job in golf instruction.                       always looked forward to seeing new and long-
                Over the next dozen years, I would meet         time members at tournaments or golf shows.
        some very special people and have some very                  I am anticipating the change in status from
        special moments, memories and experiences.              professional back to amateur in August. Playing in
        The CGTF made me who I am today. I’m a                  provincial tournaments will be fun and force me to
        passionate entrepreneur with an incredible love for     play more golf to prepare for events. My 14-year-
        my community. I’ll be forever indebted to Geoff         old son is playing competitive golf now, and
        Bryant, Bob Bryant and Marc Ray for including           playing golf with him is and has been a tremendous
        me as part of an organization that gets it. There       way to spend time together. He’s beating me,
        is a new era starting for the U.S. and Canadian         which isn’t that difficult, but still hard to take as I
        federations. Let’s allow the new dynamic leaders        expected he’d beat me at maybe 16, not 14!
        to take our product to new heights and continue               I hope golf instruction continues to improve.
        to help thousands of golfers enjoy the greatest         I wished I had an iPhone when I did playing
        game in the world not played on ice.                    lessons in the beginning, or YouTube channels for
             I’d like to share a few memorable moments          information. I would have helped people quicker.
        from my time certifying great people to become          Golf’s future is in good hands, but if I could give a
        great golf instructors. Firstly, I enjoyed the travel. I   freshly certified member tips, this would be my list:
        went basically coast-to-coast and spent a week at       1.   Teach the actions; know the reactions in a golf
        a time in areas such as the Laurentians in Quebec;          swing
        Kelowna, British Columbia, and Calgary – travel         2.  Be personable and listen
        destinations to most people that I was lucky            3.   Represent yourself and organization as you
        enough to be working in. Traveling as far as Brazil         should because you’ll be judged, as you are
        to learn and play with my fellow members from the           held to a high standard
        World Golf Teachers Federation.                         4.   I’m still realizing where I could have been
             Secondly, our courses had participants that            better, so never cease to learn and improve
        were so diverse in culture, professions and ability.        as a teacher.
        But they all wanted to leave at the end of the
        week with more knowledge and passion for
        helping others. Notable participants were family
        members of golf Hall of Famers that looked no
        further than the CGTF to prepare people they                                    Bill Bath caddies for long-time
                                                                                        friend Mackenzie Hughes on
        cared about to get started in the golf industry. I                              the 2017 RBC Canadian Open.


                                                              ®
                                       Sharing Our Passion  Around The World!”
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                                                 SUMMER 2020       Golf Teaching Pro
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