TGM lineage

Ed Hanczaryk made a post earlier this month in which he suggested we try to get a lineage on some of the TGM AI's.
This was compiled By Brian Manzella and posted on iseek. Brian was kind enough to allow me to post it here. Keep in mind that Gotham Golf Blog has no preference or favoritism towards any particular one of these instructors (Although I do work with Gregg). Since it is Brian's work we will not edit it and post it in it's entirety.

By: Brian Manzella

...(Third person account since it may be copied)...

Ben Doyle - First Authorized Instructor of The Golfing Machine. Took TGM Author Homer Kelley's "framework" from the book, an developed a method for teaching what he calls a "Maximum Participation Pattern" to all levels of golfers. The results Ben gets with students willing to commit to a full overhaul are second to none. Ben is the most studied and copied teacher in golf, with nearly every famous teacher in the world owning his videos, mats or having worked with him in person. He is not a great public speaker, talks very low, and will not bend to the wind of pop-instruction. He is feared by some, hidden by others, knocked by competitors, and loved by long-time students.

Gregg McHatton - One of Ben's first direct proteges who made good. Gregg spoke at two of the first three PGA Teaching and Coaching Summits, was responsible for the development and (or) education of several teachers of note, such as Jim Petralia, Mike Hebron and Hank Haney among dozens of others. In recent years he has traveled less, and networked even less, and is just one of many hidden geniuses of modern golf instruction that doesn't fit into the cookie cutter golf media clone image. Teaches a similar very dynamic version of Ben Doyle's pattern and has done research that was years ahead of the pack, including work with Dr.Gideon Ariel of Olympic training fame.

Tom Ness/Chuck Cook/Martin Hall - Three guys who are on every top teacher list in the USA. All of whom started following much more famous teachers than Ben Doyle, but became huge followers of Ben, with Tom Ness being the most "Ben-like" of the group, followed by Chuck, and then Martin who has worked with other TGMers as well. All have worked with Tour winners, and in the USA are very big names, and have been on The Golf Channel, and in the magazines too many times as a group to even count.

Michael Jacobs - A former junior golfer in Mike Hebron's junior program, who studied with Ben Doyle and is a close associate of Rick Nielsen another New York-area prominent instructor. Very accomplished for his age, Mike nearly bought the rites to The Golfing Machine company, but continues to teach and gain status on Long Island. Is good friends with Brian Manzella, who he will be doing a school with in Long Island this year. The youngest G.S.E.D. (highest level instructor in The Golfing Machine system) ever.

Bobby Schaffer - Protege of both Gregg McHatton and Ben Doyle. Very accomplished player, who played on several US Tours as well as in other countries. Very long hitter for his size and excellent swinger of the club. On the top 10 of any list of "Best Swing By an Instructor." Has done numerous videos, does many corporate outings in the California area, and is still a relatively young man.

Steve Khatib - Protege of Ben Doyle, Gregg McHatton, and Bobby Schaffer (hence: "The Tree"). Very similar to Ben in swing model, but with a few modern touches and nods to the everyday player. Very bright man who studies the swing from many sources and is a fixture at PGA Summits, where is rooms with his great pals Ben Doyle, Brian Manzella and often Mike Finney.

Brian Manzella - Protege of Ben Doyle who came to Ben as "The most knowledgeable teacher on The Golfing Machine who had never worked with an Authorized Instructor" according to Ben. In the 20 years since Brian has learned from Ben, he has worked with several PGA Tour players, but mostly with Ryder Cupper David Toms, who Manzella taught to the Tour from college and then on the tour full-time and for the last 10 years on a part-time basis. An independent thinker, who teaches multiple patterns in multiple ways to golfers in his bases of Louisville, Kentucky, his home of New Orleans, Louisiana and from all over the USA and the world who come to his schools and lesson tee. Besides Ben Doyle, is the only teacher on earth that has attended every PGA Summit, every MIT Summit, and every TGM Summit. Operates a large golf website and produces very well-received videos.

Mike Finney/Tom Bartlett - Two long time students of both Ben Doyle and Brian Manzella who are both accomplished players and teachers in their own right. Mike was the #9 ranked Junior golfer in the USA and played on LSU's #1 ranked college golf team. Tom played on several US Tours and has competed in several long-drive competitions. Mike is a PGA Member and both he and Tom, are Authorized TGM Instructors, and work for the Brian Manzella Golf Academy. Mike has one of the finest swings in all of golf, and Tom is one of the best ball-strikers alive under 40 not playing on any Tour.

My notes: This of course covers immediate lineage to Ben Doyle. We still have countless others to uncover. Hopefully by reaching out to AI's across the country and asking them to introduce themselves we'll get a better grasp of who taught who and what. Remember we have Lynn Blake's camp, then there's George Kelnhofer (David Duval, Charles Howell III), Norrie Wright and countless others. I met quite a few Old timers this week, so we'll reach out and look to learn "about" and possibly "learn from" some of them.

Hit em Straight