Innovative teacher Brian Manzella set for West Michigan Golf Show

GRAND RAPIDS — Brian Manzella, one of golf’s most influential teachers, will be a headliner at the 27th West Michigan Golf Show set for Feb. 13-15 in downtown Grand Rapids.

The 52-year-old New Orleans native will join previously announced Kathy Gildersleeve-Jensen—the current National PGA Teacher of the Year—on the seminar stage providing free clinics and lessons all weekend at DeVos Place.

Manzella was recently featured in Golf Digest’s November issue where he was heralded as one of 33 individuals cited in an article titled, “Disrupters, Innovators & Risk-Takers.” The 2013 PGA Gulf States Section Teacher of the Year,  Manzella is known for his advancement of the science of golf instruction as well as his enormous following on the internet. His website’s instructional forums have garnered hundreds of thousands of page views while hundreds of teachers from around the world interact on his Facebook page. As quoted in Golf Digest, Manzella said: “Another teacher might know the science better than I do but I turn it into something the average guy can understand.”

West Michigan Golf Show’s Carolyn Alt says the addition of Manzella again reconfirms the show’s longstanding reputation for attracting the best teachers in the game. “Brian may not be a household name—yet—but among golf teachers around the globe he’s well-known and highly respected.  In many ways, he’s both a teachers’ teacher and a swing doctor for everyday golfers.”

Manzella describes himself as a “functionalist” as opposed to a “method” instructor. “Whatever I have to do as a teacher with my student to get the club to do what it needs to do, that’s the program for that lesson or series of lessons. And my primary tool is TrackMan.” Using Doppler radar, TrackMan is a state-of-art launch monitor that provides a host of swing data. Manzella and his group of certified instructors were some of the first teachers to adopt and popularize the effective use of it.

A  25-year member of the PGA of America, Manzella’s Academy is located at English Turn Golf and Country Club in New Orleans, home to a PGA Tour stop for almost 20 years. Manzella is a two-time Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher and is a devoted follower of the late instructor Ben Doyle best known for his interpretation of the complicated and seminal golf textbook, “The Golfing Machine.” A featured instructor for Golf Magazine, Manzella counts among his many long time students David Toms, a 13-time winner on the PGA Tour and the 2001 PGA Champion. He’s currently ranked by Golf Digest as among the Top 50 best teachers in the U.S.

Held continuously since 1989, the West Michigan Golf Show is sponsored by Treetops Resort, Gun Lake Casino, Golf Association of Michigan, Boyne Resorts, and the Michigan PGA. Several charities will benefit from the Show, including Patriot Golf Day, Folds of Honors and First Tee of West Michigan.

Produced by ShowSpan Inc. and held at DeVos Place, the West Michigan Golf Show’s hours are 2:00 pm-9:00 pm, Friday; 10:00 am-7:00 pm, Saturday; and 10:00 am-5:00 pm, Sunday. Tickets are $10 for adults, $4 for children ages 6-14, and children 5 and under are free. Tickets will be available at the door and online at www.westmichigangolfshow.com

 

GAM PARTNERS