Rinker’s Golf Tips Top 100 Teacher Mike Bender was my guest this week. We discussed how he got started in golf at age 12 in California with his mother and then in the summertime with his dad in Iowa. There was a great amateur circuit in Iowa and a great place for Mike to learn the game. He was first introduced to golf instruction by Ben Doyle, who was a Golf Machine disciple. Then it was David Leadbetter and Mike Adams who he met playing the mini-tours in Florida. Once Mike qualified for the Tour for the 1987 season, he met Mac O’Grady who was a two-time PGA Tour winner, and another Golf Machine disciple.
Mike’s first teaching job was in the summertime in Waterloo, Iowa. The head pro called him and asked if he wanted to come teach, which he did. Mike would continue to pursue a playing career and win the Iowa Open before qualifying for the Tour in the fall of 1986. After three years on the Tour, Mike would again return to teaching in Iowa in the summertime and at the old min-tour hangout in Orlando, Cypress Creek in 1990. The rest is history. Mike was named National PGA Teacher of the year in 2009 and in 2011 ranked as one of the games five best teachers by Golf Digest. He has worked with many Tour players including former Masters Champ, Zach Johnson. He has a new 5000 sf learning center at Magnolia Plantation in Lake Mary, Florida with fitness, video bays, and a putting studio. Outside Mike has built a distance wedge range with zones for skill tests. Many of you may remember the wedge shot that Zach Johnson holed out on 18 to beat Tiger in his tournament last fall. Mike said the best wedge players have low trajectory with the ball back in their stance, with a shallow angle of attack. I couldn’t agree more!