Naturally, Lou Guzzi is charged up for this coming golf season, and here's
why.  Talamore Country Club in Ambler, has been bolstered by the addition of a beautiful 1,200 sq. ft state of the art teaching studio on its practice range.
It's the new home of the Lou Guzzi Golf Academy and where Guzzi, the director of instruction, has the goal of creating one of the finest high tech teaching academies and learning facilities in the country.

Guzzi is a Class A member of the PGA of America, a former Philadelphia Section PGA Teacher of the Year, and a member of the PGA Presidents' Council for growing the game. He serves as co-chair of the Philadelphia Section PGA Teaching Committee with Dom DiJulia and over the years has been a guest speaker at PGA Section teaching seminars. 
 

He spent nearly a decade as the head professional at Flourtown Country Club before branching off into teaching exclusively.  Over the last five years he has been fine-tuning his academy at the Lower State Road Driving Range in North Wales. Now, with the new digs, students will step through the door and into a state of the art teaching studio.

The building, which is open year-round for instruction, features two teaching bays, each with its own retractable door that opens onto Talamore's practice range, a unique tract of land built to resemble a golf hole.  The doors can be closed on severe-weather days and the fully-heated building can provide an indoor teaching facility equipped with nets, a putting green for video work and of course, Guzzi's array of teaching aids.  Students will experience a true golfer's serenity courtesy of an awesome mural that adorns the building's four walls. Seven ceiling fans add to the atmosphere as well and will cool the bays in the heat of summer.  Combine the awesome arena with instruction from one of the top teachers in the country and Talamore Country Club truly offers one of the top all-around attractions in the tri-state area.

"It's really exciting," said Guzzi. "And I'm really excited for the student base because I can now provide them with every possible angle to teaching the game of golf. Talamore has it all."  Guzzi has found an ideal setting for the use of his V1 teaching software, where he can stop and start the video of a student's swing at any position with just a click of the mouse.

He uses a laptop to capture video of the student's swing, which can be viewed right there at the teaching bay or on a flashy 26-inch LCD screen mounted on the wall of Guzzi's adjacent office. Guzzi then has access to his entire database and can pull up videos of thousands of swings. He also has a vast library of instruction books at his disposal.

"I really want our studio to feel academic," said Guzzi. "I want students to experience a learning atmosphere just like they are in a college classroom."
Mission accomplished. Guzzi's cozy office feels like a scene right out of the Golf Channels, Golf Talk Live setting which provides another aspect of instruction in first-class style. Guzzi makes full use of both rooms during a lesson and because they are so close to each other, there is no time wasted traveling back and forth. And speaking of no time wasted, a beautiful bunker is waiting just outside the studio doors for those who need a quick tune-up before the end of a lesson.

"Superintendent John Roedell, Pablo, Jeff and the rest of his staff have been a huge help making this teaching studio a reality," said Guzzi. "I asked if a bunker could be built just outside the doors and like magic, it was done in a blink. John and his crew are awesome."  Guzzi also will actively teach at Talamore's five-acre short game facility to run his short game boot camps: three-hour sessions with lunch or dinner to follow for groups of up to 10 students.  "You can basically hit any short game shot imaginable from 80 yards and in," said Guzzi, who will also teach from the three practice putting greens to help his students perfect the skills taught on the putting green inside the studio.  "The purpose of the indoor putting surface is to record the stroke with the V1 system, analyze, correct and develop the proper mechanics of the stroke," said Guzzi. "And then once we have a stroke that is mechanically sound we can go out onto the putting green and focus on the art of putting."

In addition to being a former Philadelphia Section PGA Teacher of the Year, he has been recognized as one of Golf Digest's "Best Teachers in Your State," a "Top Regional Teacher in America" by Golf Magazine and he was recently named one of Golf Range Magazine's "Top 50 Golf Instructors in America" for the third time.

Guzzi's students stretch the spectrum from beginners to seasoned veterans. He gives a good chunk of his lessons to junior golfers and is eager to work with and build upon an already strong junior membership at Talamore. Guzzi will oversee Talamore's junior camps this summer along with PGA professional John Diamond, a former assistant professional at Talamore, who will teach full time at the studio.  Diamond will oversee a series of camps this summer that will run from Tuesdays through Fridays.  "The real focus of the junior camps will be on golf etiquette and golf instruction," said Guzzi. "We want to lay down a solid foundation in golf and from there hopefully get them to fall in love with the game. That's really a part of teaching that I absolutely love."  Diamond will also assist Guzzi in teaching juniors in another set of camps that run each Sunday all summer long.   Along with Guzzi and Diamond, Talamore first assistant Jason Krier will be available for golf instruction while PGA Director of Golf Tom McCarthy will be making sure all members and guests get the full Talamore experience.

Anyone interested can sign-up at www.louguzzi.com, a comprehensive website that also functions as Guzzi's online booking schedule.
Current and prospective students can log on, have complete access to Guzzi's schedule 24 hours a day and the freedom to book a lesson up to three months in advance at their own convenience.  After students book a lesson they receive a confirmation email. A reminder email is also sent 48 hours before the lesson and broadcast emails are sent to Guzzi's entire student base with weekly tips.  "I have found that in the last two years 95 percent of students love booking online," said Guzzi. "They can do it from work or from home. They can relax and book whenever they want."  The website also features a media section that gives students access to instruction articles, and a library of video tips. Guzzi also uses the website to form the student-teacher relationship that will only strengthen over time.  "I've had a lot of students come into their first lesson who would already be very familiar with my teaching style," said Guzzi.

The move to Talamore will also allow Guzzi to expand the golf trips that he organizes through the academy. Guzzi has put together winter golf school packages that combine vacation with instruction for years to the PGA Golf Club and the PGA Learning Center in Port St. Lucie, Fla.  Now Guzzi will be able to take trips to the Talamore Golf Resort in Southern Pines, N.C. which features two top-rate courses: Talamore Golf Club designed by Rees Jones and the Mid South Club designed by Arnold Palmer.  And most importantly for Guzzi, these trips help him provide the best instruction possible for his students, something that fuels his passion as a PGA professional even after nearly 30 years.

Guzzi beams when seeing his students succeed. Lynda Kwon, a Talamore member who has been a student of Guzzi's for nearly three years since she first seriously started playing the game, has seen her handicap dwindle all the way down to a 4.  Kwon, a senior at North Penn High School and one of the top players on its golf team, is headed to Columbia University on a golf scholarship in the fall.  Guzzi helped Kwon put together a DVD of her golf swing showing her hitting shots that she sent out to college coaches.  "I think they all appreciated seeing my swing rather than just the stuff on paper," said Kwon. "Lou has been a really big help."  Kwon worked with Guzzi once or twice each week to help her get to the level she plays at today.  "You can learn something in a lesson, but a week later you have a tendency to go back to your old habits whether you like it or not," said Kwon. "Lou can always catch that."  Kwon too is thrilled about the move to Talamore.   "I mean, look at this," said Kwon, pointing to the 26-inch LCD TV. "It's really cool."  At his new home, students like Kwon will undoubtedly continue to be impressed.

Guzzi recently sent some pictures of the new studio to his friend Mike Malaska, the worldwide director of instruction for the Nicklaus Golf Academies.  "I showed him pictures of the facility and he was just blown away," said Guzzi. "He said that you've got a facility where you can provide your students your golf instruction at the highest level. He was thrilled."

Fellow PGA Professionals and friends Jim Smith Jr. and John Spina were of great help to Guzzi. When Smith Jr. took the PGA Director of Golf position at the Philadelphia Cricket Club a few years back he recommended Guzzi to Talamore.  When the time came Talamore gave Guzzi a call and here he is, spending days and nights fine-tuning his state of the art studio to do what he loves to do, teach the game of golf.  "I am honored to have my academy at such a great club like Talamore and I thank Jim and John for their belief in my teaching ability to recommend me to Talamore."

Guzzi will be on hand all weekend long at the second annual Victory Golf Show at the Valley Forge Convention Center that will run Friday, Feb. 29, 2008 from 4 to 9 p.m., Saturday, March 1 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, March 2 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  He will give a presentation on Sunday from 1 to 2 p.m. on swing mechanics; will be on one of many PGA professionals providing free 15-minute lessons throughout the day both Saturday and Sunday when he will also be stationed in the Talamore Country Club booth to answer questions.