GARY MURPHY, PGA
PGA Teaching ProfessionalGary Murphy is a PGA Golf Professional who was born and raised in Westchester, New York. He graduated from Villanova University in 1987 with a BA in Economics and a minor in Political Science. In 1992, Gary was elected to membership in the PGA and has served on the Metropolitan PGA Board of Governors, Membership, Tournament and Nominating Committees.
He has attended the PGA/USGA Rules Workshop and was the winner of the National PGA Senior Junior Championship in 2001. He was also the Low Professional in the 2006 and 2008 Mitch Pro Am, Low Professional 2011 Great River Pro Am, Low Round 62 at the Concord International course and a medalist of Westchester PGA Qualifying with 65 at Rolling Hills Country Club in Wilton, CT.
Gary worked at Lake Isle Country Club and Wykagyl Country Club prior to joining the staff at Innis Arden in 1994, and was hired as Head Golf Professional in 1997 before retiring in 2023. He is now the Head Golf Coach at Fordham University since 2023 as well as teaching golf at ZSTRICT at Chelsea Piers Stamford.
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
It is important to understand how to learn the game of golf whether you are just starting out or a seasoned player. When the opportunity arises to teach a total beginner it is like starting with a blank canvas. The player has no bad habits or misconceptions of how to swing or how to play different shots so lessons can begin right away with learning. When an experienced player takes a lesson, we have to go back to the player’s history and evaluate their history and knowledge to ensure they have the correct fundamentals and concepts. I follow a six step approach to teaching the game of golf which includes fundamentals of the setup, motion of the swing, technique to pitch/punch the golf ball, how to chip and putt, bunker plays, and how to really “play the game”. If you try to learn the game in this order you will have the most success!