The Wharf is pleased to announce the opening of The Hank Johnson School of Golf at The Golf Club of The Wharf. The Hank Johnson School is founded on the research based fundamental principles of effective motor skill learning and performance. This assures that each and every student is given the optimum opportunity to permanently improve their golf swing in the shortest possible time. Instructors are trained in the latest and most effective coaching techniques to help students learn to swing better and learn to apply techniques on the golf course to lower scores whether it is at the club or in a competitive setting. Instructors measure success based upon the competitive performance of the students. Records indicate that instructors have the ability to help golfers get better, faster than any other golf instructional organization in the world. Students of the Hank Johnson School of Golf have won on the LPGA PGA Tours as well as on the major college, amateur and junior levels.
The Hank Johnson School of Golf is home of Hank Johnson, the 2004 PGA Teacher of the Year and Golf Digest Top 50 Instructor, and Tony Ruggiero, lead instructor and host of Dewsweepers Golf Show on XM 146/Sirius 209 on the PGA Tour Network, and several local radio stations.
About Hank Johnson
A native of Alabama, Hank currently resides in Birmingham, Alabama where he is Director of Golf Instruction at Greystone Golf and Country Club. Hank is Research Consultant for American Sports Medicine Institute. He is Founder and Master Instructor of the Hank Johnson School of Golf which operates at Greystone, the Santa Rosa Golf and Beach Club in Santa Rosa, Florida, and The Golf Club of The Wharf.
Johnson, a twenty-year veteran of the Golf Digest Golf School Program, has authored numerous articles for Golf Digest, including ten cover stories. He is recognized as one of Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Teachers and one of Golf Digests Magazine’s Top 50 Teachers. Hank has been a member of the PGA since 1973 and in 2001 was inducted into The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Hank was selected as the 2004 National PGA Teacher of the year.
Johnson’s book How to Win the Three Games of Golf with Roger Schiffman, Executive Editor of Golf Digest was released in August 1993 by Golf Digest/New York Times Special Services, Inc. and Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. This book features a revolutionary approach to learning the golf swing and has received strong national interest. Many top professional and amateur players use it as a training manual.
Through his association with American Sports Medicine Institute, Johnson has provided a more in-depth understanding of the biomechanics of the golf swing to the national golf community. A much sought after speaker, he has conducted seminars on “The Physical Aspects of Golf” for golf professionals, golf coaches, physicians and physical therapists throughout the country and was a featured speaker at the 2002 and 2004 PGA Teaching and Coaching Summit.
His many students have included PGA Tour players Steve Lowery Winner of the 2008 PGA Tour AT&T Championship, Hubert Green, Tom Purtzer and Tom Kite as well as LPGA Tour player Sherri Steinhauer 2006 Womens British Open Champion and Winner of the 2007 LPGA State Farm Classic. Other LPGA player students have included Nancy Scranton, Shani Waugh, Siew Ai Lim, Marisa Baena, Dale Eggeling and Michelle Estill. He has also coached Celebrity Players Tour tournament winner Al DelGreco and Auburn University All-American and 2003 and 2005 US Walker Cup Team Member Lee Williams. In 2006, Lee Williams was also Leading Money Winner and Player of the Year on the US PRO Golf Tour. Lee Williams is 2008 Alabama Open Champion and is currently competing on the Nationwide Tour.
Hank is a five time winner of the Dixie PGA Horton Smith Award, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 2006, for his contributions to golf education. He was selected 1984 “Professional of the Year” by the Alabama Golf Association and 1985 “Professional of the Year” by the Dixie PGA. Hank has also served on the faculty of numerous National PGA education programs and was selected as the 1997 Dixie Section PGA Teacher of the Year. Hank was a member of the 2002 and 2004 PGA Teaching and Coaching Summit Task Force. He was also an instructor at the PGA 2004 Advanced Teaching Seminar in Orlando, Florida.
Hank played collegiate golf at Auburn University where he was runner up in the 1962 Southeastern Conference Championship. Hank competed in the 1969 US Open and National PGA Club Professional Championships in 1973, 1980, and 1982 when he was low qualifier from the Dixie PGA. Hank has also played in three Senior PGA Tour events, the 1993, 1995 and 1996 Bruno’s Memorial Classics in Birmingham, Alabama.
About Tony Ruggiero
A native of Alexandria, Virginia, Tony Ruggiero attended St. Mary’s College (1991-1993) where he earned two varsity letters in golf and was a member of the Heart of Texas All Conference Golf Team. He transferred to Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama to be closer to his family. While attending Samford, Tony earned two varsity letters in golf as well as a degree in Public Administration.
A long time golf student of Wayne Flint, Tony won the Buckhaults Memorial Match Play Championship in 1991 and 2002. In 2002, he left the corporate business world to pursue a career as a golf instructor. His first assignment was at the Sportsman Golf Club in Pensacola, Florida where he teamed up with Wayne Flint and Hank Johnson.
For the past seven years Tony has been with the Hank Johnson School of Golf at Santa Rosa Golf and Beach Club, in Santa Rosa, Florida. His students include players on the PGA Tour, Champions Tour, and the top junior players in the country. Tony has become one the top golf instructors along the Florida panhandle and in the Southeast. His students, both local and out-of-town visitors, come because they want to play better golf. Tony focuses on improving his students’ game by building a developmental program to improve their fundamentals. There is no pixie dust given out by him, just solid instruction that helps people learn the fundamentals and helps them improve their short game and score better. Tony then takes them on the course to help them improve their score.
Tony won the prestigious Edwin Watts Invitational in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Tony has been the host of The Dewsweepers Golf Instruction Show now in its 3rd season. The Dewsweepers Show gives every golfer access to the top instructors in the game and has become a huge success.
About The Golf Club of The Wharf
Formerly know as The Gulf Shores Golf Club, The Golf Club of The Wharf was built in the 1960s and was the first golf course in Gulf Shores. In November 2005, Jay and Carter Morrish completed a renovation of the entire course that lengthened the par 71 course by 300 yards with 18 championship holes and added numerous water features, enhanced fairways, and additional bunkers. The course now has the following different lengths for courses: championship 6,812 yards, blue 6,365 yards, white 5,950 yards, and red 5,362.
The Golf Club of The Wharf offers special amenities to its guests. The Club’s Clubhouse was designed in the traditional plantation-style complete with a dining room and golf Pro Shop. The Clubhouse is perfectly situated to give guests a spectacular view of the surrounding fairways. The Club also offers a unique ProLink GPS system that illustrates distances to the pin and hazards, gives pro tips, times pace-of-play, shows radial arc for cart-path-only holes, and provides a menu to order food and beverage items with a touch of a button.
The Golf Club of The Wharf is open to the public and welcomes all residents and visitors to the Gulf Coast area. Memberships are also available. The Club currently offers a morning rate as well as a discounted afternoon rate. Group rates are also available. During the month of September, the course is offering a discounted rate for all Baldwin County residents.
The Golf Course of The Wharf is located on Clubhouse Drive in Gulf Shores. For more information about The Golf Club of The Wharf or to reserve a tee time, call 251-968-7366.