The Lynn Blake Story
In the summer of 1980, Lynn was an avid amateur golfer who had hit the wall in his study of The Golfing 2Machine®. His only recourse was to telephone the author, Homer Kelley. Thus began the student-teacher relationship that was to last until Mr. Kelley's death in February 1983. More calls followed over the next 18 months, with Homer patiently explaining the science and principles behind his great work, and Lynn eagerly absorbing his lessons. The instruction reached its pinnacle in January 1982 when Homer invited Lynn to attend his weeklong Golf Stroke Engineering Master Class. The invitation was extended to a select group of only five -- one each from the North, South, East, West and Midwest. It was to be the last of only three Master classes Mr. Kelley lived to conduct, and Lynn was one of only twelve to graduate from those classes.
In the 32 months following his Master Instructor designation -- and while continuing his financial business -- Lynn conducted more than forty golf schools in six states. He personally taught more than 600 students and several thousand more in promotional seminars. He also individually trained 28 PGA of America professionals in the same system Homer taught him. In October 1984, though his golf business was successful by any definition, he returned full-time to his financial world. Twenty years later, Lynn has returned as an authoritative voice and has been awarded the designation Golf Stroke Engineering Doctor (GSED) from The Golfing Machine, LLC. Other than the book itself, his body of work since January 10, 2004, is unprecedented in the history of The Golfing Machine®.
In April 2004, Lynn conducted his inaugural 'comeback' school (for both professionals and amateurs) at the PGA TOUR Academy in St. Augustine, Florida. Over the next eighteen months, ten more sold-out schools followed at major resort and private club locations in seven states from coast-to-coast. He also conducted a 4-day LBG Academy in Germany for members of both the German and British PGA. Throughout the year, he taught numerous Private Workshops for an international clientele that included several of the nation's most respected PGA of America teaching professionals.
In January 2006 he taught 31 PGA of America professionals at the two-day regional conference of custom clubmaker Henry-Griffitts. In March he was featured as a main platform speaker in a four-hour presentation to more than 500 professionals of the Swedish PGA. In August he returned to Germany for an encore presentation, and in December taught 15 PGA professionals in a 3-day event at Hombre Golf Club in Panama City Beach, Florida.
Lynn holds 2009 PGA TOUR Player Instructor credentials and has been active at TOUR events since 2005. The first such venue was the 2005 Buick Open where he worked for three days with Brian Watts, a thirteen-time winner on the Japanese Tour and runner-up in the 1998 British Open. Then, the 2006 BellSouth Golf Classicworking with Brian Gay, ranked 12th in 2006 PGA TOUR Scoring Average (Actual) and a perennial leader in Putting and Scrambling. Also in 2006, the Barclays Classic where he conducted the Barclays Classic Golf Academy for Barclays private clients during all four days of the tournament.
On the PGA TOUR in 2007, he was on the practice tee at The Honda Classic, thePODS Championship, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the AT&T Classic, the John Deere Classic, The Barclays and the TOUR Championship. On the 2007 Nationwide Tour, he was on the tee at the Athens Regional Foundation Classic, the Henrico County Openand the Melwood Prince George's County Open.
His 2009 fully-exempt PGA TOUR students include Brian Gay (Champion, 2008 Mayakoba Golf Classic / 2009 Verizon Heritage); Greg Kraft (Champion, 2008 Puerto Rico Open); and Jay Williamson (Champion, 2007 Ft. Smith Classic / Nationwide). Nationwide students include Scott Dunlap (Champion, 2008 Panama Movistar Championship);John Riegger (Champion, 2007 LaSalle Bank Open); John Kimbell (2007 South Georgia Classic); Trevor Dodds; Robin Freeman; Neal Lancaster; and Ian Leggatt.
In the PGA of America sections, his students include Jeff Hull (2007 Georgia PGA Player of the Year and Champion, 2007 Georgia Open; 2008 Professional Champion); Ted Fort (2006 Georgia PGA Teacher of the Year and Champion, 2006 Marriott Children's Miracle Network Pro-Am); Pat O’Hara (Champion, 2007 Southern Nevada PGA); Billy Anderson (2008 Carolinas PGA Section Champion); and Curt Sanders (2008 Carolinas PGA Player of the Year).
He also teaches Meghna Bal (Champion, 2006 Northern India Ladies Amateur and 2007 All India Ladies Amateur Champion) and Sean Elliot (Champion, 2007 New Jersey Junior).
In August 2007, Lynn Blake Golf, LLC, brought a blue-ribbon team of eight teaching professionals to Rye, New York, for The Barclays, the first of the historic Fedex Cup Series playoff events. There, the company conducted two academies during the tournament: First, for the title sponsor, Barclays Capital, The Barclays Golf Academy (off the 18th green); and second, for the PGA TOUR, The Golf Academy presented by Gillette Fusion Power (in Hospitality Village).
In April 2008, Lynn established the Lynn Blake Golf Academy At Cuscowilla Golf Resort on Lake Oconee in Eatonton, Georgia. Cuscowilla is ranked by Golfweek as the #1 Best Course You Can Play In Georgia and 19th Best Course You Can Play In America. In August 2008, the firm again conducted The Barclays Golf Academy at Ridgewood CC in Paramus, New Jersey, and is scheduled for 2009 at Liberty National GC in Jersey City, New Jersey. In September 2008, he produced a 3-DVD instructional video entitled Alignment Golf that has since been sold in 24 countries. The Series contains more than four hours of instruction and is now in its third printing.
Thus far in 2009, Lynn has been on the practice tee at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Verizon Heritage, the Quail Hollow Championship, and THE PLAYERS Championship. His student, Brian Gay, won the Verizon Heritage by a remarkable ten shots, setting a new tournament record of 264, 20-under par. Brian was also featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated (Golf Plus edition / May 9, 2009), and the story discussed his relationship with Lynn.
Of his golf accomplishments, he is most proud of LynnBlakeGolf.com, a website he feels is destined to revolutionize the world of conventional golf instruction. In association with Michael Clark and Michael Lance -- first students, then friends and now, with Ben Mahan, Site Administrators -- he launched the website in January 2005. With extensive archives and more than 100 free videos, it now boasts more than 6,800 Registered Members in 53 countries who have contributed almost 60,000 posts to its Forums. Lynn is a prolific writer for the site, logging more than 7,700 posts since its founding.