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Home , 2010 in golf, Driving range, Golf Magazine, Urban golf

MEET OUR PANELISTS

Louise Ball Owner/Director of Instruction at the Tennessee Academy and LPGA-USGA Girls Golf Site Director

Louise began her golf career after college at Needham in Massachusetts where she won a number of club events and was the Ladies’ Club Champion several times. Now, as an LPGA member she enjoys helping her students find their full golf potential and enjoyment of the game of golf through a creative student centered teaching style, a variety of clinics and on course play. Louise believes golf should be fun! She is very involved in Junior Golf with players of all ages, and has several of her students playing on college golf scholarships. She has been a Site Director of the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program since 1998, and enjoys the responsibility of spending time with young people. Louise is the 2012 and 2014 LPGA Mid-West Section Junior Golf Leadership Award winner, the 2014 LPGA National Junior Golf Leadership Award winner and the 2014 LPGA Goldie Bateson Service Award recipient.

Marlene Davis Lead Golf Instructor at the Paddock Chevrolet Golf Dome and Brighton

Marlene is a Class A, LPGA Teaching and Club Professional with a spirited passion for teaching and playing golf. She is a former National Champion of the LPGA Teaching & Club Professionals and has competed in two U.S. Women’s Open's and the LPGA Championship. Marlene was chosen as one of 50 Top Teachers by Golf for Women Magazine, and serves as the in Tonawanda, NY. She is a co- owner of a which she helped design and build, Buffalo Tournament Club, located in her home town, Lancaster, NY. With over 25 years of experience as a golf professional, she has dedicated herself to teaching students the skills necessary to help them reach their highest potential and is currently building her own LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program in Buffalo, NY.

Nicole Weller Head Teaching Professional, The Landings Club

Nicole is a Class A member of the PGA of America and the LPGA T&CP, as well as a member of Proponent Group. She is SNAG, TPI and U.S. Kids Golf Certified and is a staff ambassador for The Littlest Golfer, as well as serving on the 2013-2014 PGA National Youth Player Development Committee under Chair Allen Wronowski. Having authored the first-ever golf sticker reward book for children ages 4-8+ in 2011 and expanding it into a related Golf educational flashcard memory games in 2014, Nicole is the first duo award recipient in the same year for both the PGA and LPGA Junior Golf leader Awards (2013). She has earned other honors to include GRAA Top 50 Growth of the Game Teacher, U.S. Kids Golf Master Kids Teacher, Best 50 Women Teachers, Golf Digest Best Young Teacher, LPGA T&CP Southeast Junior Golf Leader and Teacher of the Year and Georgia PGA East Chapter Teacher of the Year.

Mary Lee Cobick Vice-President, Golf Professional Services, Inc Head Golf Professional, Okeeheelee Golf Course President, Junior Golf Foundation of America

Originally from Quebec, Canada, Mary-Lee was ranked #1 Junior in Canada in 1997 and was awarded the Score Award for Best Female Junior Golfer in Canada. As an amateur, Mary-Lee was a member of the Canadian National Golf Team from 1988-1993. She also won a division 1 College Tournament while attending State University of a full scholarship. In 2000, Mary-Lee won 3 professional tournaments on the Canadian Tour and was named 2000 Player of the Year. Mary-Lee is a Class A LPGA and CPGA member and joined Golf Professional Services, Inc in 1997, she is currently the manager and Head Professional at Okeeheelee Golf Course. She is also the current President of the Junior Golf Foundation of America. A foundation focused on providing affordable golf to the junior golfers of Palm Beach County.

Kate Tempesta Founder, Partner and President of Fun of Kate Tempesta’s Academy

Kate Tempesta is a member of the LPGA T&CP and the Director of the Junior Golf Program at Montauk Downs. As the leading junior golf professional in New York City, Kate’s groundbreaking curriculum combines golf basics with activities that extend and enrich learning in an environment that is both fun and challenging for children of all ages. Kate embraces the LPGA’s holistic view of the golfer as well as Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Kate is a Starting New at Golf (SNAG) master trainer and a Performance Institute Certified Golf Fitness Professional. She is a U.S. Kids Golf “Top 50 Kids Teacher” and one of Golf Digest’s Best Golf Teachers in New York State by her peers as well as Golf Digest's 50 Best Women Teachers in America. In November of 2010, Kate was featured as a “Top Young Instructor” by Golf Digest and one of the “40 Most Influential People in Golf under 40” by .

Karen Palacios-Jansen Founder, Swingblade Enterprises

Karen Palacios-Jansen, 2008 LPGA National Teacher of the Year, has been voted as one of America's "Top 50 Female Instructors" by Golf Digest magazine for 15 years. Karen has her own golf events company-Swing Blade Enterprises in Mooresville, , and is former editor of Golf Fitness Magazine. Karen, a certified personal trainer and Nike Golf Performance Specialist, developed a golf-specific fitness system called Cardiogolf available on-line and on DVD. Karen is also a member of The Nike Golf Advisory Staff, for which she participates in Nike product development and promotions. She has appeared on The and is a regular content contributor to Golf Digest Magazine's Fitness Friday online column. A former David Leadbetter trained instructor and Jim McLean Golf School master instructor, Karen has been teaching golf for 18 years.