University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Former Southern Miss Golfer Mark Blackburn Earns 2020 PGA Teacher & Coach of the Year Award
7/30/2020 2:00:00 PM | Men's Golf
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The PGA of America has released its national awards and former Southern Miss golfer Mark Blackburn, PGA, a 14-year PGA Member in the Alabama-NW Florida Section and Director of Instruction at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama, was the recipient of the 2020 PGA Teacher & Coach of the Year Award for his "outstanding services as a golf teacher, innovator and coach."
A decorated PGA Member, Blackburn is a four-time Alabama-NW Florida Section PGA Teacher of the Year (2008-'10, '15) and two-time Alabama-NW Florida Section Horton Smith Award recipient (2011, '18). He is also one of GOLF Magazine's Top 100 Teachers and one of Golf Digest's 50 Best Teachers in America. His Blackburn Golf Academy develops and coaches juniors, club golfers, elite amateurs, college and professional clients from around the world. Among the many PGA Tour golfers taught by Blackburn are Chez Reavie, Kevin Chappell, Charley Hoffman, Mike Weir and Heath Slocum.
A native of England, Blackburn came to the United States in 1994 on a golf scholarship to Southern Miss, where he was a letterman and team captain. Following college, he had aspirations of playing professionally, but inconsistencies and injuries led him down a new path, studying the golf swing, teaching theories and coaching philosophies. Those findings transitioned into Blackburn's "Coaching Codification" which applies a holistic, sport-science approach to teaching and coaching golfers.
He founded Blackburn Golf in 2000, and continues to work with golfers of all levels, focusing on each student's unique movement patterns to develop an efficient and repeatable technique for their desired ball flight. In conjunction with coaching, Blackburn is a passionate educator, keen to share knowledge while presenting to PGA Sections and International Federations around the world.
