It all began in 1973, when local golf instructor Ben Doyle brought Homer Kelley's revolutionary golf instruction book,
"The Golfing Machine," to what is now Quail Lodge Resort and Golf Club in Carmel Valley. At the time, Doyle had become
the first authorized instructor of The Golfing Machine after nearly two decades spent as a member of the Professional Golf
Association in the state of Washington.
Upon setting up shop on the driving range at Quail, he would met one of his first pupils, a 13-year-old frazzle-haired local
kid named Bobby Clampett. Two years later, Clampett's handicap index had dropped from eight to scratch.
"I'll never forget the first time I met Ben," said Clampett, who went on to become one of the finest amateur players in the country.
"He came up to me and I introduced myself. I asked is there anyway you can check my swing. He took pictures and saw everything,
including the bunny-hop."
Now in his 35th year at Quail Lodge, the 75-year old Doyle was recognized at the resort this past Sunday night during an event
that was appropriately called, "A Tribute to Ben Doyle: Honoring his Contributions to the Game of Golf."
Since his arrival at Quail Lodge, Doyle's influence on golf has spread across the globe. Known world-wide as one of golf's foremost
teachers, he has routinely been named to Golf Digest's list of America's Top 50 instructors and Golf Magazine's list of Top 100 instructors.
His students, which include not only players but other instructors, travel from as far away as Australia and Sweden for a chance to, among
other things, stand on his Facts and Illusions Mat, a 10-by-6 foot mat that explains and demonstrates the geometry of the golf swing.
"I've never met a man like Ben," said former PGA Championship winner Steve Elkington, another one of Doyle's students. "He has so much energy and
passion every day, and it's all focused on one mission, and that's to make players better."
Over the years, those who have stood on the mat include Clampett, Elkington, Johnny Miller, Bernhard Langer, Gary Player, Curtis Strange
and Tom Kite, just to name a few.
Among those joining Clampett and Elkington at the tribute were Ron Read, West Region director for the USGA, and Laird Small,
director of the Pebble Beach Golf Academy.
"Ben's infamous golf cart should be enshrined at the USGA's Golf House in Far Hills, New Jersey," said Read, who during the proceedings
read a letter to Ben thanking him for his contributions to the Game of Golf that was penned by
Arnold Palmer.
"I was at Quail Lodge during 1982-1987 as director of golf out there, and I'd see Ben out there on the range all the time," Small said.
"His legacy, continuing and ongoing, is in the way he's touched the lives he's shaped, and the instructors that he's helped mold.
He lives on in those lessons every single day."
As for all the accolades, Doyle shrugs them off. For him, it's simply all about the joy of sharing.
"I'm just doing the job. I have always wanted to share the book, and that's what I've been doing over the years," Doyle said.
- by JERRY STEWART
Herald Correspondent
