There are shameless self-promoters in the golf world. There are great golf teachers. There are dedicated local pros who dote on their 25-handicap students. There are club pros who would rather stand and look cool in their wrap-around sunglasses than fix some old duffer’s grip.

Here’s the point: It is not always easy to tell who is who. And the distinctions are not always apparent or immediate. I once had the worst lesson of my life with then teaching pro John DalCorobbo at Michigan State’s Forest Akers West. I won’t go into details, but my wife had given me the lesson as a birthday gift (a bit one, given I was a struggling grad student at the time), and DalCorobbo hustled me through, paid no attention to my concerns, and cut the lesson short (with a $5 discount--whoopie) so he could get out of town for the weekend.

This brings us to a recent rather vicious attack on big-name golf instructor Gary Wiren by Rebel Blogger. RB blasted Wiren for being one of those self-promoters, one of those guys who makes DalCorobbo look good, but for a lot more money.

This struck me as odd, because I had never heard anything but praise for Wiren, who, as far as I could tell, is widely respected. Sure, he is a big name, puts on large clinics, and writes golf books, all of which he does promote, as any good businessman would. But what, exactly, was RB talking about?

I poked around a bit and found the following: Contrary to RB’s claims, Wiren does NOT teach Tour players. Most of his students are average Joes. The 250,000 students Wiren takes credit for include LOTS in clinics (as many as 5,000 at a time in stadiums in Japan); he never said he taught them all one-on-one. (So, RB, your hero Wilt the Stilt’s numbers are not in jeopardy.) He does NOT run golf schools, nor does he have assistants trained in his “method” – because he has no “method.”

Most of all, what seems to have set RB off is a press release he received citing Wiren’s “legendary” status. Here is what Wiren had to say about that:

“He [RB] went berserk about a press release that labeled me as ‘legendary,’ alluding to my apparent thoughts of guru superiority by such a claim. Well, I never sent such a press release. It was sent out by Mizuno, who is the club company that I represent. I have not then, nor ever have referred to myself as ‘legendary.’”

Wiren and I both lived several years in Japan. We both know (as would anyone familiar with Asian business practices) that if Japan-based Mizuno had NOT called Wiren “legendary,” it would have been in the company’s mind an insult.

So again, here’s the point: It is not easy to distinguish the good, the bad, and the haughty in the golf world. Your local pro might be an ass. The big name might be friendlier than your next-door neighbor. You don’t always get what you pay for, even with a discount. But sometimes you do, even without one.

One simply cannot tell which is which from watching on TV, asking for an autograph, or reading a press release written by a third party. It's fine to criticize a person based on what s/he does or says, but not on what someone ELSE does or says, or on something they do not do or say.

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