Quite a few Colorado golf instructors included in recent national/international top teachers lists
By Gary Baines – 11/10/2025
It’s fall, a time of year when teachers play a particularly significant role in society in general.
It’s also a time, it turns out, when teachers of another sort gain a bit of the spotlight. That would be teachers of golf — instructors.
For whatever reason, top golf teachers tend to receive national and international recognition around this time of year. And that’s certainly been the case in the last couple of months as prominent golf publications and organizations have been naming who they believe are the best in the business.
Among those that have published these lists are Golf Magazine, Golf Digest and the LPGA. Golf Magazine is the most recent of these, posting its “Top 100 Teachers in America for 2026-27” on Friday. That ranking includes four Coloradans, plus three others with Colorado ties who have attained Hall of Fame or Lifetime Achievement status (signifying being honored for at least 20 straight years).
Making the grade for the top 100 were Nick Clearwater of GOLFTEC in Englewood (part of the rankings since 2021), Pat Coyner of Cherry Hills Country Club (new to the rankings), Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Ed Oldham of The Ranch Country Club (on the list since 2024) and Trent Wearner of Trent Wearner Golf Academy (also since 2024).
Former Coloradan Eric Alpenfels (now at Pinehurst in North Carolina) has made the top 100 for more than 20 years, and the Hall of Famers noted are Jim Hardy, who lives near Gunnison during the summer, and former Coloradan Mike McGetrick.
Meanwhile, back in mid-September, Golf Digest named its “50 Best Teachers in America 2026-27”, and Clearwater made that list also, checking in at No. 21.
And last month, the LPGA posted its “Top 50 Best LPGA Teachers for 2026-27” — out of more than 2,000 LPGA-certified pros worldwide — and three instructors who work in Colorado earned recognition.
Elena King of Centennial and MSU Denver women’s golf head coach Stefanie Ferguson of Aurora — both from ExperienceGolf and who teach primarily at CGA-owned CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora — made the top 50. And in the Elite Category — “a distinction to honor those who have reached the pinnacle of the instruction profession,” the LPGA noted — Sandy LaBauve was recognized. She teaches at Roaring Fork Club in Basalt during the summer and Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Ariz., during the winter.
Golf Digest also compiled a list of the “Best Teachers in Every State”. And in Colorado, those included were:
1. Nick Clearwater, GOLFTEC, Englewood
Others in Alphabetical Order
Steve Atherton, Steadman Philippon Research Institute in Vail
Connie Chen, GOLFEC, Englewood
Vincent Downie, GOLFTEC, Highlands Ranch
Stefanie Ferguson, CommonGround GC in Aurora
Elena King, CommonGround GC in Aurora
Kelli McKandless, Kelli McKandless Golf, Parker
Jared McKinney, GOLFTEC Dove Valley
Chad Miller, GOLFTEC Chapel Hills in Colorado Springs
Dustin Miller, The Swing Bays in Parker
Nathan Morris, GOLFTEC, Westminster
Patrick Nuber, GOLFTEC, Engelwood
Ed Oldham, The Ranch CC, Westminster
Stan Sayers, Colorado GC, Parker
Dan Sniffin, Omni Interlocken GC, Broomfield
Josh Troyer, GOLFTEC, Englewood
Kyle Voska, Colorado Golf Academy, Highlands Ranch
Ty Walker, GOLFTEC DTC, Denver
Trent Werner, Trent Werner Golf Academy
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com