By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
Noah Vinyard is the PGA of America Director of Instruction at Countryside Country Club in Clearwater, Florida. His list of awards and accolades is ever-growing, with North Florida PGA Section and West Central Chapter awards, outstanding achievement recognition from his days at GOLFTEC, Top Coach honors from U.S. Kids Golf and top club fitter acknowledgements from multiple club manufacturers. Most recently, he earned his first Golf Range Association of America (GRAA) Top 100 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional award in 2024.
“I started playing golf when I was just seven years old, after my dad introduced me to the game,” Vinyard recalls. “But like a lot of kids in my hometown of East Alton, Illinois, a small town 20 miles north of St. Louis, I was focused on all sports, especially baseball. However, everything changed when I was 13 and broke my left arm in a trampoline accident. That injury took me out of baseball and gave me the space to fully dedicate myself to golf. From that point on, I poured everything into the game.”
Vinyard grew up playing at the Spencer T. Olin Community Golf Course, as well as a local Arnold Palmer-designed course that hosted several U.S. Public Links Championships. That exposure to competitive courses helped fuel his passion and sharpen his game early on.
“I didn’t play college golf, but I attended the Professional Golf Management Program at Arizona State University, which shaped my foundation as a coach,” Vinyard boasts. “While there, I interned at Camelback Golf Club in Scottsdale and had the privilege of learning under Tim Suzor, PGA, who helped me understand how powerful great coaching can be. That experience inspired me to fully commit to instruction.”
Vinyard would join the team at GOLFTEC in 2007, where he trained under Steve Atherton and gained expertise in using technology like motion sensors and launch monitors to analyze the swing. From there, he became the PGA of America Director of Instruction at Jones Creek Golf Club in Evans, Georgia, where he spent four years and really started to grow his youth coaching programs, launching U.S. Kids Golf clinics and implementing Operation 36, both of which helped him develop a structured, long-term approach to junior player development.
“I trained with Mike Adams, learning his BioMechanics Golf Swing system and how to customize instruction based on a student’s body type,” Vinyard says. “This was a game-changer in terms of how I diagnose and teach the swing.”
With that experience in his pocket, Vinyard would go to work at the Jim McLean Golf School in Miami, where he honed his communication style and ran multi-day golf schools.
After that, it was back to GOLFTEC to serve as Senior Instructor for GOLFTEC Events on the PGA Tour. This interesting role enabled Noah to teach thousands of lessons at fan and VIP experiences for Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab and others. In fact, he still coaches online through GOLFTEC Events during the PGA Championship, helping golfers of all levels around the world.
Today, as the PGA of America Director of Instruction at Countryside Country Club, he runs Noah Vinyard Golf, offering online subscription coaching through his website. Through his brand and platform, he provides remote swing analysis, structured practice plans and ongoing feedback for golfers worldwide.
“One of my standout students is Gavin Spinner, a scratch golfer entering his senior year at Calvary Christian High School,” Vinyard explains. “I’ve coached Gavin for over four years, and I’ve taught him everything he knows about the game. He was a beginner when he first came to me. Now, he’s being actively recruited by major colleges. We’ve built his game using my Triad Approach, focusing on physiology (mechanics), language (how you speak to yourself) and belief (confidence and visualization). He’s proof of how far the right mindset and structured practice can take a player.”
At Countryside, Vinyard offers women’s bi-weekly clinics, junior golf programs and elite schools, short game intensives and online swing coaching and video analysis through the OnForm App. He also uses Trackman for data-driven feedback and alignment tools and high-speed video for swing mechanics.
“Looking ahead, I want half of my business to be online so I can help golfers not just in the U.S., but worldwide,” Vinyard says. “Golfers from different countries have already reached out for swing analysis, and the potential to grow a global footprint excites me.”
Vinyard adds that one of the biggest trends that he’s leaned into is content creation and social media engagement. He believes every golf coach in 2025 who wants to grow their business should be posting short-form videos, 10-second clips on the fundamentals that can go a long way. He says he’s gained over 2,000 new subscribers across his multiple social media platforms by consistently posting value-based tips and drills. This short, digestible content helps coaches connect with students and showcases their coaching style. It’s how many of his current students found him.
Finally, Vinyard says, “I also see the continued rise of technology-driven instruction and hybrid coaching models that combine live lessons with online support. After all, students want flexibility, feedback and personalization no matter where they are. In addition, mental game training is becoming just as important as mechanics. I incorporate transformational vocabulary, incantations and visualization into my coaching, helping students not just swing better, but believe better.”
