After 15 years, 'School of Golf' host Martin Hall ready for one final lesson March 31
After 15 years, 'School of Golf' host Martin Hall ready for one final lesson March 31
Martin Hall is ready for calmer waters.
After a 15-year run and 430 episodes, Hall will host his last episode of 'School of Golf' on Golf Channel and Golf Pass on March 31.
'I've lived life in a speed boat going down the river left and right, and I'm ready to switch to a gentler pace in a canoe with a paddle,' said Hall, 69, who will continue to teach in his longtime role as director of instruction at The Club at Ibis in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Hall turned professional in 1975 and competed on the European Tour until he missed a 4-foot putt at the Qualifying School and needed a new way to make ends meet. He taught players of all levels, including tour players and major champions such as Morgan Pressel, his pupil since she was 12 years old, and the likes of Hall of Famer Karrie Webb during the latter stages of her career as well as Lexi Thompson. When asked whether he had ever given lessons to Golfweek's own Eamon Lynch, who has been known to hire and fire coaches more frequently than Viktor Hovland, Hall quickly answered, 'No. I refused,' before adding that Lynch, who also hosts Golf Channel's 'Golf Today,' once said his game 'was too bad to be fixed.' But Hall clearly had great success in doing just that with countless students – he was named the PGA Teacher of the Year in 2008.
Given the popularity of the show 'The Golf Fix,' Golf Channel wanted to launch a second weekly instruction show and decided to cast a wide net. The network conducted an on-air national talent search in 2011. But Hall initially didn't submit an entry. He mentioned the opportunity to his wife, who replied, 'You're too old to be doing that.' But Hall had done some previous work for Golf Channel, so he made the short list and eventually ended up being the top choice. He has done episodes with the likes of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Annika Sorenstam and the list goes on and on.
'Each show is special,' he said. 'I treated everyday like the Super Bowl and I left it all on the field as they say.'
His favorite part of the show has been hearing the comments from viewers, which can be a dangerous world to enter. But Hall said ever since the shows began being posted on GolfPass, interest in his lessons have exploded to all corners of the world. He recounted meeting a golf enthusiast from India at the PGA Show in Orlando one year who called him 'the golf guru.'
'The reach that I have had has been immense,' he said. 'I treated it as a great responsibility that people around the world are using my lessons as the main source for their information on the swing.'
Hall said he's listening to the voice in his head, which has served him well during his career, that it is time, as he put it, 'to let someone else have a go.' But not before one final send-off episode.
'It might be the most special episode we've ever done,' he said.
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