Manuel de la Torre (golfer)

Manuel de la Torre (6 October 1921 – 24 April 2016) was recognized as being one of golf's top teachers. His career includes playing competitively on tour, head golf professional at Milwaukee Country Club one of America's most esteemed golf clubs, and a career of teaching both tour professional and amateur golfers. Among the tour professionals he has taught are Masters champion Tommy Aaron, U.S. Women's Open champion Carol Mann, du Maurier Classic champion Martha Nause and Women's British Open champion Sherri Steinhauer. He was the first member of the PGA to be awarded their Teacher of the Year Award in 1986. He is one of only several golf instructors to be inducted into both the World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame as well as the PGA Hall of Fame.

De la Torre won numerous golf tournaments, including the Wisconsin State Open five times and the Wisconsin PGA Professional Championship five times. He was elected to the Wisconsin Golf Hall of Fame in 1975. In 1999 he was inducted into the Northwestern University Athletic Hall of Fame.

De la Torre was born in his parents' apartment above the golf shop at the Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro in Madrid, Spain, where his father Ángel de la Torre was the head golf professional. Angel was five-time Spanish National Golf Champion. Manuel's father's instruction and that of his father's friend and colleague Ernest Jones, served as the basis for de la Torre's instruction. His concepts for golf instruction have stood the test of time for over 60 years. He retired as head golf professional at Milwaukee Country Club at which he continued to teach amateurs and tour professionals.

Golf instruction can be divided into two approaches. That which constitutes more than 90% of today's golf instruction is body-focused. The central premise of this type of golf instruction is built around the idea that if the golfer learns to correctly move various body parts (hips, legs, shoulders, etc.) the result will be a movement of the golf club that will produce effective golf shots. That which constitutes the other 10% of golf instruction is club-focused. Its central premise is that the golfer should instead focus on learning how the golf club should move during an effective swing. De la Torre has devoted his career to refining and teaching this approach to both golfers and instructors.

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