Mark Blackburn Is Golf Digest's #1 Teacher in America

Golf Digest's 50 Best Teachers in America list runs on a two-year cycle, and for over two decades, one name sat at the top of it: Butch Harmon.

Then Mark Blackburn took over the No. 1 spot in the 2024–25 ranking. Golf Digest's current 2026–27 list confirms this was more than a one-time honor.

Peer teachers voted Blackburn No. 1 again, giving him more votes than any other instructor in the country, and made him back-to-back Golf Digest's #1 Teacher in America and the recipient of the Butch Harmon Award that comes with it.

For members, the ranking validates something the club set out to build years ago.:

"We want to make it where Greystone is synonymous with, essentially, high-performance golf and coaching, and our academy is at the base of that." — Mark Blackburn, Director of Instruction

That ambition now has a Golf Digest vote behind it, twice over.

Proof on the PGA Tour

Rankings tell part of the story. Results on Tour tell the rest.

Golf Digest's own 2026–27 ranking names Matt Fitzpatrick among Blackburn's top players, and Chez Reavie has trained under him for years. Justin Rose is on that list too, having trained at Greystone before winning the 2025 FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Eight-time PGA Tour winner Mike Weir has seen that coaching style up close:

"He's helped advance teaching to a new level, using every tool we have to help the game improve. He's at the forefront of that." — Mike Weir, 8-time PGA Tour winner

Reavie has worked with Blackburn for years, and describes the relationship as a trusted voice who tells him the truth the moment his swing goes sideways.

Fundamentals First

For producing results like these, Blackburn points to fundamentals: set-up, ball position, alignment, posture, the tilt of the body, the grip. Nothing replaces getting those right first.

Reavie has felt that discipline firsthand, even as a Tour winner:

"We're working on fundamentals as if we were beginners." — Chez Reavie, PGA Tour player

The Performance Center backs that up with data, not guesswork. Six coaches, each with a different specialty, work from the same 3D motion capture technology to build a plan around the player in front of them.

That combination, fundamentals held to a high standard and reinforced by technology, is what a member gets whether the goal is a Tour win or a lower Saturday handicap.

What This Means for Every Member

The roster of Tour players is proof of the ceiling. Blackburn built the Performance Center for the full range of golfers who call Greystone home.

"We've got an environment where we can coach pretty much anyone. We have the best players in the world and the complete beginner, so we have the whole continuum." — Mark Blackburn, Director of Instruction

That range shows up in outcomes as much as in roster size. Junior golfers train at the Blackburn Golf Academy from their first lesson through college recruitment, working with the same coaches who train Tour winners.

A Greystone member's instructor at a Tuesday lesson is the same instructor Golf Digest just named the best in the country, twice.