It must be a first: husband and wife Westchester golf pros Kevin Sprecher and Debbie Doniger have both been named to the biennial Golf Magazine Top 100 Teachers in America list for 2017-2018. Joining them in receiving the honor is Westchester Country Club Director of Instruction Gary Weir. The trio were among a group of 15 golf instructors from across the country named to the prestigious list this week.
Golf Magazine’s arduous selection process produced the same kind of results we achieve at Westchester Magazine, where Sprecher and Weir are to be featured in the 2017 edition of Westchester Magazine Golf while Doniger graced the cover of our 2013 issue and provided instruction on the short game inside.
Debbie Doniger, who has been director of instruction at GlenArbor Golf Club in Bedford for 13 years, boasts a deep resume of golf achievements. She competed on the LPGA’s Future’s and European Tour after playing to an ACC Championship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She began studying the game with Jim McLean at the age of 12 and has been a Lead Master Instructor at McLean’s school for over 20 years. In addition to numerous appearances on the Golf Channel and hosting a radio show on Sirius XM PGA Tour Network with Natalie Gulbis, Doniger was named the most beautiful woman in golf in 2015 by Golf.com.
Kevin Sprecher is the director of instruction at Sleepy Hollow CC in Scarborough, a post he’s held for the past 13 years. He previously taught at Atlantic GC, Glen Oaks CC, and the Piping Rock Club. A native of Short Hills, NJ, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, he began his teaching career in 1992 working for Jim McLean at Sleepy Hollow. He, too, taught at McLean’s school at the Doral during the winter months. He and Debbie co-authored How To Help Your Partner Through The Green, a golf instruction book in 2005.
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Gary WeirDoniger and Sprecher met through Jim McLean at Sleepy Hollow in 1992 when Debbie was his student and getting ready to play on the pro tour and Kevin was an assistant pro. They celebrate their 16th wedding anniversary this year and have two kids, Jordon, 14, and Nili, 11.
Gary Weir is easily one the busiest teachers in the New York metro area, if not the nation. As Director of Instruction at Westchester CC in Rye, he oversees one of the biggest teaching programs in the United States. Weir was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and won over 40 Scottish Regional Tour Events and the National Assistants Championship before turning his efforts entirely to teaching the game. He’s been a PGA member since 1984 and joined Westchester CC in 2001. He’s been director of instruction since 2006. Among his other accomplishments as an instructor, Weir helped start the “Girls to the Tee” program with the Women’s Metropolitan Golf Association in an effort to grow the game among junior girls in the area.
