About Dan

Dan Merrell has been coaching golf for over 10 years. He is a PGA Professional and has a Master’s Degree in Education.

Dan found his passion for coaching while interning under Golf Digest- America’s Best 50 Instructors award winner, Eric Alpenfels at the Pinehurst Golf Academy. Immediately following his undergrad years at Penn State, Dan became an instructor at the Hank Haney Ranch in Texas. After nearly 2 years in Texas, Hank moved Dan to his golf academy in Hilton Head, South Carolina where Dan spent 4 years as a coach at the International Junior Golf Academy. He was able to work under numerous top instructors such as, Peter Krause, 2005 PGA National Teacher of the Year and Hank Haney who won that same award in 1993. Hank also coached Tiger Woods from 2004-2010 and is a Golf Digest- America’s Best 50 Instructors award winner. In 2015, Dan moved to Bishops Gate Golf Academy in Florida where he worked under Kevin Smeltz, a Golf Magazine- Top 100 Teacher. At Bishops Gate, Dan also had the honor of working with Dr. Robert Neal, a world renowned golf biomechanics expert.

Dan currently teaches players of all levels, from beginners to professionals. He has taught students who have gone on to play at universities such as Clemson, University of Washington and Notre Dame and have risen to be ranked Top 10 (Golfweek Junior rankings), Top 15 (AJGA Polo Rankings) and Top 100 in the World Amateur Rankings under his guidance.

Dan returned to Penn State in 2017, and has since become the Director of Coaching and Player Development for the Penn State PGA Golf Management Program in the Penn State Golf Teaching and Research Center. Since 2017 the Penn State PGA Golf Management program has had its best finish at the PGA Jones Cup, 2nd place (previous best was 6th) with 19 schools competing. The program has also seen their PGA Player Ability Test (PAT) pass rate rise above 50% on average, 80% in fall of 2022 (National average at 20%).

At Penn State University Dan is also an instructor within the Kinesiology department where he instructs future PGA Professionals on the basics of coaching golf. Dan also teaches a beginner golf class to 25 undergrad students a semester. Dan is an instructor and co-contributor in the Penn State Biomechanics of Golf online class which provides golf biomechanics education to golf instructors, fitness professionals and golf fanatics from all over world.

Facility:

Outdoor (Summer):

Noyac Golf Club

51 Wildwood Road

Sag Harbor, NY 11963

Indoor (Spring, Fall and Winter):

Penn State University Golf Teaching and Research Center

005 Keller Building

University Park, PA 16802