Joe Steadman, the director of instruction at The Country Club of North Carolina, has been named Golf Digest’s Best Young Teachers in America for 2025-2026.
Steadman, 38, is among 191 honorees for the national recognition and is included among the 23 instructors from the mid-Atlantic region to receive the award. The complete list of Best Young Teachers of America, all under 40 years old, can be found on the Golf Digest website.
“What an honor it is to receive this award,” said Steadman in a press release, who joined the CCNC staff in early 2020. “There are so many talented instructors out there that you have never heard of who are making golfers better each and every day. To even be considered as a part of this group is truly special and humbling.
“I am so fortunate to have had some of the best mentors and support networks that anyone could ask for. If not for them, I surely would not be receiving this honor today. To list them all would require more space that I have here, but I would especially like to thank my wife, Sarah, for her unwavering support throughout my transition out of the military, though college, and through the sometimes long working hours of the golf industry.
“Terry Rowles and Mike Adams for freely and thanklessly sharing their decades of research and teaching experience with me during my most formative years, and for patiently answering every single pestering question I could possibly ask. Jeff Dotson, for allowing me the privilege of being our club’s first full-time instructor and recognizing a drive and passion for excellence that cannot be encapsulated on a resume. To our amazing membership: David Orr once told me that ‘Great teachers are just teachers that are lucky enough to have great students.’ The more hours I teach, the more I realize the wisdom of this statement. A robust instruction program is only as good as the membership that seeks it out. If not for your support and relentless pursuit to improve and excel at the game of golf, there would be no reason for an instruction program to exist. I cannot thank you all enough for trusting and supporting me over the past five years. I will continue to improve myself and our instruction program in the years to come!”
“When I first met Joe through a CCNC member, I was impressed immediately by his intellect and passion for instruction,” said CCNC director of golf Jeff Dotson in a press release. “Joe has a very curious mind and is constantly working on different ways to solve his students’ problems. In nearly five years, Joe has developed a reputation as being an excellent instructor for elite players as well as average handicappers. Joe’s star is definitely rising, and he certainly has a bright career ahead.”
Steadman, a retired Army Special Forces veteran and a native of Plattsburgh, N.Y., began his duties at CCNC as an assistant professional and was promoted to his current position less than a year later.
After serving in the Army in both Iraq and Afghanistan from 2005-2013, Steadman was stationed at Fort Bragg as an instructor. With more structure to his life and career, he began playing more golf, a game he played in high school, although he focused on ice hockey.
He continued to improve with increased play and realized a career in golf would fit him and his family. Steadman enrolled at Campbell University in 2016 and graduated in 2019 with BBA/MBA (Summa Cum Laude/Cum Laude) in Business Administration with a Professional Golf Management emphasis. He left the military in 2018.
He resides in West End with his wife, Sarah, and two children, Danial and Hailey.
Contributed article and photo.
