Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy

Hank Haney IJGA Key People

Ray Travaglione - Founder
Ray Travaglione founded the International Junior Golf Academy (IJGA), now Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy, in 1995. He now serves as Chairman of the Board.

In the early 1990’s, Travaglione was a successful currency trader in New York City. However, he was ready to forego the 60-hour plus workweek and pursue his dream of developing an academy for junior golfers.

In 1994, Travaglione and his family moved from New York to Hilton Head Island to establish a school for junior golfers modeled after the success of similar tennis academies. His vision was for a school that provided year-round golf instruction with fitness and mental training. A flexible academic program was also necessary.

The IJGA opened in 1995 with six students. It now hosts nearly 150 golfers from 22 states and 23 countries.

Mark Gonsalves
Chief Executive Officer
Mark Gonsalves was appointed chief executive officer at Hank Haney IJGA in May 2008, having served as chief marketing officer since joining the organization. Considered an expert in his field, Gonsalves has twenty-seven years of experience in developing successful brand positioning and marketing strategies in industries including sports and home improvement.

Gonsalves established himself in the golf industry as vice president of sales and marketing for Adams Golf, Inc., in the 1990’s. Adams Golf was named one of the 25 most successful small manufacturers in America by Industry Week magazine and the 5th fastest growing private company in the United States by Inc. magazine in 1998 before going public later that year.

In 1998, Gonsalves became the vice president of sales and consumer marketing for Skis Dynastar, Inc., where he pioneered the company’s infomercial campaign, winner of “Best Corporate Infomercial” at the Electronic Retailers Association’s Access ERA 2000 Annual Awards.

In 2000, Gonsalves founded DirectBuy, Inc., a private buying club in Dallas, Texas that is part of the UCC TotalHome franchise network. Gonsalves created, produced and directed DirectBuy’s infomercial campaign that has propelled the franchise to become #1 in North America since the campaign debuted in April of 2002.

Hank Haney
Director of Instruction

Hank Haney joined the IJGA in June 2007 as Director of Instruction. In early 2008, the organization was renamed Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy.

Haney developed his desire to teach while majoring in education at Tulsa University.

He has steadily built a reputation as an instructor, not only to the club level player, but also more than 200 Tour Pros from the PGA, LPGA, and European, Japanese, and Asian tours including the world’s number one player, Tiger Woods.

Haney is a member of the advisory staff for Golf Digest Magazine, Nike Golf and the PGA National Teaching Committee. He has written articles for numerous publications. In 1986, 30 episodes of "Hank Haney's Special Golf Lessons" aired on Japanese television. In 1999, Haney published his first golf instruction book entitled "The Only Golf Lesson You'll Ever Need." He has since authored two additional books, “No More Bad Shots,” and “Fix the Yips Forever.”

Haney’s peers honored him in 1993 when he was recognized as the National PGA Teacher of the Year.

Keith Kleven
Director of Fitness

Keith Kleven, who works with the world’s number one golfer, directs our Fitness Program. He has designed a program specific to the needs of our student athletes here at Hank Haney IJGA.

Keith has trained our staff of trainers to deliver a fitness program second to none and one which incorporates many of the fitness components used by the world’s best golfer.

He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Brigham Young University, attended Children’s Hospital, School of Physical Therapy in Los Angeles and completed a one year residency program at the University of Southern California.

In addition to being a physical therapist, Keith is also a certified athletic trainer. His education and background has led him to work with world-class athletes such as Tiger Woods, Greg Maddux, Mark O’Meara, Jonathan Byrd and numerous other professional and amateur athletes.

Matt Cuccaro
Director of Mental Training

Matt Cuccaro, Director of Mental Training at Hank Haney IJGA, received his Master of Education (Ed.M.) in Counseling/Sport Psychology from Boston University. He is an active member of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) and has worked extensively with elite athletes and teams at the high school, collegiate, and professional level.

He brings more than five years of junior golf experience from the American Junior Golf Association where he served as the East Canon Cup Captain and United States Representative for the Junior British Open Championship. As a Division I student-athlete, Cuccaro captained the Loyola College (Md.) golf team followed by a brief professional career before focusing his attention specifically on mental training in golf.

Since joining Hank Haney IJGA in 2006, Cuccaro has trained numerous IJGT champions and three AJGA Rolex Junior All-Americans. He has also worked with PGA, LPGA and Champions Tour players from around the world.