Crown Golf Academies Blog

Top golfing venue holds training day for locally based teachers and golf professionals

A group of 30 golf professionals and teachers from schools in Devon and Cornwall recently attended a training day at St Mellion International Resort in Saltash, Cornwall to teach them all about junior golf.

Organised by the Plymouth “Golf Roots” Steering Committee, the day consisted of five theoretical and practical sessions. Delegate learned all about HSBC Golf Roots – a national project set up in 2003 to provide opportunities for children and young people in areas where golf had not previously been seen as an option.

St Mellion International Resort has been involved with the Plymouth Golf Roots project for a year, and is going to be leading the project in 2012.

Coaches from the Crown Golf Academy at St Mellion gave “live” training sessions to delegates with the help of 30 primary school and 20 secondary school children. Each session lasted two hours and demonstrated two specially developed forms of golf – Tri Golf for primary age children, and Golf Xtreme for older children.

Rob Spurrier, Group Academy Manager at Crown Golf and member of the Plymouth Golf Roots Steering Committee, said: “The day went incredibly well, with the first ever “live” training sessions proving to be a great success.

“Crown Golf Academies is setting the standard across the country in terms of junior training for coaches. We are proud to be able to help teachers, golf professionals and volunteers teach the sport to children from all backgrounds, and plan to run further similar training days in 2012.”

Pioneering local golf club aims to
introduce 2,500 primary age children to golf

The Crown Golf Academy at Hampton Court Palace Golf Club is working with 15 local primary schools to encourage their pupils take-up golf. Over a four month period
(November 2011 till February 2012) nearly 2,500 local school children will be given free ‘Tri-Golf’ lessons by the talented pros from Hampton Court Palace GC.

Tri-Golf is a “mini” version of golf, designed specifically for young children and infant,
primary and junior schools, using youngster-friendly equipment.

Karl Wesson, Director of Golf at the Hampton Court Palace Golf Club Crown Golf Academy, and his three qualified and CRB checked coaches, are currently visiting schools in the borough of Richmond to introduce children to “Tri-Golf”.

Each golf session lasts 30 – 45 minutes, depending on the age of the children involved,
and there is the opportunity for anyone who enjoys the sessions to attend further subsidised Tri-Golf sessions at Hampton Court Palace Golf Club, with all equipment provided free of charge.

Schools that have signed up to the project so far include: St Mary’s C of E Primary, Darell Primary, Barnes Primary, Marshgate Primary, Bishop Perrin C of E Primary, Stanley Primary, Chase Bridge Primary, The Russell Primary and St John the Baptist Junior. And Wesson and his team are in talks to set up visits to at least six further schools by the end of February 2012.

The Richmond School Sports Partnership (SSP) has been instrumental in setting up the visits, and Crown Golf – owners of Hampton Court Palace Golf Club – the Golf Foundation
(a charity committed to the sporting and social development of young people through golf) and the Richmond SSP are jointly funding the cost of the sessions.

Maggie Morrell of the Richmond SSP said: “The team from Hampton Court Palace Golf Club have visited several schools already, and their sessions have gone down really well. The children have a lot of fun, and at the same time are taught about the etiquette
of the game, which involves a certain amount of self-discipline. It is very interesting to watch the children’s responses.

“It is great for the children who are really keen on the sport to have the opportunity to
continue with Karl and his team at their club. We hope to see a rise in the number of junior players in the area as a result of this project.”

Karl Wesson added: “It has been a real privilege to teach so many keen youngsters. They are very quick to pick up the basics of golf, and get a huge amount of pleasure from seeing immediate results. My fellow coaches and I get an equal amount of pleasure from the children’s enjoyment of the sport, so it is a win-win situation.

“We look forward to coaching as many children as we can in the community in the coming weeks.”

Students on the UK’s only
tournament-based golf foundation degree course split their time between St Mellion International Resort in Cornwall and Pestana Golf Resort in Portugal

A second year undergraduate on the Foundation Science Degree in
Tournament Golf, Ben Stow, has qualified for the second stage
of the European Tour School.

Having won or been runner-up in nine tournaments over the last two years, and gained a handicap of +4.2, Stow entered the European Tour Qualifying School, passed stage 1 and is currently into stage 2. If he succeeds in stages 2 and 3, Stow will have qualified for the European Tour itself.

Stow is one of a handful of golfers that are reaping the rewards of the unique two-centre, two-year sports degree course.  Tournament Golf College is administered by the Duchy College, which operates under the umbrella of Plymouth University. It has been running since 2008, and 2011 is its most successful year yet.

Students are based at St Mellion International Resort from mid-September to December each year, before spending January to March at the Pestana Golf Resort in the Algarve, and returning to the UK for the spring and summer months.

Also benefitting from the course is second year student James Yeomans, who won the BMW Dubai Invitational by an astonishing 10 shots, and Joey Armstrong, who has now graduated, and who has been invited to compete on the Challenge tour.

St Mellion has been involved with the Tournament Golf College course from its inception three years ago. With its two challenging Championship courses for students to play on each week, great practice facilities and short game training areas, plus its state of the art
gym facilities, the resort is ideally placed to work with the students.

Darren Gass, Performance Coach at St Mellion has also been involved from the outset, and has recently decided to go full time on the Tournament Golf course, travelling to Portugal with the students, and becoming full time coach on the course.

Gass said: “The Foundation Science Degree in Tournament Golf is unique. It
was built to give talented European players a viable option to learn on home turf, rather than travelling to the US to study. All the academic teaching is based around tournament golf, rather than being a standard education course with a golf bolt-on, which is what you normally find in the UK.

“We have had some phenomenal results already, with Ben Stow being perhaps our most remarkable student so far. I am very proud of what we have achieved in such a short time.

“We are hoping that the course may be extended to a full three-year BA course in the next few years, so that promising golfers can come out with a nationally recognised qualification.”

Rob Spurrier, Group Academy Manager at Crown Golf, said: “St Mellion is delighted to be involved in the pioneering work that the Tournament Golf College is undertaking. With Darren’s help, the students have made meteoric progress in their two years on the course.  Whether the course remains a two-year one, or extends to three in the future, it is clear that the Tournament Golf College is a great success!”

Conference Organiser and Performance Coach, Greg Brodie

Two-day teaching conference to take place at Blue Mountain GC on 16 – 17 January, 2012

Crown Golf has today announced the date and location of the 2012 Surrey County Coaching Conference – an important event that it hosts and sponsors for the county’s many professional golf coaches.

The 2012 Surrey County Coaching Conference the will take place at Blue Mountain Golf Centre, in Wood Lane, Binfield, Berkshire on 16-17 January, 2012. The conference is being run in conjunction with the Surrey County Golf Partnership and is supported by England Golf.

Rob Spurrier, Group Academy Manager at Crown Golf, said: “Crown Golf is delighted to be hosting the 2012 Surrey County Coaching Conference. There are some fantastic speakers and it will be a great event. There are still a few places available, so any coaches interested in attending should contact Caroline Hardy at sgp@surreygolf.org.”

The Surrey County Coaching Conference is being organised by PGA Professional Greg Brodie, Performance Coach at Pine Ridge Golf Club’s Crown Golf Academy.

Eleven guest speakers will present papers on a broad spectrum of subjects and include:

• Matthew Syed, an award-winning journalist and broadcaster, and author of “Bounce”, described as “among the most intelligent and thought-provoking books about sport ever written”
• Mark Bennett, the founder of Performance Development Systems, providing high quality performance coaching and mentoring to national and international coaches, teams and athletes.

Subjects covered include “Postural Breakdowns and their Influence on Swing Biomechanics” (Mark Bull), “Coaching the Elite Player” (Hugh Marr) and “The DNA of an Expert Golf Coach” (David Colclough) to name a few, and is open to all golf coaches, not just those from Surrey.

50 CPD (Continuing Professional Development) points are awarded for attending the conference.

Romsey-based club to host and coach Hampshire Under 14 county golf squad

From this autumn, the Crown Golf Academy at Paultons Golf Centre at Romsey, Hampshire will be responsible for helping to raise the standard of Hampshire’s top junior golfers.

Following a rigorous selection process, newly instigated by the Hampshire County Golf Union, Paultons Golf Centre was considered the best site, with the best coaches, for the job.

The Under 14 county squad will be coached by Paultons’ Head Coach Chris Farr, and his colleague, Academy PGA Professional, Kevin Capelhorn, at the Crown Golf Academy. The pair will join forces with Hampshire Under 14 Manager, Mike Gregory, to help raise the standard of the county’s juniors golfers, and to provide a team base.

Farr said: “It’s a huge honour for both Kevin and me to represent the county on a coaching basis. Hampshire has a deep pool of talent and it will be fantastic to help develop these young players into the world-beaters of the future. We have high ambitions to see the Under 14s compete successfully both as a team and on the national stage.”

Kevin Caplehorn added: “Having grown up in the county and seen many great players come through the ranks, it’s tremendously exciting to be chosen to be a part of it”.

Coaching at Paultons GC has been transformed since Farr set up the Crown Golf Academy there in 2008. And the county coaching accolade is another leap forward for the award-winning club.

www.crowngolfacademies.com/paultons

Forty five children compete in two-day open event; Junior golf ‘on the up’

Addington Court Golf Centre, in Croydon, held its second annual Junior Open Championship over the first weekend in September – and numbers were up by 50 per cent on last year’s event. Over half of the centre’s 80 Junior Academy players took part in the Junior Open, which was a 36-hole handicap and scratch event.

There were also separate 9-hole tournaments for younger children – one Under 12’s event and another Under 10’s on the Saturday (3^rd September 2011), and a parent and child event for these age groups on the Sunday.

All of the youngsters also benefitted from two hours of free coaching before play started on both mornings.

With prizes being awarded daily, a total of 30 prize winners were recognised during the Junior Open Championship.

After a weekend of contrasting golfing conditions – lurching from bright sunshine on the Saturday to lashing rain on the Sunday – the eventual winner of the Junior Open Championship was 14 year old Joe Rowland, with a phenomenal score of 6 under par. Joe became a Junior member earlier in the year, and was delighted with his score.

The scratch overall tournament was won by Harry Masters 15, and Fu Kawashima 14, was the winner of the Girls’ Championship.

The Under 10’s tournament title went to Ryan Worboys 9, and the Under 12 Tigers tournament winner was Alexander Baxter-Brand 10, who went on to win the Sunday parent and child event with his father, Richard.

Alex MacGregor, Junior Organiser and Junior Teaching Professional at Addington Court GC said: “We were really pleased with how the event went. Playing 18 holes of golf for two days in a row is a lot to ask of youngsters, and they rose to the challenge brilliantly.

“The number of entrants for the Junior Open Championship was significantly higher this year, as are the numbers in our Junior section and After School coaching programmes. Junior golf is definitely on the up at Addington Court. It is very exciting to be involved in such a dynamic environment, both for the children and for us as coaches. We look forward to another fun and successful Championship next year.”

Twenty five golfers take part in afternoon of one-on-one lessons at local course

Nine of Herts Golf Course in London Road, Rickmansworth, recently hosted a highly successful afternoon of disability-specific golf tuition in conjunction with disabled people’s charity – “DASH”.

Twenty five budding golfers turned up for the afternoon of coaching and competitions. Players were given lessons on the driving range, the short game area and the golf course. The tuition was led by Nine of Herts’ PGA Director of Golf, Mark Tompkins, who is an experienced coach of disabled golfers. His two assistant coaches were also on hand to help out, along with DASH officials and parents and carers.

The afternoon’s activities were a resounding success with Nine of Herts’ regular disabled patrons, and five attendees were entirely new to the sport. A motorized ParaGolfer chair was available for the session, which enabled wheelchair-bound players to experience stand-up and assist capabilities.

Julia Sullivan, mother of Adam, who participated in the afternoon, and who attends the Nine of Herts Disabled Academy said: “It was a great day. The golf sessions are the highlight of Adam’s week. Mark, the DASH team, and all at the golf club are very patient and have excellent knowledge around people with additional needs.”

Mark Tompkins added: “We all had a fantastic afternoon, and were delighted to welcome some new faces to Nine of Herts. People came from quite a distance to have a go at golf, and we hope to see them all again soon at our Sunday morning Academy sessions.”

Duncan Woolger, new Head PGA Coach @ Orpington GC

Orpington Golf Centre’s new boy Woolger is tasked with building teaching academy, and increasing the number of golfers in Kent

Duncan Woolger starts work this month as Orpington Golf Centre’s new Head PGA Coach. The Crown Golf Academy at Orpington GC, located on Sandy Lane, St Paul’s Cray, Orpington has already built a reputation as one of the largest and busiest golf academies in the region.

Woolger, 36, joins the club from Braintree Golf Club in Essex, where he was Essex Girls’ County Coach for the Elite and Intermediate squads, as well as taking charge of the teaching academy there.

During his 17-year career, Woolger has moved around the country – and the world – gaining experience in a broad range of clubs in the South East, as well as in Madeira.

An Advanced PGA Member, the new Head PGA Coach has experience coaching all levels – from beginners to tour professionals, to celebrities and even royalty! Woolger also has a diploma in sports psychology, which he used to help develop and implement his own Mind Factor coaching programme. He also assists in developing coaches and professionals as part of an American-based coaching system called “Plane Truth”.

A family man, away from the golf course Woolger likes nothing better than to relax with his two young daughters and his wife Jane, who he met at Strawberry Hill Golf Club, and who used to play for Middlesex herself!

Woolger commented: “I am delighted to be working at Orpington Golf Centre. I am really looking forward to getting to know the members, and am already working to develop the Junior Academy still further.

“The position of Head PGA Coach is a great challenge, which will allow me to use the facilities to offer a diverse range of coaching services to adults and children alike. Crown Golf, the owner of Orpington GC, is leading the way in offering new golf initiatives, so this is a great company to be involved with.”

Simon Baker, General Manager of Orpington Golf Centre, said: “Duncan will be a great asset to our Crown Golf Academy. He is a high-level coach and also has an in-depth knowledge of how equipment can aid a player’s game. He and his team will give all golfers, no matter how experienced they are, something beyond the usual golf coaching experience.

“We are delighted he has joined the team at Orpington, and I look forward to seeing the Crown Golf Academy flourish under his leadership.”

‘Little Bristol’ scraps dress code and tee times to pull-in the punters – from £5 for all-day golf

The Bristol Golf Club in Almondsbury, is offering some fantastic deals to families and younger players on its “Little Bristol” par-3 golf course as part of a drive to encourage more people to take up the sport.

The well-known local golf club is restructuring the pricing on its Par-3 course so that people can play golf all day for as little as £5.

It has introduced a “relaxed” approach. This means that there is no dress code for players on the Little Bristol, no need to book a tee time, no limit on the number of rounds of golf you can play in a day, and there are clubs available for hire.

The Crown Golf Academy at The Bristol Golf Club runs a fantastic “Junior After School” programme – a fun coaching programme which covers all aspects of the game, and allows children to put the skills they learn into practice by playing on the Little Bristol course.  The programme runs alongside the Golf Foundation’s “Junior Golf Passport” scheme which encourages player development through various challenges.  As the player improves, the challenges get harder, up to the point where they will be good enough to play on the main course and obtain a handicap.

Mark Boscott, Head Academy Coach at The Bristol GC, said: “We are really keen to encourage more families and juniors to have a go at golf, and we hope that making a round of golf at the Little Bristol more affordable means that we will welcome a lot of new players to the club.”

Ben Laing, General Manager of The Bristol, added: “The Bristol is a really sociable golf club. We have a thriving Junior section, and a great membership offer for those who choose to join the club. With that in mind, we have priced golf on the Little Bristol from £5 for a day’s unlimited play, and have introduced special family deals. All golfers have to start somewhere, so who knows, we may yet produce the next Luke Donald!”

Crown Golf coach delivering a Discover Golf session

£19,200 kitty enables over 400 people to try out golf for the first time

Earlier this year, Crown Golf, the English Golf Union (EGU) and the English Women’s Golf Association (EGWA) raised £19,200 to provide free coaching for non-golfers in a move to remove barriers to the sport and increase the number of players in the UK – and their move is paying dividends.

During March and April of this year, 409 people took up free coaching places at 16 of Crown Golf’s 29 golf clubs, on the Crown Golf Academies “Discover Golf” programme.

Discover Golf is a pioneering coaching programme, which is aimed at giving the golfer a chance to learn all the different elements of golf at a pace that they choose. The participants had access to over 24 hours of coaching. In the course of the programme, people meet fellow players, which spurs them on to continue with the sport.

As a result of the free coaching sessions, 160 individuals have continued to play golf within Crown Golf’s facilities, equating to a 39 per cent known conversion rate to the sport.

The £19,200 was raised due to the match-funding by Crown Golf of a £600 grant per club given by the EGU and EGWA to 16 of Crown Golf’s clubs that they received for achieving “GolfMark” accreditation. GolfMark status is awarded by the EGU and the EWGA in recognition of junior and beginner-friendly golf facilities. The total number of Crown Golf clubs now GolfMark accredited is 25.

As the amount raised was so large, Crown Golf decided to do something different and significant with the money, and invested in what they see as the future of golf.

Rob Spurrier, Group Academy Manager at Crown Golf, said: “We are delighted with the outcome of our investment in free Discover Golf places. We were inundated with requests for places on the programmes, and overwhelmed by the fantastic attitude of all the players.

“There are many taster session-type coaching initiatives across the country, which often have a higher initial attendance, but we have never before seen such a huge take-up of the sport following a coaching initiative. We intend to run the same project across all Crown Golf clubs in 2012.”

Richard Flint, Golf Development Manager of the EGU, added: “Crown Golf’s Discover Golf initiative is unique, and is also clearly successful. We applaud their generosity in opening their doors to all comers. It is a testament to the skills and dedication of Crown’s coaching staff that so many people are continuing to play golf after their initial free lessons. We hope to see similar figures in the years to come.”