Why tour pros and beginner golfers alike rely on the expertise of PGA Coaches

PGA Coaches are at the heart of everything a golfer learns – from beginners to the best in the world. To back up that idea, we recently saw PGA Master Coach at The Open working tirelessly with World No.1 Scottie Scheffler and 2022 US Champion Matt Fitzpatrick to tidy up parts of their game.

But they’re not alone. Countless golfers on the professional circuit are reliant on the input and coaching of PGA -qualified Coaches, not least, DP World Tour phenom Marco Penge. Despite being one of the most in-form golfers on the planet right now – challenging the likes of Rory McIlroy in the Race to Dubai – Penge often pays a visit to Alex Buckner, PGA Coach at Bearwood Lakes.

Buckner outlines the most important features of a golf lesson, why players of every ability should call on the services of a PGA Coach and the differences between working with tour pros and club golfers competing in the weekly Stableford.

How do PGA Coaches help the best players to get even better?

These guys are very highly functional already, so the style of a lesson slightly changes.

You're trying to maintain function and trying to upskill. I always say I've become a personal trainer with these guys and trying to better their skills while maintaining that high quality function.

For example, Brooks Koepka has played poorly (this year) and not had control of his golf ball. He has probably needed lessons to get him back to playing more functional.

Which aspects of your PGA training guide your teaching?

Impact factors and ball flight laws, for example.

They’re the facts of what we diagnose and teach today. If we don't have that, then we don't know where to start our process of analysing a golf swing, because it's got to be based around strike and ball flight.

They would be the continuous things that I go back to on a daily basis.

What are the similarities and differences between teaching a professional and a club golfer?

With similarities, you're educating on why a ball moves and how a movement allows that to happen. A lot of people say quick fixing is an issue, and it's really not. You don’t have to rebuild someone. It's to understand the impact factor and alter it to find a better direction.

I think people go down this road of remodelling everything and saying ‘it's got to get worse before it gets better’. But a lot of what the PGA qualification taught me was it can be very simple and effective.

Teaching a good player is no different, because they've got to perform in one- or two-days’ time. There’s not any time for it to get worse, before it gets better.

What is more important in a golf lesson: fun or improvement?

The priority is fun, hands down. People forget that lessons are an experience, and we're an experience industry, so the environment has got to be welcoming.

It's got to be something that you'll want to come back and do again. The PGA has allowed me to understand that through the business models, rather than the coaching models.

If someone doesn't like their experience or didn't have fun, as much as they might get better, it doesn't draw them back in for another lesson.

That has to be the priority, and then hopefully you make them better at the same time.

Why should golfers at any level work with a PGA Coach?

They have invested their money and time into making sure that they are educated in delivering a great service with great knowledge, versus someone that is passing off whatever they've learned and some experiences with no real understanding of how to deliver the full picture.

People recognise that. They want to have a lesson with people that have fully invested in doing it for their career.

Looking to improve your golf game? Find a golf lesson in your local area.