The QHotels QGolf Academy programme has succeeded in introducing hundreds of new people to the sport in 2016 – and has assisted more experienced players to achieve much-desired personal goals.
The QGolf Academies are in operation at seven QHotel golf resorts across the UK and were introduced with the intention of helping to drive further participation in golf, introducing the game to young people and encouraging exercise for everybody.
Its levels of success, however, have exceeded even the wishes of QHotels’ group academy director Mark Pearson, whose responsibility it has been to drive the project.
He explained: “Success comes in many forms and different people have different goals. But we have seen success in many areas, both in terms of the ethos of the QGolf Academies and the personal goals of individual golfers, from Tour professional Chris Hanson – who is coached at Oulton Hall and now enjoys full playing rights on the European Tour – right through to Brenda Chapman, a 90-year-old at Dunston Hall who has added 15 yards to her driving distance.
“The successes we’ve seen show that good coaching can have a positive effect on golfers regardless of age or handicap.”
Dunston Hall member Chapman, who has been working with QGolf Academy coach Caroline Grady for five years, has shown that age is no barrier to improvement, while, at the other end of the age scale, Mottram Hall, in Cheshire, has been working with more than 300 local primary schoolchildren and four disability groups to develop their interest in golf.
Notable individual successes achieved by QGolf Academy members nationwide include those of Christine Reynolds, 63, a member at Belton Woods, in Lincolnshire, who has been selected for Great Britain’s golf team at next year’s World Transplant Games, in Malaga; numerous county selections; and, more prosaically, but no less important to the golfer concerned, Oulton Hall youngster Chris Mott’s first StartGolf win … after coach Lee Morrisroe switched him from left to right-handed!
Pearson added: “For some, success may come in smaller packages, like clearing a pond for the first time, playing 18 holes for the first time, or breaking 100 for first time.
“But our academy coaches are there with them every step of the way, whether it’s adjusting their set-up or merely high-fiving them when they come off the course after a pleasing round. QHotels has provided something for everybody with the range of available tuition programmes and packages and, as coaches, we’re really enjoying working with and celebrating with our academy members.”
The QGolf Academy programme is available at seven QHotel golf resorts. Among the products on offer, individuals can enjoy a range of packages designed to suit all abilities and budgets, with the latest state-of-the-art technology providing instant swing analysis and all individual lessons receiving online feedback and a development plan.
Free outreach to schools and open weekends, a structured learning programme for five to 16-year-olds in six modules and free membership are all included in the QGolf Academy FUEL golf junior tuition programme.
A range of attractive benefits are also available in the academy’s StartGolf beginner teaching packages including free introductory sessions, low-cost group tuition and membership offers, while its BetterGolf group tuition sessions offer complimentary game assessment to members in addition to a variety of learning golf seminars and specialist clinics.
And QGolf Academy also caters for the corporate sector, with beginner packages, golf clinics, video and business networking opportunities available with its Corporate Tuition Services.
The multi-award-winning, four-star QHotels group offers championship-standard courses in unique resort locations including Slaley Hall – host of 18 European Tour and European Seniors Tour events – Belton Woods, Oulton Hall, Mottram Hall, and Forest Pines Hotel and Golf Resort.
QHotels www.qhotels.co.uk.