A number of leading lights have been recognised for their expertise in the latest Accreditation for Professional Achievement and Learning (APAL) awards.
Three PGA professionals have been elevated to PGA Advanced Fellow Professional status – one below the highest ranked status of PGA Master Professional.
The recipients of this accolade are leading coach Alistair Davies, who is based at The Belfry; Ian Taylor, who is head professional at Drumpellier and also a talented player and member of the PGA Rules Panel; and Kedleston Park head professional Paul Wesselingh, a six-time PGA Cup player, who has taken the European Senior Tour by storm.
Davies was recently recognised as one of the country’s leading coaches having been selected for Golf World’s 100 top coaches in the UK. The 37-year-old is passionate and knowledgeable on many aspects of teaching the game. He is an authorised instructor for The Golfing Machine (GSEM), a Titleist Performance Institute certified golf fitness instructor and PGA swing tutor and examiner.
He is also coach to the University of Birmingham golf squads and Solihull College AASE team.
Taylor has shown an ability to perform a wide range of skills at the highest level during his career.
The 43-year-old Scot carries out the daily duties of being a head professional, as well as competing on the national stage and refereeing some of golf’s biggest names as one of a select band of PGA professionals on the PGA Rules Panel. In 2010,Taylor refereed at the USPGA Championship at Whistling Straits and the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor.
Wesselingh has been garnering headlines for his playing prowess for two decades with string of national and regional titles – including winning the Midland Order of Merit in 2011. While combining his duties at the Derbyshire club, Wesselingh has made
a huge mark at Senior level in his debut season. He has won the PGA Senior Championship on Tour, and also secured the Senior PGA Championship. He is currently on course for a top 10 finish in the rankings and the Rookie of the Year accolade.
Also honoured in the awards are a trio of professionals, Lee Cox (The Shire), Jonathan Wallett (Evian Masters) and Philip Jones, who have been made PGA Fellow professionals.
Cox is the Director of Golf at The Shire and combines his duties with a successful coaching school, with 2010 long drive champion Joe Miller amongst his clients. Evian-based Wallett is the academy director for the Elite Coaching Academy, a qualified sports psychologist and prolific author. Jones, has a wealth of overseas experience both in the Middle East and in Russia.
The APAL panel also awarded PGA Advanced Professional status to Stephen Cole (Hartswood) and James Gunning (Walton Heath).
David Colclough, PGA head of member education, said: “The APAL awards recognise the commitment, and above all impact, that many PGA members have made in the golf industry, whether as club professionals, coaches, directors of golf and many other roles.”
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