Royal Mid-Surrey’s rising young golf coach, Dean Rodgers, took the ‘Bridgestone Golf Assistant Pro of the Year’ award at the ProShop Europe golf trade awards ceremony, held at the Wentworth Club on Thursday, 15 November.
The award – selected by a panel of golf industry experts – placed 26-year-old Rodgers ahead of Carole Pope from the Isle of Wedmore Golf Club (2nd) and Ladbrook Park’s Ryan Burton (3rd) thanks to top class instruction, custom-fitting and strong relations built with his membership at the golf club based in Richmond-upon-Thames.
“It’s a big honour to win this ProShop Europe award, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the team at Royal Mid-Surrey,” said Rodgers, whose club also took the ‘Best Pro Shop’ accolade. “I’d also like to thank Bridgestone Golf for sponsoring the award. They’ve supported us really well and recently hosted a superb, fully-booked ball-fitting day that gave our members an insight into how a particular ball can improve their game.”
Bridgestone Golf’s UK Managing Director Steve Kettlewell was full of praise for the winner. “It’s pros like Dean that really help to grow the game of golf from grass roots and we’re delighted he took home the prize that his hard work certainly deserves,” he said.
As No.1 brand for golf ball-fitting, Bridgestone Golf’s Ball Fitting Challenge aims to convince the majority of golfers that they are better suited to a ball that matches their swing speed, both in terms of greater distance and accuracy off the tee. Details of the 2013 Bridgestone Ball Fitting Challenge programme will become available shortly on www.bridgestonegolf.com