Former PGA in Scotland captain Jacky Montgomery has become the 50th successful graduate of the PGA’s director of golf programme.
The Dunbar Golf Club director of golf picked up his certificate at Harrogate’s Golf Show from Dr Kyle Phillpots, the PGA’s director of education and career development.
It’s another notch in a highly successful career for Montgomery who has also attained PGA Advanced Fellow Professional status and is former chairman of the TGI Golf Partnership.
“I think for me, particularly with the restructuring at Dunbar Golf Club and our potential future developments, it was important to be able to demonstrate that I had the qualification as a PGA director of golf,” said Montgomery who has been at Dunbar since 1999.
Prior to turning pro he enjoyed a successful amateur career, captaining Scotland boys and also representing Great Britain & Ireland and played in the Junior World Cup in America.
He joined the PGA ranks as a 17 year old at Dunblane before moving to Ladybank.
“I had offers to go on golf scholarships in America but I wanted to be in golf and thought the right move was to qualify as a PGA Professional and then take stock – whether it was to go on and be a player or another role in golf.”
Montgomery was PGA qualified by 1986 and less than three months later at the age of just 21 was head pro at Dunfermline Golf Club.
He added: “I was running a business, coaching and looking after a membership. This meant that my own golf had to slip down the priority list.”
He was at Dunfermline for four years and then later at Burntisland Golf Club for nine years before jumping at the chance to move to Dunbar.
“I was ambitious and the opportunity to move to Dunbar – a quality championship links course founded in 1856 – was an exciting move for me. It has a great membership and we’re fortunate to host events such as Final Open Qualifying and national amateur championships.
“My involvement over many years in Scottish PGA committees and TGI allowed me to develop my professional skills through business and networking whilst hopefully putting something back into the game for my fellow pros.
“I am proud to be recognised as an Advanced Fellow of the PGA and feel very privileged to have worked in the golf industry as a PGA Professional for almost 30 years.”
PGA Master Professional, John Mulgrew, who pioneered the director of golf qualification, added: “Over the last eight or nine years since the qualification has been established it has become more important than ever for PGA pros who want to be involved in the running of their golf club.And in that period, golf clubs have been recognising the importance of PGA Professionals and the value of this qualification both at home and abroad.”
Michael Abbott, The PGA’s member education executive added: “The programme itself assesses individuals ‘knowledge and understanding’ and ‘competence’ across seven core management units: Personal, Strategic, Operational, People, Financial, Marketing and Customer Service, and specific areas of expertise.
“To gain the full qualification, which Jacky has, not only proves that he has the knowledge and understanding to manage these core areas, but has also demonstrated his competence in the role, through the production of evidence.
“He’s a real asset to Dunbar GC and the Association.”
To learn more about The PGA Director of Golf Programme please contact Michael Abbott (Member Education Executive – The PGA) on 01675 470 333 or email michael.abbott@pga.org.uk
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