Daniel Gavins stormed his way to victory on the EuroPro Tour at the HotelPlanner.com Championship, where the 22-year old professional, based at De Vere Oulton Hall, shot a superb final round of 63 to win by three strokes at Dale Hill Golf Club in East Sussex. The victory pushes him up to third on the 888poker.com PGA EuroPro Tour Order of Merit, as he looks to achieve a card on next year’s Challenge Tour by finishing in the top-5 on the Order of Merit. This is Gavins’ first title on the EuroPro Tour and is testament to the work that he has been doing with the staff at The PGA Golf Academy at De Vere Oulton Hall.
Gavins has been attached to the stunning Leeds resort since the start of the year and as he lives nearby, he regularly practices at the Academy whenever not away travelling on Tour.
He has worked with renowned coach Mark Pearson, who is also the Academy Director at Oulton Hall, for the past 4 years and this work appears to be paying dividends. Pearson, who is vastly experienced in coaching golfers of all abilities, including a number of successful touring professionals, believes this is the start of things to come for Daniel.
“He has always been an extremely talented golfer and I think he is finally ready to realise his full potential,” commented Pearson. “This is his second year on the EuroPro Tour and he has really knuckled down over the past 18 months. I am excited about the progress that he has been making, and hopefully he can continue on to bigger and better things.”
As well as working with the coaching staff at Oulton Hall, Gavins has also recently added Mental Coach, Iain Highfield to his team. Highfield, who recently joined the Academy at Oulton Hall, has been working with the Yorkshire professional since June, and has started to make a big difference to the way he prepares and competes in tournaments. His victory supports the quality of coaching and expertise on hand at OultonHallAcademy, which is the only NikeGolfAcademy in Europe, and provides game improvement solutions for golfers of all ages and abilities, right through from complete beginners to European Tour players. The arrival of Ian Highfield as the Academy’s Mental Coach just helps further the ability for every player to work on each aspect of their game under one roof.
Keith Pickard, Regional Golf Director, De Vere, commended the work of the highly-skilled staff at the GolfAcademy, “It is a fantastic facility and they have a superb team of coaching staff that can cater for golfers of all abilities. The arrival of Iain Highfield to help golfers work on the mental aspects of their game has certainly benefitted those players who practice at the Academy, as there is a constant natural flow of information and feedback between the coaches. Mark Pearson has a wealth of experience within the game, and this is not the first victory from a player based at the Academy, as they have had 6 professional wins in the last 3 years, which just underlines the excellent work and expertise of the guys there. I wish Daniel every success in the future and hopefully he can progress up through the professional ranks.”
De Vere Golf www.devere.co.uk/golf.html