Alex Buckner has put his name in The PGA’s history books by becoming the youngest Member of the Association to achieve PGA Fellow status at the age of 27.
Buckner, who is based at Bearwood Lakes Golf Club, works with players of all ages and ability at the Berkshire venue, while also coaching numerous DP World Tour, Ladies European Tour and Challenge Tour stars.
His latest achievement came earlier this year when Buckner was part of Australian Daniel Hillier’s team when he achieve his maiden DP World Tour victory at The Betfred British Masters back in July.
“I am very proud,” said Buckner. “It wasn’t necessarily a goal of mine and I didn’t think it was actually an attainable goal so I’m very proud in that sense. It’s really nice to be recognised by The PGA and being the youngest by quite a way allowed me to think back on how much I’ve done in such a short amount of time. That was something to be proud of and gives me the motivation to continue with my professional development and move up the designations as quickly as I can.
“I want to become the youngest PGA Master Coach one day. I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved so far but I understand you have to be a PGA Member for a certain amount of time to gain a certain status, but to be awarded PGA Fellow Coach is still a high achievement in my eyes.”
Buckner was inspired to start his PGA Excel application by his boss Mike Shrieve, who is the Director of Golf at Bearwood Lakes.
“I saw a lot of other people doing it and Mike is very hot on ensuring that, as a club, we are showcasing what we’ve done and the PGA Excel system allows you to do that. It allows you to separate yourself from the rest of the field and get a status and reward for what you’ve done in your career. Mike said ‘you need to do it, to understand where you are and also for us (Bearwood Lakes) as a golf club to be proud of it as well’.
“I think career progression is massively important. I work with players that are trying to get better every single day, and if I don’t do the same, I’m not really doing them justice. It has to be something that I keep doing, because everyone around me is doing it too so if I don’t, I’m not really living up to the same standards of the people around me. You have to practise what you preach and be the person you want others to be.”
Becoming a PGA Fellow Coach has improved Buckner’s status at Bearwood Lakes and with his peers in the golf industry.
“I think that it’s so easy to be bracketed as the same as the person next door. At the end of the day, we sell the same service across the nation, we give golf lessons. Anything that can add to my USP and why people should see you rather than the person down the road, can’t be a bad thing.”
Asked what advice he has to encourage other PGA Members to start their PGA Excel journey, Buckner added: “I’d recommend people pick one area and do it well, you can gain bigger and better experiences, that’s what I’ve done. I’ve been able to show how far I’ve come in a particular area and it’s therefore allowed me to move up the chain. If you do a little bit of everything, it’s too broad and you’re trying to spread yourself too thin, so you don’t get as far down a certain level.”