The PGA has announced the first PGA Excel awardees of 2026, with two Members achieving Advanced Fellow status.
These awards are presented quarterly and The PGA is proud to recognise 15 new awardees who have earned designations within the Membership categories of Professional, Coach and Manager.
The following PGA Members have been recognised in the following categories:
Advanced Fellow Coach
Richard Sheridan – Overseas – Director of Instruction at Stanford University
Alex Buckner – South – Teaching Professional and Tour Player Alex Buckner Golf LTD
Fellow Professional
Anthony Moore – Overseas – Head PGA Professional at Royal Bays Golf Club
Frank Holly – Ireland – PGA Professional at Hogs Head Golf Club
David Pocock – Scotland – Head Professional at Portlethen Golf Club
Fellow Manager
Brian Gibson – Overseas – General Manager at Absolute Golf Services
Mark Sanderson – North – Club Manager at Bedlingtonshire Golf Club
Fellow Coach
Alex Vezey – South – Golf Coach at Alex Vezey Golf
Peter Lockley – Midlands – Academy Director at Norwood Park Golf Course
Advanced Professional
Kevin Garwood – West – Head Professional and Academy Manager at Ferndown Golf Club
Peter Mitchell – Scotland – Head Professional at PJM Golf Coaching & Custom Fitting Ltd
Advanced Coach
Radu Cirtina – Overseas – Golf Coach at Minthis Hills Golf Club
Gavin Young – Ireland – PGA Professional at Ballyneety Driving Range
Hannah Bowen – West – Head Professional at Hannah Bowen Golf
Myles Cunningham – Scotland – Assistant Professional at Gullane Golf Club
Tristan Crew, Executive Director – Member Services, said: “Congratulations to each Member who has achieved their new PGA Excel designation in 2026. This recognition reflects their commitment to excellence, their impact within the industry, and their dedication to ongoing professional development.
“The PGA Excel framework provides Members with a valuable platform to demonstrate their expertise, strengthen their career opportunities, and contribute to raising professional standards across the industry. It’s encouraging to see so many Members achieving designations early in the year, and we urge all PGA Members to explore PGA Excel as an important pathway for professional growth and the growth of the game.”
Advanced Fellow Coach Alex Buckner (left) is based at Bearwood Lakes in Berkshire. He is the swing coach of three-time DP World Tour winner Marco Penge (right), and also works with tour players such as Grant Forrest, Richard Mansell and Daniel Hillier. He aims to continue to climb the PGA Excel framework towards Master Coach status, to emulate a trio of elite coaches he has previously worked with.
“My motivation is to be a Master Coach,” said Buckner. “I have worked for three of them over the course of my career: David Johnson at Lavender Park during my training, Denis Pugh at the golf college when I was consulting, and Hugh Marr when I was working at Surrey Golf Lab,” he said.
“I have always wanted to follow in their footsteps. It’s nice to know I’m always trying to move forwards. From a professional standpoint, I have always wanted to complete what there is to complete. I’m an extra step closer in doing so. It means to me that I am not there yet in achieving what I want and I still need to do more in the industry, while being proud of the journey so far in a small space of time.”
Advanced Fellow Coach Richard Sheridan has travelled the globe during his career. He was Senior Teaching Professional at the Four Seasons Club in Dubai, and this was followed by working at the Butch Harmon School of Golf, being coach of the Chinese Olympic Team, Director of Instruction at St Andrews Links Golf Academy and then Director of Instruction at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.
Now, he has the same role at Stanford University and described the significance of progressing through a framework that is examined by his fellow PGA Members.
“With my career, I’ve been on this journey around the globe. I went to the Middle East, and then I went to Australia and China, and then I’ve ended up in California. I see the PGA Excel framework as part of the journey. I started off as a trainee. I worked my way up. I started this coaching journey to go around the world and see how good I could become, and what places I could go and experience.
“I was awarded my Advanced status after I worked for the Chinese national team. And then I went back to work at St Andrews, then I moved to the Olympic Club in San Francisco, and was Director of Instruction for seven years there. I’m now at Stanford University. I felt now is the time to apply for the next level and just make it part of my career journey, part of my history – really rubberstamping and getting recognition.
“I like the framework because it’s judged by a panel of my peers, basically. It’s not social media – it’s fact. It’s what you’ve done, it’s what you’ve achieved, and it’s judged by my fellow professionals, people that I respect. It carries more weight.”
Fellow Professional David Pocock is the Head Professional at Portlethen in Aberdeenshire. He has experienced great success in growing golf academies in both Scotland and Wales and has made a huge impact in ladies golf at Portlethen.
The club has seen over 60 ladies join as members in the last two years, and along with a healthy retail business, Pocock is driven on growing the game.
“It was something I felt I needed to do for my own development,” he said. “It was important for me personally. I wanted to progress up the ladder. I can remember over 20 years ago, my first day as an assistant at the Belfry and really feeling like I had a sense of imposter syndrome. Am I good enough to do this? And it was important for me to prove myself wrong.
“I try to do coaching courses each year – it’s difficult to quantify exactly what I’ve done. Over the last two to three years, I’m constantly on podcasts – I eat, sleep and breathe it. I’m driven on big numbers. If I bring in big numbers through the door, the financial rewards come from that as well. I’m driven two ways. I’m driven in growing the game, and I’m driven in an increase in my financial business and increasing my turnover. They work hand in hand.”
PGA Advanced Coach Hannah Bowen has over a decade of coaching experience focused on making golf more inclusive and accessible, teaching across a wide array of initiatives in her career, including blind and deaf golfers, and coaching Muslim women in Saudi Arabia.
She has delivered programmes introducing hundreds of new golfers to the game, while championing participation across different cultures and abilities. Bowen described her pride of progressing through the PGA Excel framework and the immense passion that she has for the game.
“I’m proud of my achievement. I have worked hard as a professional golfer, especially as being so does not come easy,” Bowen said. “As a female in the industry, I feel I have to work harder to prove myself and my ability as a professional coach. Achieving Advanced status gives me the validation that I need to continue working hard and taking up space in the industry.
“The PGA Excel team are incredibly helpful and if you have any questions they answer them, booking in a meeting to discuss your application – I heavily suggest. For any PGA Professional wanting to be recognised for their achievements within the industry, I’d say to start their application now. What are you waiting for? You are provided with feedback on how you can improve your application for the future if on your first try you are unsuccessful.
“One of my proudest achievements in the development of golf this year and in past years is my coaching at the Festival of Sport in Holkham alongside European Tour player Graeme Storm. The charities I supported whilst volunteering at the Festival were The Youth Sports Trust, Brave Minds and The Hambo Foundation. The event sees over 250 juniors and adults take part in our coaching sessions over three days, from different cultures and walks of life, many of whom were their first time trying golf.”