The Royal Fremantle instructor beat out a field that included Shelley Nitschke (cricket), Colin Batch (hockey) and Simon Redmond (swimming).

It is his first win in the award although he has won a slew of golf specific coaching awards, including PGA of Australia National Coach of the Year in 2019.

Smith’s clients had outstanding results in 2021. Minjee Lee won her first major championship, the Evian Championship, while Green had a solid year in America and Min Woo Lee won the Scottish Open on the DP World Tour and found himself inside the top 50 in the world for the first time.

Minjee Lee was nominated as a finalist for the WA Sports Star award, but the winner was Paralympic star Madison de Rozario.

My dad, Jack, was a pretty good player and I started to caddy for him at Royal Canberra when I was about 10. I picked up on things. Before the new course at Westbourne Woods opened, the old course was down along the Molonglo River and there was a par-3 where you had to hit over the river. Dad always used to let me go down, walk across the bridge, and hit a little pitch from the other side of the river. One day I started to walk towards the bridge and he called me back. He had a little bag of balls with him and said, “Come on. Hit one over the river.” It was a good 60, 70-yard carry. Of course, I popped the first one in the river. Then I hit another one and popped it in the river. Another one. Another one. And golf balls were pretty scarce back then. And then I hit one over the river and I never hit one in the river again. Ever.

When I was doing my PGA traineeship with Ray Thomas at Royal, I was an awful bunker player. Ray said to me, “Go down to the practice bunker, and I’ll be down there in 15 minutes and I’ll give you a bunker lesson.” I went down and took my practice balls out and started to hit bunker shots, just stuffing them up, as I usually did. Four hours later, after he hadn’t come down, I was a really good bunker player.

My teaching philosophy is very simple. I get people to think about what their clubhead is doing at impact. I use the analogy of a plane landing or taking off. So many people try to hit up on the ball; we want the feeling of landing the plane at impact. I’ll say it 20 or 30 times, “Make the plane land. Make the plane land. Make the plane land.” When they do it they often look at me and say, “Wow, that felt good.”

Golf, to me, is psychology. It’s physics and psychology. It’s understanding the physics of why a golf ball does what it does. I always give people the question, “Don’t ask why it didn’t go where you wanted it to go, ask why it went where it went.” If you ask the wrong question, you’re always going to get the wrong answer, but if you ask the right question, yes, you might get the wrong answer the first time, the second time, even the third time, but eventually you will get the right answer.

I’ve been working with this lady down at Links Lady Bay for 11 months. She was a complete novice when we started but physically very fit, ran marathons, that type of thing. We’ve been doing lessons every fortnight and whatever it is we’ve been doing, she now absolutely loves golf. She cannot wait.

I go down there to play in the Saturday comp and when I drive in, which is fairly early now, she’s there with her partner. They play nine holes before any of the comp field comes through and she just loves the game. That’s as big a kick for me as turning her into a five-handicapper.

How we get people hooked on golf does depend a lot on the age of the person. You bring the kids out, just give them a club that fits them and let them hit. Just let them hit. I love it when I see a mum or dad on the range with their kid and they just chip balls 40 or 50 metres. The kid might have a hybrid or a long iron but they keep up with mum or dad. Then when the kid starts to hit it further, the parent hits it further to keep up with him. That’s a great way to encourage kids just getting started.

When I played on tour in the ‘70s we all shared swing thoughts and ideas with each other. We were in New Zealand one year and Robbie Taylor was right over at the right-hand edge of the practice fairway, hitting it down the barbed-wire fence. Straight down the barbed-wire fence. I said, “What are you doing that for?” He said, “Well, I can’t get the ones that go over the barbed-wire fence.” And this was the time when you had to collect your own practice balls. We’d go onto the practice field and we’d play games. We’d all hit and we’d, “Can you hit a draw? Can you hit a fade? Can you hit high?” That’s how we did it.

There was a famous statement made by Henry Longhurst back in 1976, when a 19-year-old Spaniard – and we know who that was – hit it all over the course and finished second to Johnny Miller. Longhurst says, “This young man has turned golf from a science into a great adventure.”

There’s an obsession with distance right now but the quickest way to better scores is through the short game. PGA Tour player Pat Perez was on YouTube and said, “All you guys that are going down to the driving range, teeing up drivers, trying to hit as far as you can, what you need to do is get a better short game.” You’re going to hit the ball offline with a driver, or a long iron, or whatever. But if you can play bunker shots and you can putt, you’re going to beat more people.

I’m not here to train up US Tour players. I’m just here to help people get a little bit better at golf and enjoy the game a bit more. I’ve got a very good mate who is teaching me about wine and I said I would teach him about golf. The biggest compliment that he gives me is, “David, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be playing golf anymore.” That’s what it’s all about.

PGA Professionals have the experience and knowledge to bring the best out in your golf. To find your nearest PGA Professional visit www.pga.org.au/find-a-pga-pro/.

Now the Head Professional at Golf Central near Brisbane Airport, Stephenson completed the MPP under Michael Faraone at Mornington Golf Club on the Mornington Peninsula in 2019 yet with various Victorian lockdowns has been restricted in his time on the tools.

But after accepting the opportunity to move interstate and take up a Head Professional role in October, Stephenson is in the process of taking on an Associate that he will head guide through the program.

“I was only a couple of months into being a PGA Professional and then we got sent into lockdown,” Stephenson explains.

“Now I’ve come up here into a pretty awesome role and now have the opportunity to pass those skills and experience and knowledge onto someone else.

“That’s pretty exciting. I never would have thought I’d be doing that. It doesn’t feel like I’ve been out of the system for that long but I do feel like I’m equipped with the skills to train someone else.”

Stephenson’s passion for helping people first manifested itself by working in the fitness industry, only joining the Membership Pathway Program at 24 years of age.

An enthusiastic junior at Berwick Montuna Golf Club, Stephenson had six months to improve his playing proficiency before beginning the program. But once he had done that, he found all the skills he needed to work in the golf industry were waiting for him within the MPP.

“You get that real sense of industry-relative experience that you can’t get anywhere else,” Stephenson adds.

“Because the Pathway’s run and designed by PGA members, whenever we would meet up they would all have the same stories.

“Things like groups of 10 joining up and cars being driven over greens, things that you come to expect from working in a pro shop and which happen more often than you think.

“We would be given examples of all these things but they would also provide you with the tools to deal with that particular situation.

“You just don’t know what’s going to walk through the door on any given day but the Membership Pathway Program gives you the skills and knowledge to deal with anything.”

At his core Stephenson remains committed to helping people get the most out of their golf.

In addition to identifying swing faults and ways in which a PGA Professional can help someone to play better, Stephenson’s eyes were opened to the importance of equipment specifically tailored to the individual.

That combined with his understanding of physiology and physical limitations has enabled him to develop a well-rounded methodology to his coaching.

“The greatest thing that I learnt over the years was identifying the most common faults of a golfer,” said Stephenson.

“Someone comes along with a 40-yard slice, we know that it’s club path left, face open, something like that, but we don’t have the full explanation.

“We might have one explanation or reason for why that might be happening but as you learn and progress you learn things about the equipment. You learn things about the body and its limitations, or injuries. Then you go from having maybe one understanding of the concept and maybe one remedy for it to understanding that the slice may be coming from one of five or six different things and having five or six different remedies for that.

“Golf’s just got unlimited variables and that’s what makes it so great and so challenging at the same time.”

Your chance to pursue your dream job in the golf industry can come to life through the PGA Membership Pathway Program – the industry’s leading development program for a promising career in golf.  For more information visit www.pga.org.au/education/academy/membership-pathway-program/.

I was 27 years old and the last person to interview for the job at Wanneroo. That was in April 1994. I got the job and I’ve been here ever since.

I’ve been here a long time now and the membership base really does like to support small business and a club professional. They do voluntary work and support the pro shop and make sure they keep the course in good condition themselves. That’s what they take pride in. I was at public and resort courses prior to coming here and it’s a different kind of support that you get. They really like to support you, know how you’re going and making sure your welfare’s OK, that your family’s going well.

They really love having a fully-serviced pro shop. I carry a large amount and variety of equipment and buggies which is very different to what a lot of other private clubs now carry. As a business owner, you want to be turning over your stock and you want to make sure the members are getting a good deal. And they know they’ve got somewhere to go to with warranties if they’ve got problems with anything they purchase.

I carry spare lithium batteries in the pro shop because often members will turn up either without the battery for their buggy or they’ve forgotten to charge it. That creates a really good atmosphere because members come to the course knowing that they will be taken care of. We will provide a battery they can use free of charge or we’ll bring them one out on the course if theirs runs out mid-round. That all helps to provide that positive experience and makes them feel good about the pro shop and its staff.

We stock basically every brand so we will have the reps come in and go through a presentation of the latest gear, let us know what the manufacturers have done in changes and how the clubs are made up. That’s happening on nearly a daily basis. Members want to know all about the new gear plus we keep all the demos so that they can take it out on the course or the driving range. Demonstration equipment is massive, that’s what we pride ourself on now.

If you can show them on TrackMan the difference in ball speed between the new driver with the really thin titanium faces that are flexing now, more so than what they’re used to, most of the time you’re getting 10 mile per hour faster ball speeds and you can show them the increase in distance. They really like to see those figures.

We’ve gone bigger into putters in the last 12 months and carry quite an extensive range. And with two big putting greens right outside the pro shop that has helped to increase our putter sales. But everything’s about distance with most people, especially the vets and the older people. Can I get another 10 metres? Can I get another 20 metres? People still look at the drivers as their big thing.

With a driver they like to look at numbers and speeds and distance but with a putter they just like something that feels good. They’re just looking for a change. We find they’re not as interested in a putter fitting as they are in a driver fitting.

There’s a lot of energy within the shop. That’s the glue that sticks everything together and that really falls back on me. Being the energetic one and really creating that banter with the members. Teaching Professional Shaun Volante has been here five years now and he is really good at that too. It’s the staff watching what you do and how you carry yourself and the energy you have just doing all the little things for the members. And we’re all pretty motivated; I’m still motivated now. I started here at 27 and I’m 55 now, but I’m still motivated, still working six, seven days a week.

My main motivation is my family and providing for them. I’ve got a daughter who’s nearly 19 and I’ve got a son who has started high school but he’s autistic and non-verbal. My wife’s at home and we have to be on call. It’s a tough gig. It’s a really tough gig. It’s really just supporting the family more than anything.

Whether you are looking to get the best out of your game, work on your technique or looking to source the equipment that is the right fit for you, find your local PGA Professional by visiting pga.org.au

You need only look at the real estate prices on Sydney’s northern beaches to know that space is at a premium.

Room with a view is even more highly valued.

Located just across the road from where iconic Aussie soapie Home & Away is filmed, Palm Beach Golf Club is a nine-hole, council-owned golf course that splits its tee times between some 400 members and a golf-playing public that has swelled significantly the past 18 months.

With limited coaching facilities at the club, Newling came up with the idea after running clinics for large groups under the banner of the Palmy Beginners Group and questioned whether there was a better way.

“You’ve got people that are serious about playing comp, but you’ve also got a lot of beginners, tradies, people that live in the area and just want to play golf,” Newling says.

“They don’t necessarily want to perfect a swing. They want to play and they want to get some exercise and spend time with their friends.”

Recognising that new golfers want to spend more time on the golf course rather than perfecting their technique, Newling made use of what she had available – a new chipping area, putting green and hitting nets. From there she fashioned a two-hour lesson for groups of four that embeds key fundamentals before taking to the course.

 “Once they’ve got their grip, their stance, their basic fundamentals, let’s go play,” Newling says.

“Because there are only four in the in the class it’s really quite personalised tuition.”

In addition to taking away any apprehension that beginners may feel in locking into a six-week commitment, Newling insists that the approach of building from the short game up allows for faster skill acquisition, noticeable improvement and an earlier bite of the golf bug.

“Sometimes people get a bit intimidated by just the straight-out range lessons,” says Newling.

“If it’s someone that’s absolutely brand new, I’ll always just go through grip, aim, posture, learning the basic fundamentals. If it’s someone that’s played for a while, I’ll let them warm up in the nets and we’ll have a look on the golf course, because they don’t go changing things unless we really need to.

“They feel successful because it’s something that they can do. They become more familiar with the course environment and it suits Palm Beach, it suits that demographic.

“A lot of courses, you wouldn’t be able to do that, but because the holes go away and come back to the club within a close proximity, it works well.

“You’ve got your more private clubs where the golf might be considered a lot more serious, people want to play competitions all the time and things like that. At Palm Beach, it’s different, you’ve got both ends of the spectrum.

“To be helping such a broad demographic – from juniors through to 85 and 90-year-olds – is really cool.

“And it’s stunning, right on Pittwater there, it’s such a nice setting. It’s a beautiful course. That’s where new golfers want to be.”

To get the most out of your golf experience find your local PGA Professional at pga.org.au.

More than 250,000 new golfers have flooded onto courses and driving ranges throughout the country over the past 18 months and a major focus now is to how to keep them engaged.

Brandon Rave’s theory is simple; get them playing better as quickly as possible.

A nominee for the 2020 Victorian PGA Game Development Professional of the Year, Rave coaches predominantly at the Melbourne Golf Academy due to the imminent closure of the Bulleen Driving Range where he has coached previously.

With travel to China where he has established golf academies and worked to enhance the golf coaching available in China becoming difficult, Rave channelled his energies into helping growth sectors that were suddenly emerging.

He has written a coaching curriculum for the Fairway Birdies women’s group – a group established to help women new to golf get from the driving range and out onto the golf course – but it is the accountability he places on his students that is producing results.

Rave knows that golfers who play better play more often and that it takes an element of hard work and dedication to get there.

“I give all the ladies homework and videos to do, even if it means that they buy one golf club and practice their takeaway position 50 reps a week before they came to the next class,” Rave explains. While his methods may not be for everyone, Rave found that the  retention was higher for the ladies that actually did the drills. And, believe it or not, they got better by practising.

“In other sports, that’s just the norm. The expectation is that you practice twice a week, work with your coaches and take steps as an individual to get better,” Rave adds.

“In golf there seems to be this assumption that because anyone can play it should be easy to be good.”

People play golf for so many varied reasons however Rave believes if you want results you need to be accountable.

“What I’m trying to do is change the mindset of coaching. That you can be assertive at the right times because ultimately you need to know that there is accountability in sport,” he says.

“We can set up social cohesion and everything but then the environment we’re going to set up is a social one. There’s going to be some accountability in the training.

“You get the most satisfaction out of that when you see improvement and you put in the work. That equals retention in my opinion.”

Eschewing traditional beginner clinics, Rave is convinced that by adopting such an approach that the attrition rate of those who start and those who continue on to be golfers embedded within the industry is reduced significantly.

“We found that there’s been better retention, people who go on to join a club, buy golf equipment and get real lessons,” Rave says.

“They’re the ones who will likely stay in the game and influence their daughters and their friends in a genuine way.

“My job is to get them into the game and get them to stay in the game.

“If you have 30 ladies in various groups a few might say that he was a bit of a tyrant but they will also acknowledge that they improved a lot using my methods.

“They’re the ones I want to keep in the sport.”

PGA Professionals are skilled in coaching all levels of golfers. Go to the PGA Find a Pro website to find a Professional in your area. Give them a call to discuss your requirements and find individual or group instruction suitable for you.

Rather than trying to get everyone who attends a lesson to swing like Adam Scott, PGA Professionals understand that outside of some basic fundamentals that everyone’s ideal swing is one that is uniquely modelled to their own physical characteristics.

Few understand that better than Peregian Golf Course PGA Professional Katelyn Must.

A promising amateur with dreams of playing professional golf around the world, Must suffered dislocations of the L4 and L5 vertebrae while doing deadlifts in an effort to get stronger.

She remains passionate about competing and continually striving to improve as a golfer but such a setback opened her eyes to the opportunity to move into coaching and to help others also fulfil their potential.

Must’s own experience dictates that a person’s physical make-up is a critical foundation for the way they will swing the golf club and it begins as soon as they walk through the door.

“I always look at someone standing in front of me or even as they’re walking towards me, watching how they walk, how they move,” Must explains.

“Then I would be looking at their length of limbs, those kinds of things. If they roll on the outside of the feet… I’d be looking at everything of how they moved before they even swing the golf club.”

Of course, there’s not a golfer alive who doesn’t want to own a swing that makes playing partners swoon.

But for every Minjee Lee there is a player that finds success without following the model swing. Must takes steps to guide golfers into the swing that is going to work best for them.

“I’ll put them through a series of tests but I’m not necessarily telling them that this is what they need to be. But I’m showing them. They’re learning themselves,” says Must.

It is this connection between a person’s physical and mental performance that Must finds most engrossing.

And if that means convincing them that a picture-perfect swing might not yield the results they are seeking, how to shape their thinking to embrace the swing that is perfect for them.

“I really love the mental aspect of coaching, the subconscious and conscious mind,” says Must.

“Would you prefer a swing that looks good or one that is going to help you reduce your score by three or four shots every round? All of a sudden, they’re choosing the one that gives them three shots less.

“You’ve shifted their mind from what they believed they needed, to a place of where you want them.

“By asking a lot of questions you can get down to more of the nitty gritty of what they’re actually wanting.”

PGA Professionals are experts in helping you find the swing that will allow you to play your best golf! Book a lesson with your local PGA Professional at pga.org.au.