That his two star pupils finished atop the respective PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit lists exhibiting very similar attributes is perhaps no surprise.

Approaching his 47th birthday, Brad Kennedy was a convincing winner of the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit while 44-year-old ACT native Matt Millar took out the PGA Tour of Australasia Pro-Am Series Order of Merit.

In an age of excess length and power, Kennedy and Millar are testimony that golf is a game of how many, not how.

In the past 12 months Kennedy has made his PGA TOUR debut and teed it up at the WGC-Workday Championship while Millar used the exemptions earned by winning the 2018 PGA Tour of Australasia Player of the Year award to play two WGC events in 2019.

Both have been working with Jones for more than a decade and their coach’s greatest reward is seeing their success rather than any accolades of his own.

“I’ve never really gone out to be the big tour-pro coach but I’d like to think that the guys I have coached have improved and got to places where maybe they didn’t think they might get to,” said Jones.

“My old man was a really good rugby league player and he drilled it into me, ‘Let somebody else tell you how good you’re going.’”

Jones himself played rugby league growing up in Newcastle and incorporates a team mentality within his approach to golf coaching.

He invites other experts in particular fields to impart their knowledge on his players, introducing renowned English performance coach Dave Alred to Kennedy some seven years ago.

It’s an unselfish approach that Jones believes is essential in the modern game.

“There’s a lot of stuff that I have got out of footy that I put into my golf coaching,” Jones explained.

“It’s that team mentality because pro golf these days is not an individual sport. It’s a team sport and you’ve got to have every person on board and singing from the same hymn sheet.

“I’m not the complete book of encyclopaedias. I’ve got a sports science degree but when it comes to mental performance or equipment I have to go out and source qualified advice that everybody agrees on.

“I’d like to think that the contributions made by all those people has made a big difference to Matty’s and Brad’s careers.”

And while the juniors he coaches at Sanctuary Cove are attracted to the power game exhibited by the likes of Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy, Jones believes they would be better served taking note of how the likes of Kennedy and Millar construct a round of golf.

“I teach people how to play golf, not how to swing a golf club,” Jones added.

“Matty winning the PGA Tour of Australasia Player of the Year a couple of years ago showed that there is more than one way to skin a cat.

“A lot of kids and their parents stand at the driving range focused only on how far they can hit it. It would be great for them to see how Brad or Matt puts a round together and that it’s a lot more than just how far they can hit it.

“Sometimes I think juniors should look more closely at guys like Matty and Brad and appreciate what they can do because often they have better scores than the bombers.”

Season highlights:

Brad Kennedy

Won PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit ($302,480)

Won New Zealand Open

Won The Players Series Victoria

T41 ZOZO Championship

T61 WGC-Workday Championship

Matthew Millar

Won PGA Tour of Australasia National Pro-Am Order of Merit ($37,130)

Won Blitz Golf Glenelg

Won Leeton Golf Club SunRice Pro-Am

Won Yenda Pro-Am

Won B&C Plumbing Charity Pro-Am

Won Ron Crouch Transport Wagga Wagga Pro-Am