Great Golf Coaches in Australia — Part 2
“I’m a great believer that you’re trying to build an athlete that can stand on their own two feet for the greater part of their career. And to some extent, your job is to make yourself almost obsolete.”
— Denis McDade
When gathering information of the golf coaches based in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, we were delighted to find that with a strong background in a specific area, the teaching philosophies generated by certain coaches are worth serious consideration of each golf player and could be helpful for one to choose the right coach.
Victoria
Denis McDade
Yarra Bend Golf Complex
Victoria Golf Club
Lesson fee: Contact for details
mcdade@golf.com.au
(03) 9481 3729
Denis McDade is known as one of the leading coaches in Australia who is based at the Melbourne Golf Academy in Victoria, Australia. He was named Victorian PGA Teacher of the Year in 2001 and Australian Golf Digest Coach of the Year in 2008. Great at developing elite level golfers, McDade achieved extraordinary results by coaching his players to win on the PGA Tours of Europe, Japan, Australia, Korea and US Nationwide Tour. For Denis McDade, what makes him so successful in coaching tour professionals is to teach them to be self-reliant – able to analyse and correct a fault without him being around.
Steve Bann
Yarra Bend Golf Complex
Lesson fee: Contact for details
(03) 9481 7874
Steve Bann is a partner in Bann Lynch McDade in Australia. He turned professional in 1979, and between 1981 and 1996 he played on the Australian PGA Tour. In 1990 he became the founding Head Coach of the Victorian Institute of Sport. During the years of his teaching, Bann has coached at more than 40 majors including 19 US Masters and 6 Presidents Cups and he has given lessons to many famous players such as Ian Baker Finch, Mark O’Meara, Wayne Grady, Greg Norman, Vijay Singh and Adam Scott.
Martin Joyce
Victorian Institute of Sport
Lesson fee: Contact for details
marty.joyce@vis.org.au
Martin Joyce is a AAA PGA member and is currently a coach at the Victorian Institute of Sport. He managed to lead the VIS program to world class standards by advancing coaching, education, technology and an overall approach. Passionate about players’ development, he was appointed the High Performance Director for Victoria and became Golf Australia National Coach. Joyce currently uses the most accurate coaching systems including SAM Puttlab, Trackman and Bull 3D Motion Capture.
Martin Joyce
Victorian Institute of Sport
Lesson fee: Contact for details
marty.joyce@vis.org.au
Martin Joyce is a AAA PGA member and is currently a coach at the Victorian Institute of Sport. He managed to lead the VIS program to world class standards by advancing coaching, education, technology and an overall approach. Passionate about players’ development, he was appointed the High Performance Director for Victoria and became Golf Australia National Coach. Joyce currently uses the most accurate coaching systems including SAM Puttlab, Trackman and Bull 3D Motion Capture.
Queensland
Garry Calder
Brisbane Golf Club
Lesson fee: $130 per hour
(07) 3848 3158
Having been developing coaching programs for golfers of all levels for more than 25 years, Garry Calder holds an innovative approach to improving his athletes’ standards. He believes that golf is about creativity, decision making, awareness, shot selection, fewer putts and enjoying the playing, and his philosophy for the game is “We only achieve ultimate control, when we give up control”. His prominent coaching record encompasses:
- Queensland PGA Teacher of the Year 1995,2003 and 2009;
- Queensland State Coaching Panel 2003-2012;
- Australian Team Coach for 2009 (Asia-Pacific Golf Team Championship);
- Australian Team Coach, World Cup 2010.
Virginia Irwin
Victoria Park Golf
Lesson fees: $70 per half hour, $130 per hour
virginia@virginiairwingolf.com.au
0427 623 495
Involving with all standards of golfer from beginner to elite, Virginia Irwin is great at simplifying the game for her students by delivering proven techniques with a consideration of one’s own learning style. Her philosophy includes “the integration of technical, physical, tactical and mental aspects to accelerate the learning process.” Irwin has been the Queensland women’s coach and on the Golf Queensland coaching panel for over 10 years. In terms of teaching women, she believes that, instead of time management or competition, understanding what ladies want out of the game is the key to success.
Mark Gibson
RACV Royal Pines Resort
Lesson fee: $120 per hour
mark@markgibson.com.au
0417 722 176
Mark Gibson is the owner and coaching director of Mark Gibson’s Exceptional Golf at Royal Pines Resort, leading a group of coaching professionals. He has been a PGA Golf Professional Member Since 1980 who holds a PGA Certified Professional Advanced in Coaching. Gibson always had a passion for teaching golf. Starting from coaching at Royal Queensland Golf Club in the late 1970s, he never stopped learning and discovering to improve his standard as a golf coach. He has won the PGA’s top teaching award twice being the PGA’s National Teacher of the year and has been named three times Queensland PGA Golf Teacher of the year.
Western Australia
Craig Bishop
Golf Box
Lesson fee: Contact for details
cjbishop@pgamember.org.au
(08) 9421 8090, 0408 066 580
Being a professional golfer and member of the PGA for 30 years, Craig Bishop has rich experience teaching junior golfers, raw beginners and touring professionals. He gains personal satisfaction from helping his students to achieve somewhere that surpasses their expectations. He is great at communicating with his students to help them achieve their goals. The lessons Bishop offers include swing, short game and putting, as well as on course playing lessons.
South Australia
Anne-Marie Knight
Adelaide Shores Golf Academy
Lesson fee: $55 per half hour ($44 for juniors), $100 per hour ($80 for juniors)
riverlandgolf@gmail.com
0403757438
Being a full vocational member of the PGA of Australia, Anne-Marie Knight holds an advanced status in coaching. She was the first female in the history of South Australian PGA to be named the South Australian Teaching Professional of the Year in 2006. She regularly engages in professional development to keep competitive and updated in the industry to remain a high coaching standard.
Her outstanding amateur career encompasses:
- South Australian State Amateur Titles (1989-1992);
- Winner of the Ladies Australian Amateur Championship (1993);
- Winner of the Trans National US Amateur (1995);
- Runner Up in the Ladies US Amateur Championship (1995).
With a passion for teaching the next generation, She dedicates a lot to coaching kids at Adelaide Shores Golf Academy, where she applies some pretty effective coaching principles for her junior students with methods she learnt from having children of her own.
Above are all the great coaches we would like to introduce to you guys here. We hope that this list has covered enough information for you to learn about great PGA coaches in Australia. By learning their specialties and teaching philosophies, we believe that you have already had a deeper understanding of what a great coach can help you to achieve and more importantly what you expect to gain from a coach. Interested in reading more about Australian golf? Stay tuned to GOLFMATE’s blog and follow us on Facebook!
Reference:
https://www.australiangolfdigest.com.au/pga-coaches/
https://golfer.com.au/directory/pga-pros/gary-barter/3/003117
https://www.jasonlawsgolf.com/
http://www.thornleighgolfcentre.com.au/coaches/the-team/trackman-golf-lesson-jason-wood/
https://www.precisiongolf.com.au/book-golf-lessons/
https://www.mytpi.com/certification/instructors/d.mcdade
https://www.victoriagolf.com.au/cms/golf/tuition/
https://yarrabendgolf.com/coaching/#
http://martinjoycegolf.com.au/
https://www.pgaclp.com.au/team/nick-bielawski/
https://www.brisbanegolfclub.com.au/golf-tuition-2/coaching-profiles/
http://virginiairwingolf.com.au/lessons/
http://www.markgibson.com.au/wpfolder/
http://www.emeraldlakesgolf.net.au/coaches/craig-bishop-golf-coach.html