Golf gurus keep eye on the ball with coaching service

By DOMINIC JEFF
Published on 25/03/2012 00:00

FORMER Ryder Cup golfer Andrew Coltart has teamed up with one of Scotland’s top coaches to set up a business that will help amateurs improve their game.

Coltart and Gary Nicol, who has coached professional players on golf’s European Tour, will bring enthusiasts from around the world to stay at Archerfield Links in East Lothian, where they will be offered tuition as well as rounds of golf with the experts.

They say the business, Tour Pro Experience Golf Schools (TPEGS), is the only tour-level golf-coaching business of its kind in the UK and hope to build a six-figure turnover operation in the next two years.

Coltart, who helped win the Dunhill Cup for Scotland in 1995, said: “Having retired from competitive golf, I hope to apply the energy and the passion I have for the game to a successful business career.”

He added that TPEGS is targeting golfers from around the world who want to play in Scotland, as well as amateurs who want something “more than the typical golf lesson”.

He said the parallels with his golfing career are obvious: “Success comes from hard work and determination, whether on the golf course or in any other walk of life, and I hope to provide some valuable advice to our business clients, and have fun along the way.”

The TPEGS service includes on-course and range tuition, with accommodation and hospitality at Archerfield.

Clients will typically play 18 holes with Coltart and Nicol while the duo talk candidly of their golfing careers and keep a close eye on the customers’ game and technique. They will then identify areas for improvement and use state-of-the-art video technology employed by some of the world’s best players to show their clients how they can improve.

Nicol – who has coached more than 30 tour professionals in his career and travelled extensively on the international golf circuit – said the business will benefit Archerfield and the tourism and golf industry in the region.