I had the chance to take part in the November 2011 EGTF CPD Courses at Oliva Nova Resort, Spain.  The Courses were delivered in such a great, professional and structured way from start to finish.

All three instructors (Bill, Martin and Paul) have a great personality and shared their immense knowledge in such a refreshing and professional way.

The three CPD Courses I attended showed me another side to golf and renewed my enthusiasm for the game and teaching it.  The Courses were just amazing.

Thomas Cathomen

Therefore I would like to thank once again Bill, Martin and Paul for three unforgetable days that delivered to me far more than expected and made me proud to be an EGTF Member.  I can only highly recommend the EGTF CPD Courses to others.

Thomas Cathomen
EGTF Professional
December 2011

An Appreciation – Bob Barnes, Proprietor, Cambridge Lakes Golf Course

Having completed the Diploma course at Oliva Nova in February, 2001 and attended other EGTF courses at Forthview and Darenth Valley, I was delighted to have the opportunity of returning to Spain for yet another EGTF learning experience.

Paul Tolley, Martin Park and Bill Abbott put together 3 incredible days, skilfully combining in-depth classroom work with invaluable sessions on Oliva Nova’s excellent practice facilities.

Paul Tolley’s “Vision Training for Golf” day explained how differently our eyes interpret information leading to errors in aiming and judging distances.

Paul has obviously studied this subject in great depth and we were fortunate to benefit from his knowledge and experience.

Practical exercises and tests revealed our own tendencies and numerous drills gave us ways to improve our ability to aim and judge distances especially on the putting green.

Martin Park’s “Studio 54 Performance Coaching” day was also a massive eye opener and covered literally dozens of practical, logical ways in which we can maximise our performance and that of our pupils with a much-reduced emphasis on making technical changes.

Using just a few of Martin’s ideas I have radically improved my own approach to practising and playing and have no doubt that our pupils will benefit from Studio 54’s extremely clear blueprint for improvement.

Incidentally, Martin made the long trip from his club in Denmark so many thanks for that too!

Bill Abbott’s Putting Improvement day was similarly revealing with the latest bio-mechanic analysis, challenging putting tests, before and after videos of our putting strokes and, as ever, high quality, state-of-the art information, all presented very clearly and professionally.

Bob Barnes

Throughout the day, Bill displayed his usual patience and enthusiasm for his subject as he took us through the various changes required to our putting strokes all of which showed great improvement in a remarkably short time.

All in all, 3 tremendous days made even better by a great group of guys, Daniel from Seville, Thomas from Switzerland (via Venezuela and Dubai!), Walter from Austria and Willem from Holland.

As on all the other EGTF courses I have attended, we worked very hard but with plenty of banter and good fun to keep the adrenaline flowing and the cortisol at bay.

As EGTF members we are uniquely fortunate to have senior coaches who are enthusiastic, knowledgeable and professional communicators and who, perhaps most importantly, have a keen desire to share all the information that they have gleaned over the years.

I would like to thank all those who made these 3 days possible and urge fellow EGTF members to sign up as soon as these courses are next available.

I guarantee you will learn more than you could ever imagine.

Bob Barnes
Cambridge Lakes Golf Course
December 2011

The EGTF Golf Society week held in the beautiful seaside resort of Hua Hin, Thailand was a great success.  It brought together EGTF members and their friends for 8 days of golf.  We were fortunate that despite the problems that the people of Bangkok were suffering with the floods, we never had any rain when playing and temperatures ranged between hot and really hot!

Group 1 Palm Hills

We played a friendly roll up competition each day, with everyone (pro’s and amateurs) playing in the same tournament, where you could play as much or as little as you wanted.

This year we played 3 golf courses, Black Mountain (rated the best new course in Asia), Palm Hills (only Augusta National has quicker or slopier greens!) and Royal Hua Hin (the oldest golf course in Thailand).  All courses were doing some good rates and the cost was around £40 each day for golf, caddie and buggy, which was excellent value.

Black Mountain GC

The days were played in good spirit, with plenty of banter going around as this trip was designed as a fun, social event.  But as we were all very competitive when it comes to golf, people were going to bed early some nights to prepare for the next day’s golf activities (as can be seen by the results table!)

EGTF teaching professional Pete Stopford - Black Mountain

Hua Hin is a beautiful place for a golf trip with some excellent golf courses around, and beautiful town and beach areas for those looking to relax as well.  The weather is always hot and for some that is a bit of a problem, but if you are looking at the grey skies outside and wishing you were somewhere else, then have a think about the EGTF Golf Society trip to Thailand next year.  It really is very good.

Results for the Week