Davies sees Handa/PGA academy programme swing into action

Golf legend Laura Davies witnessed at close quarters how an initiative to help more blind and disabled golfers receive expert tuition from PGA professionals is going from strength to strength. The Ladies European Tour star took time out from the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open at Archerfield Links to watch PGA pro Craig Thomas coach three blind and partially sighted golfers. Thomas gave the lessons under the auspices of the ISPS Handa PGA Academy Programme which is committed to equipping PGA professionals with the skills to coach blind and disabled golfers and create more opportunities for them to enjoy the sport. Davies is an ambassador for ISPS Handa which through its high profile sponsorship of golf tournaments is committed to creating sporting opportunities for blind and disabled people. The 45-time winner on the LET took time out to meet the golfers and demonstrate some of her practice techniques. “Laura was great and gave a very inspirational talk to the golfers, showed them how she practiced and them watched as I delivered a coaching session,” said Thomas. “It was very well received and I think the biggest positive to come out of the session was that the pupils like the simplicity of the coaching. “That is an important message to get across. Often it is the case they just want to improve a little bit rather than have a complete swing overhaul. They are not looking to be the next European Tour star but they appreciate a little tweak here or there which benefits their game but isn’t a complete overhaul.” One of the recipients of the lesson was Ally Reid from the International Blind Golf Association who praised both Thomas and Davies. “Craig is a great communicator and explains himself clearly. He does not try to make professional golfers out of us rather he works with what is there,” said Reid. “We were also got an insight from Laura into the process she adopted on putting before going out to the course. We all benefitted greatly from her advice and tips and appreciate the time she gave to each player and guide.” As part of its support of the academy programme, ISPS will also be enabling new trained PGA professionals to provide a thousand free golf lessons for blind and disabled golfers to encourage them to think about either taking up the game of golf, or continuing to develop their golfing skills. The first stage in this programme has been to train a number of PGA professionals as tutors to deliver the training workshops that will be rolled out over the coming months.