In just five short years, BGGA is proud to have built the foremost golf coaching team in junior golf, with the results of our students evidencing the quality of instruction and development.
We see in the structure of the golf program to main elements, one obviously being the Coaching and Instruction of students, but also very importantly we recognize the importance of many areas of the golf program that require professional Management and Organization.
BGGA has an extraordinary Advisory Board made up of the following notables:
- Dr Fran Pirozzolo
- Dr Bob Bjork
- Dr Bob Christina
- Dr Anders Erikson
- Tim Lee
- Dr Rob Neal
- Trillium Rose
- Kevin Smeltz
- Jonathan Yarwood
Our golf coaching / instruction program has been built around the principles that they have developed from many decades of research into physical, mental and technical aspects of the golf swing and student development. In the case of Dr. Pizozzolo, Dr. Neal, Smeltz and Yarwood, who are also practitioners who spend over fifty days onsite with our coaches and our students, giving invaluable advice to both coaches and students with hands-on interaction.
We then have four POD leaders who have a maximum responsibility for twenty-four students in their POD, and are assisted by at least one senior golf coach. With our morning and afternoon golf schedules, we manage the ratio of golf coach to student to no more than 8:1 when in a group setting, and often 2:1 or 1:1 for part of the training. The POD leaders have at least 10 years of coaching experience and have all been accredited by Kevin Smeltz to Level 2, with one further Level of accreditation to be completed:
- David Louys-Moroney
- Manuel Bermudez
- Nate Dougherty
- Nick Duffy
The senior golf coaches also have an average of over 10 years of coaching experience and have also been accredited by Kevin Smeltz to Level 2:
- Drake Edmond
- Keegan Fennessey
- Scott Shaffer
- Zach Parker
The golf coaching team are rounded out by the Sports Psychology/Mental Performance and Athletic Development responsibilities by outstanding directors:
- Dr. Fran Pirizzolo, Sports Psychology
- Paul Dewland, Mental Performance
- Pat Etcheberry, Athletic Development
- Karen Harrison, Athletic Development and Nutrition
- Justin Smith, Athletic Development
Management / Organization
Led by Jeff Hay and his Assistant Director of Golf Zach Parker, both of whom have over a decade directing and managing golf programs in a number of different golf academies.
The many responsibilities which they oversee include:
- College Counseling and Placement
- Tournament Strategy and Implementation
- Data and Measurement
- Client Reporting
- Daily Scheduling
- Technology
- Facility Management
- Social Media
- Membership and Visiting Country / College Teams
