Amateurs on the rise

By Matt Cooper Last updated: 4th July 2009

If anyone needed further proof that amateur golf is in the rudest of health, Shane Lowry re-iterated the point in startling style when recently winning the Irish Open.

But the 22-year-old's astonishing win was very much part of a trend because young amateurs have become fearless and unafraid of the professional ranks.

Where previously amateurs have been reticent when taking on the pros, now there have been three amateur winners on the European Tour in just two years - Pablo Martin, Danny Lee and now Lowry.

And whilst conventional wisdom once had it that a player should pay his dues in the amateur ranks, plug away on the pro circuit for a few years, and only after a long apprenticeship feel ready to compete at the highest level, now young players confidently expect to compete from the word go.

There has also been a subtle change in how these young guns emerge.

In the 1990s it became common for the world's best young golfers to join the US collegiate system. Three or four years honing their competitive juices against tough opponents, helped by magnificent facilities and teams of coaches was deemed the best breeding ground in golf.

But suddenly the prospect of even a couple of years on the college circuit is making some impatient - England's Danny Willett dropped out of university in Alabama because he was itching to join the paid ranks.

Last year I asked Alain de Soultrait, the Challenge Tour director, to comment on the explosion of young talent from around the world.

"I think it is the result of work done at the lower levels of the game," he said. "The various Federations - especially on the continent - have integrated the professional game. Nowadays, a young talented amateur who has represented his country at the highest level is not left alone when he turns professional."

In Great Britain and Ireland the various golf unions have made huge efforts to support their young stars and the rewards are obvious.

The English Golf Union alone can boast recent graduates such as Ross Fisher, Oliver Wilson, David Horsey, Oliver Fisher, Richard Finch, Chris Wood, Danny Willett and Ross McGowan.

What all of these players have in common is that they have quickly thrived on the professional circuit - and the key to making that smooth transition has been the coaching programme they have undertaken whilst part of the EGU's National Squad system.

An integral part of the programme is a series of winter visits to the EGU headquarters at Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire to ensure that every aspect of their current and future golfing careers are carefully monitored and well-crafted.

Expert coaches address a wide range of issues including sports science, psychology, physiotherapy, nutrition, optometry and equipment.

Their game is scrutinized by the Golf Analysis System for Professionals (GASP) and the Science and Motion putting analysis system (SAM).

All of this aims to produce well-rounded, self-sufficient and capable golfers who can deal effectively with off-course details, allowing them to concentrate on maximising their on-course talent.

Since selected at the end of last summer for the England A squad, Church Stretton golfer Jon Gidney has been part of the programme and has benefited from the experience.

The first time Gidney went for England assessment was two years ago and with him in the group of 23 aspiring players was Chris Wood and Danny Willett who have subsequently made successful starts to their professional careers.

And if those of us outside the ranks of players can see that modern coaching programmes are working, those inside - Gidney included - can see it too.

"I've played in tournaments with Danny Willett and Chris Wood so I'm aware of the standard they play to and can compare myself," he says. "I'm also learning exactly what they did with the England squads. Knowing it has worked for them makes it more exciting for me to follow in their path."

A typical four-day trip to Woodhall Spa is fully timetabled from 8am to 5pm, with the golfers split into small groups each of which focuses on different aspects of the game such as swing analysis, the long game, the short game, putting, psychology or physiology.

The England A team's psychologist is Professor Ian Maynard and he will sometimes follow the team as they play a round, quietly observing the action.

On one occasion he used a stopwatch to time Gidney and his team-mate's every putt from initial address to contact with the ball. The study was designed to discover if players had sloppy routines or began to detrimentally (or perhaps beneficially) dwell on more important putts.

"Thanks to his advice I have created a really effective pre-shot routine," Gidney explained. "It's been a real help and when I played the international matches in Spain during March I could appreciate the benefits."

Was he nervous making his international debut? "No," he says. "I had worked hard on preparing myself and being ready for the challenge so I had anticipated the experience. I was excited, but not scared."

Gidney has been most impressed with the way the programme addresses off-course matters. At a Christmas Camp the entire schedule was focused away from the sport itself.

"It sounds odd - to go on a golf camp and not play golf but that's what was so good about it. We learned about off the course stuff like administration, media training and scheduling advice."

It was inevitable that golf would crop up, especially when old boy Oli Fisher addressed the group about his experience of playing on the European Tour. He had a simple yet profound piece of advice.

"He said that from what he had seen lots of the top amateur golfers had the game to play at the professional level. What mattered was transferring that ability. He just said, 'Be good. There's no secret - just be good.'"

Gidney has had a few tantalising glimpses of the big time. Most thrilling was to make final qualifying for last year's Open Championship and have Jean Van de Velde - and a large crowd - in the group behind him.

Instinctively competitive and a natural at setting goals, Gidney, like his fellow England team-mates, is aiming high and looking forward to a professional career.

To be young and talented must be exciting enough, but in the current golfing climate to see golfers you have been playing with or against in recent times take on the world's best (and sometimes, as in Lowry's case, beat them) must be truly inspirational.

As we went our separate ways Gidney headed to the first tee for a match, wary of the 40mph wind that was blowing around us.

"You mean you didn't have a Wind Coach at Woodhall Spa?" I joked.

"Actually," Gidney replied, "controlling the ball in the wind is something they talk a lot about!"

That's when you know a programme is working - when you make a flippant remark about attention to detail and discover they got there first.

And a few hours later I get an email from Jon: "Wind control worked - I won 5&4!"

Matt Cooper