Bermuda Professional Golfers Association president Quinton Sherlock Jr is delighted that several of his association’s members have obtained Golfzon Leadbetter Level 1 teaching certifications.

Pedro Luis Ruggeri Garate, Alexander Capitillo, Chaka DeSilva, Steven Lambert Jr, Andrew Trott-Francis, Justin Madeiros, Scott Roy, Marshall Minors, Ebonie Cox and Antione Lugo earned certification after attending a two-day interactive workshop facilitated by Golfzon Leadbetter Director of Global Academies Robin Symes at Ocean View Golf Course and Mid Ocean Club last week.

“This was a great experience for our members.” Sherlock told The Royal Gazette. “Members had the opportunity to learn from a master Instructor who has had more than 20 years’ experience teaching around the world.

“He shared tried and tested strategies for teaching golf and engaging clients and at the end of the two-day workshops we now have ten BPGA members who are Golfzon Leadbetter Level 1-certified.

“Instruction is a mainstay of club and teaching professionals on island and this experience we hope increased participants’ knowledge base and will help further enhance the experience of getting golf instruction here on island.

“For those who are quite keen on going even further, there is Level 2 and 3 available to members.”

If all goes according to plan, Sherlock hopes to establish a permanent Golfzon Leadbetter Academy at Ocean View Golf Course.

The former Southampton Rangers cricketer is in the process of submitting a new proposal to Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works, and the Bermuda Public Golf Course Trustees in the hope of seeing his vision come to fruition at the Devonshire facility.

Sherlock believes that Bermuda, as a top tourist destination and golf haven, offers an excellent opportunity to operate a world-class teaching institution, from where residents and visitors alike can benefit from top instruction and have access to state-of-the-art facilities with the latest teaching technologies and modern approaches to providing golf instruction

“I am working with my team of local and overseas partners in putting together the new plan for submission,” he said.

“If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building or change the nail?,” added Sherlock, quoting an African proverb. “So I am changing my nail.”

Sherlock, who is fully certified up to the Golfzon Leadbetter Level 3, has established himself as a top instructor teaching out of Ocean View for more than a year and has developed a strategy to enhance the game at various levels and capitalise on its growing popularity on island since taking over the reins of the BPGA in January.

His agenda includes creating professional development pathways, maintaining a regular playing schedule and implementing a community outreach programme.

“I’m going into the presidency with the idea to make the association better by building upon the foundation already set,” Sherlock said.

Last week’s workshop falls in line with Sherlock’s efforts to address the development of assistant and golf professionals in the BPGA, which he considers as vitally important for the future of the game and the association.

“The world has changed, new technologies, new markets and new competing jurisdictions are out there,” he added.

“We must educate ourselves and be able to adapt to these changes in order to thrive in the golf industry of the future.

“The BPGA drives professional golf in Bermuda, helping golf professionals and golf consumers. Being a golf professional is not only about playing professional golf.

“Members of the BPGA, for the most part, fall into three general categories that include playing professional, teaching professional and club professional. We are committed to those endeavouring to make a living through playing in competitions.”

While making a living playing competitively on island is unsustainable, Sherlock says the BPGA remain committed to providing regular competition and supporting the efforts of the association’s members internationally.

Other goals he hopes to see come to fruition include making the association more visible to the public, capitalising on the surge in the game’s popularity on island in the post-Covid era and continuing support of amateur and junior golf on the island.