Top US coach confirmed for teaching conference

Chuck Cook (above left), coach to Ryder Cup star Luke Donald and USPGA Champion Jason Dufner (pictured right), has been announced as the first speaker on the 2014 Teaching and Coaching Conference (TCC) line-up at the University of Stirling Management Centre, Scotland, at the beginning of Ryder Cup week in September.

Cook has been one of the top tour coaches in the world for many years with an outstanding CV and back catalogue of players including US Open Champions Payne Stewart, Tom Kite and Corey Pavin (1995), as well as more recently US PGA Champions Dufner and Keegan Bradley.

The TCC focus for Cook will be on his approach to dealing with players at the top of their game, especially those who have won major championships, entitled: Performance - Working with Elite Athletes.

“I am delighted to have been invited to speak at the TCC this year – the opportunity to come over to Scotland at the beginning of such a prestigious week and speak to my fellow PGA Professionals from across Europe is fantastic,” said Cook.

“I have worked with a great number of players across the years who all have their own quirks and styles and it takes some doing to be able to adjust your coaching to these different players.

“I hope that I’ll be able to pass on some of the tips and methods I’ve gathered in my time coaching major winners and some of the greatest players of the modern game to help other Professionals.”

Of Cook’s addition to the TCC line-up, The PGAs of Europe director of education and membership, Tony Bennett, said: “I first met Chuck some ten years ago and was very impressed not only by his knowledge but also his passion for coaching.

“Chuck has a proven record of success with players at the elite level for more than two decades.  He has been able to successfully help players with completely different personality types, with vastly different personal motivations and goals and of course with very different golf swing techniques.

“Chuck exhibits the key characteristics of elite coaches and his session will help inform all coaches of the steps that they can take to maximise their coaching potential.  I am sure that his involvement in the TCC will be one of the highlights of the event.”

The 2014 TCC takes place on Sunday 21 and Monday 22 of September and will see up to 300 delegates attend for education seminars that look at the game from grass roots up to elite level.

Conference delegates will also be given the opportunity to attend the Junior Ryder Cup at Blairgowrie Golf Club on Tuesday 23rd and to purchase tickets for the Tuesday 23 and Wednesday 24 Practice Days at The 2014 Ryder Cup.

Ticket registration begins on Monday June 2 at 09:00am (BST) at http://eur.pe/europeanTCC on a first-come, first-served basis.  Further speaker and schedule information will be revealed across the coming weeks, and more information can be found at http://eur.pe/europeanTCC.