Conference call: Harbin to be 'inspirational'

England Coaching Conference keynote speaker Cathy Harbin is ready to ‘inspire’ her audience on only her eagerly-awaited visit to the United Kingdom.

The highly-acclaimed US PGA Master Professional will be making only her second ever visit to the UK when she presents at The University of Birmingham in March.

Harbin, whose passion for the game was fostered as young girl playing with her father and brother in Indiana, will reflect on the Conference’s theme of ‘The Recreational Golfer’.

Currently vice president of golf revenue for ClubCorp in Dallas, Harbin has also been at the fulcrum of a range of high profile initiatives all aimed at increasing participation in golf, including  being executive director of Golf 20/20 and overseeing the national instruction programme on Get Ready Golf.

Harbin, who is looking forward to the speaking at Birmingham on March 13, said: “I think this is a great opportunity to send a universal message of how important it is to make the effort to grow the game, but also what a vital role the PGA Professional plays and that no one can affect change better than the golf professional.

“Our role as PGA Professionals is about how can we make the game more enjoyable for the recreational golfer and to give them more opportunity to enjoy golf no matter what their ability.

“The recreational golfer is not always about improving but being able to get out on the course, be it for a round or just a few holes. What we don’t want to do is put barriers up that stop people playing the game.

“When Golf 20/20 was launched as Get Ready Golf the emphasis was all about how to get people excited about golf.

“As part of that we did research to find out what percentage of people wanted to play the game but hadn’t and for what reasons.

“We found 27 million people in the US have not tried golf but are interested, however factors get in the way. We also know that 3.5m try the game but also 4.5m leave every year so it’s more about retention with the recreational golfer.

“As professionals we need to listen to what these people are telling us and for professionals to make the game relevant. It’s up to us to find ways to ensure we keep those people who want to play golf.

“In my current role I am overseeing 100 golf operations and at the heart of these are the golf professionals.

“In a recent article, a golf business magazine wrote about ClubCorp taking a grass roots approach to growing the game and used the word ‘surprising’.  I don’t see how that’s surprising as if you want to grow the game and get more golfers then it will be the golf professional that does it.

“This is why I am looking forward to speaking to the PGA Professionals as it’s not about telling them things they already know but more about how they can influence, inspire and execute changes to grow the game.”

Also speaking at the conference is Professor Kathleen Armour, Head of School in the School of

Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Birmingham; PGA Master Professional Scott Cranfield; PGA Fellow Professional Alastair Spink, former LET player and past PGA training executive Sue Shapcott, David Haskins and Jane Booth. For more details on the speakers see www.pga.info.

The England Coaching Conference is open to PGA professionals, volunteer coaches and anyone with a passion for coaching golf.

Attending the conference costs just £50 and places can be booked via the PGA Coaching department on 01675 470333 or emailing coaching@pga.org.uk

For more details on the speakers and the conference CLICK HERE.