Member in the Spotlight

23/07/2021

Inspired by his experience of working with some of the game’s leading coaches in the UK, including Denis Pugh, Beverly Lewis and Ian Connelly, PGA Member Mark MacRae has developed a successful career as an elite coach in Spain. His latest venture, the College Golfer Online Program, which he set up in 2020, prepares students for golf scholarships at colleges and universities in the USA through a combination of expert tuition and competitive tournament play combined with educational qualifications. Here, Mark explains his journey from PGA trainee to elite level coaching and reveals his inspirations and philosophies.

What has been your career path to date?

Leading up to becoming a PGA Trainee, when I as around 15 or 16, I caddied and was coached by Denis Pugh at Wanstead Golf Club, which inspired me to become a PGA Professional.

I started as a PGA Trainee in 1989 and spent time with Ian Connelly and Ken Brown on their Golf Monthly Golf schools from 1990 for two years. In 1993 I joined Langdon Hills and Brentwood Park Driving Ranges as a trainee, where, among other duties, I helped Beverley Lewis run some of her coaching schools. After qualifying as a PGA Professional in 1997 I wanted to see if I could make it as a player and spent two years on the local circuits. That didn’t go entirely to plan, so in 1999 I applied for the Head Pro job at The Hertfordshire Golf & Country Club, where I spent four happy years.

By that time, I knew that coaching was where I wanted to take my career, so I took up a new job as a teaching professional at the Cranfield Golf Academy, where I worked directly under Scott [Cranfield], who at the time was working with the likes of Bradley Dredge, Simon Khan and Barry Lane, so it was a great learning experience.
After two years at CGA, I got the senior assistant’s job at Liphook Golf Club in Hampshire and spent almost three years there gaining more teaching experience and getting a better understanding of the new swing technology systems that were starting to come into the game.
After that I took the decision to move to Spain, somewhere where I had spent a lot of time growing up, and thought that it would be an ideal place to develop a coaching business. In 2010 I started working as Director of Golf at Making Champions, a company based in Sotogrande that specialised in providing elite level instruction to a wide range of players, including tour pros, elite amateurs and beginners. During my three years there I advised a wide variety of players, including current tour stars Rafa Cabrera Bello and Bernd Wiesberger, along with Riccardo Michellini, who went to become the Italian National champion. I also worked with many national teams, including squads from Bulgaria, Morocco and Russia. I also taught four-time Russian Ladies champion Nina Pegova and Swiss amateur champion Florian Rey.

In 2013 I co-founded the JFGA Junior Tour – now known as the AAA World Series - which has competitors from over 35 different nationalities competing. At the same time started a new job as lead instructor at the World Players Academy in Marbella, where I oversaw all aspects of the academy, including all golf technologies teaching, including Trackman, K-Vest and Sam Putt Lab. Our players mainly came to play The Gecko Tour which runs from October – March each year – before the main season in Europe starts. I was also in charge of physical training, regeneration and setting programmes and training all players. I spent six years there and learned so much about elite level coaching.

Last year you set up the College Golfer Online Program. Can you tell us what inspired you to set it up and what it hopes to achieve?
The idea came to me during the first lockdown back in March 2020 when, like so many other PGA Pros, those long days without golf made me realise just how much the game meant to me. I was coaching a group of low handicap players just before things came to a standstill and one of the mothers asked if I would put on some Invitational WAGR events that might help the boys stay competitive once the courses re-opened, which they did around mid-June here in Spain.

All four of my players were around 17 and looking for university scholarships at the time, so we scheduled two events at the end of the year and got a really good response. Several other aspiring college players asked to play, which got me thinking, why not create a series of events that enables these players to play, get WAGR ranking points and improve their chances of getting on a university scholarship programme in the US?

I developed the College Golfer online programme after taking a six-month sabbatical visiting some of the world’s top teaching institutions. I spent several weeks observing and discussing elite performers at Mike Adams’ facilities in New Jersey and Medalist Golf Club in Florida, among others. On my return to Europe we implemented the programme, which is pending accreditation in Spain along with several higher education institutes across the world.
To date we have assisted in sending more than 30 players to the US on scholarships and have now created partnerships with Global Sports Recruitment, headed up by ex-Scotland football international Dave McPhearson, and Sunnyview International School in Spain, offering Student/Athlete programme from the ages of 14 and up. They study at college in the morning and train and play with us in the afternoons in small groups.
We have 10 events in place from August into 2022 across seven different countries, including taking an elite team to The Doral Orange Bowl & IMG World Junior Championships in Florida. Alongside our events we will host ‘Prepare Like a Tour Pro’ two-day training camps in Lithuania, Latvia and Hungary, where we work with other PGA Pros local to those regions.

What does a typical day involve?

What I love about my role is the diversity. One day I might be planning our upcoming events and the next working with one of my players preparing to compete. I try to compartmentalise my work into three areas: planning & training; performance & competing; and analysis & reflection.

How has your work been impacted by the pandemic over the last 18 months and how confident of you that business will bounce back when travel restrictions relax?

I think we have been luckier than most here in Spain. Movement was heavily restricted from March 2020 until around November 2020, but after that, things have relaxed a bit more, travel has taken a back seat up until this summer. Right now, we are all in a state of flux. We have events planned across Europe this summer, but the reality is uncertain, I have to say the clubs we are working with are very flexible and understanding. We just want to restart golf events in the safest possible way

What are the most challenging parts of your work?

Balancing a player’s expectations with realistic outcomes.

And the most rewarding?

Seeing a player get world ranked (WAGR), climb the rankings and see their hard work pay off as they live their dreams. I also enjoyed seeing Nina Pegova win four Russian National Federation titles and two LETAS Professional wins over four years of coaching her.

How easy was it been to settle into life in Spain and the local community and what’s day-to-day life outside of work like?

To be honest for me, not that difficult, as I lived in Spain and went to school here as a young boy. My wife is Spanish, so all these things help with acclimatisation. I speak the language and understand the locals and their traditions and culture.

Who have been your biggest professional influences?

My father, Denis Pugh and Ian Connelly.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Pete Cowan once told me listen to my players and find a formula that works for them, so I try to do that.

What advice would you pass on to other PGA Members who may be interested in following a career in your area of work?

Be yourself. And do something that motivates you and that allows you to be the best version of yourself.

For more details about Mark’s work and the Golf College Online Program, visit www.collegegolferonline.com, email collegeplayeronline@gmail.com or call 00 34 622678227.