The Journey to Single Figures

20/01/2023

When Sky Sports presenter David Jones issued a cry for help on his social media channels to improve his golf game, PGA Professional Gary Munro was quick to offer his services.

The 30-year-old, who is Director of Golf at Pitch Golf at Pitch Golf London and a county coach for Bedfordshire, embarked on an ambitious journey to get David back down to single figures. What followed is a story of how a mid-handicap golfer rediscovered his passion for the game and his confidence to play it. And how a PGA professional was there every step of the way to provide the requisite skills and support for the journey.

Gary’s story…

How did you hear about David’s cry for help?

“As an avid Arsenal and football fan I have followed David on social media for a while and saw he had put out a post on Instagram asking for help to get down to single figures. I sent him a direct message and a comment just saying a bit about me: ‘director of golf at Pitch London; this is a bit of my success, being named in the top-50 coaches in the UK; I would love to be part of your journey’. We set up a phone call and as ever when I take on a new client, I want to find out a lot about them and their goals. We spoke for maybe half an hour and I wrote down everything that he was looking to achieve, from improving his golf game, his driving, all the way through to what the whole vision for this was. He wanted to be able to have the confidence to play in pro-ams around the country.”

What areas of David’s game did you identify as being the most important for him to improve?

“The driving, in my opinion, was his biggest weakness followed by his short game; then outside of that, learning how to manage his way around the golf course – different slopes and lies etc – and, I would say, his confidence and belief that he can play good golf. I think there was a lot of doubt in there from previous experiences – not performing to his capabilities along with overthinking.”

And how much progress did you seen in David’s game across the year?

“A massive amount. The distance he hits the golf ball, he’s probably put on 10 to 15 yards on every club. He hits a different shape now – a small draw. Before he used to hit a fade and a slice. Chipping has come along a big amount. Without being too harsh, I’d have given his chipping a four out of ten and I’d now say he’s between a seven and a seven-and-a-half. That came from equipment change, technical change and giving him more shots to play from a variety of lies.”

Aside from in-person lessons, how did you work remotely with David?

“Through two resources, one called OnForm, which is an app where I upload all of his videos and notes to. It’s a really good app where it’s got a chat section but also a library, so he can see the short-game lessons, the putting lessons, the driving lessons. He can click and there would be me doing a voice-over, saying ‘please practice this and this by the time I see you next’. So we spoke on that. Then a little bit through the England Golf (app) I could see his scores and WhatsApp.”

What was it like for you working with a high-profile client like David?

“It was brilliant because David is very grounded and down-to-earth. There were no egos in the room or anything like that. Straight away, you could see we clicked and got on. There was just a lot of trust. He was a dream to work with – very on-board straight away. Kind of, ‘You do your stuff, Gary, tell me what I need to do and I’ll go away and do it’. So it was really fun to work with him.”

How much have you got out of it in terms of job satisfaction?

“There was a huge job-satisfaction from working with David. I managed to see him in three different environments; indoors, Woburn and then at his home club, with all of us watching and the cameras – three different types of pressured situations. And for me, seeing him develop, blossom and turn into a better golfer was really rewarding. I know if he went onto the golf course in February his performance would’ve been very different to what it was in July, August time. So it was really rewarding to see the progress, not just from the way he can hit the golf ball and the way he can score, but the way he can handle the situations and that he was choosing the correct shot to play. It was nice to see the big improvement.”

Have other things happened as a result of working with David in terms of building your brand?

“Yes. There have been many people that have reached out to congratulate me and say nice things. There’s also been a publication; there’s been two clothing brands that have approached me about doing some work with them; and then there’s been potentially another higher-end client that is looking for a bit of help too. So I definitely feel the PGA and David have helped me enhance what I’m doing and reach out to a wider audience.”

CLICK HERE to watch all three episodes of the 'Journey to Single Figures' series.

David’s story...

How much knowledge did you have of The PGA – was it a badge that you recognised?

“I had experience with PGA Professionals. It’s almost like – I think – when you’re a golfer that wants to improve, you’re sort of looking out for that as a badge of validation: ‘That’s your professional qualification, so I’m happy to go with you’.”

In-lesson, what was Gary’s style – did it feel collaborative?

“I think he was hugely invested in the process. He really wanted to get into my game, get into my head a little bit – which can be a bit messy when golf’s concerned. He was really on board with it and it sort of became a partnership quite quickly. Primarily, he understood how I worked. He realised that I had to be enjoying it as much as anything; it couldn’t just be like, ‘Right, we’re going to do the grip today’ – because I was still playing, socially. So I had to be able to go on a golf course and get the ball round.”

The quest was to get to single figures….where are you at now?

“I suppose when Gary and I got together, I was touching 15 and now I am, I think, 13.2. So I haven’t got to the single-figures-bit but there’s very much a trajectory which is taking me in the right direction. If I made a mistake in this process, it was saying I was going to do it so fast – because I’ve not been able to commit the time in terms of practice that you need to make that leap. So I think this is more a gradual process, but I’ve absolutely no doubt that we’ve got the framework in place. Now, it’s up to me to just do the rest of the work.

And you’ll keep seeing Gary for top-ups, tweaks and reminders?

“Absolutely. I would consider him a mate now, which is a nice spin-off. We’ll text each other now and again about football. What I really like as well is the element of where he works – that’s handy for me, so I can pop in and hit balls for an hour. I’m doing it tomorrow actually. If he’s around, we’ll have a coffee.”

You’d lost the pleasure in playing – how much has working with a PGA professional reignited your passion for the game?

“It has, massively. I’d stopped enjoying it because I’d lost so much confidence and therefore going to a golf course felt like a daunting thing. And actually being invited to go and play golf, which does happen to me a lot – it’s a nice spin-off of what I do for a living – that became something I’d shy away from, rather than embrace. That’s completely changed and I don’t say ‘no’ to invitations anymore and I look forward to playing at nice golf courses, however difficult they are because I think there’s a decent chance that I can hit my ball straight!”

CLICK HERE to watch all three episodes of the 'Journey to Single Figures' series.