"I'd drifted away from the game I loved so much, purely through frustration"

Here's some background about how I came to be at the AHPGA.

I saw myself as a good golfer.

Like many others before me the game itself got the better of me in the end, through unpredictable stroke play and mental volatility.

Golf made me doubt myself and my ability to compete at a level at which I wanted to perform in order to make a living out of the game that I loved so much.

I was a 20 year old golfer, who within four years got from a starting handicap of 16 to 1. I had lost direction, confidence or a way to make all my dreams a reality.

I was playing a too familiar game. Playing off a high handicap and having a ongoing rollercoaster battle with my handicap. Within a short period I was playing off 3.

I began to drift away from the game I loved so much, purely through frustration.

I searched for other careers to pursue, following in the footsteps of my father as a financial planner even though he still wanted me to pursue my golf I made the decision and separated myself from playing the game.

For the next three years the only golf that I played was social golf with clients of mine who enjoyed the occasional round as I did.

One day I was at a Business Seminar for Financial Planners. I was expecting the same old stuff, having listened to many spaekers at similar functions. This day was different.

The guest speaker was a man who had a certain aura about him. A man who was dressed very professionally and conducted not only himself but his entire presentation in such a professional manner, he engaged the 600 strong audience in a manner that I had never witnessed in any other presentation.

From the time he introduced himself as a professional golfer he lost me from financial planning straight to thinking golf.

I wanted to meet the who could capture the attention of 600 financial planners for an entire hour. I had never seen that before. The topics which he discussed were actually relevant, specific and helpful.

I thought to myself if he can do this to an audience that have heard many speakers and lost attention within 10 minutes, imagine what he could do for me on a individual level not only with business but my golf game.

After he finished speaking, my father and I decided that if anyone could get me back into playing the game of golf it was this man. Four months after I joined Lawrie Montague's golf academy (AHPGA), I was playing to a scratch handicap.

From careful educated analysis of my swing to changing my mental approach to compete at a elite level, Lawrie Montague and the Australian High Performance Golf Academy gave me confidence to face the pressures of competitive golf

I found a coach who I trust, and I learnt more about golf and life in four months at the Academy than in the last seven years with some of Australia's most recognised coaches.

I look forward to many prosperous years under the guidance of Lawrie Montague and the team at the Australian High Performance Golf Academy bringing trophies as well as cheques back home from many parts of the world.