Tom’s interest in golf started when his Step Grandfather had his birthday at the Ascot par 3 course which was part of the QE2 complex prior to the earthquakes. The children had to play mini golf but the adults got to play on the course. Tom wanted to play ‘proper golf’ so he went out the next day and spent all of his pocket money he had saved on a set of golf clubs and started playing at Coringa from the age of 11.

He made great progress with his game and as a result played for Canterbury both in the junior and men’s representative teams. The highlights of his time at Coringa were three holes in one and setting a new course record of 65 at the age of 19.

He became a member at Russley when he was 14 as it was closer to his school and he could get there easier than Coringa to practise during the week. He started working in our Pro Shop in 2014 as an 18 year old. Previously he had worked part time in the Coringa Club’s Pro Shop.

Tom commenced his PGA Professional Traineeship in 2016. With his dyslexia he found the academic side quite difficult. He worked extremely hard to get through and is very proud of his achievement. In his third and final year he was awarded the NZPGA Trainee of The Year Award – an outstanding effort.

He is extremely passionate with his coaching which involves 60% juniors and a large number of adults. Each week he has between 37 and 45 half hour sessions. This involves working long hours often without lunch. His enjoyment comes from growing personal connections and improving his clients’ game.

He recently coached a three year old girl called Princess who was with her parents in Christchurch on holiday from China. They were so impressed that they returned for a month and Tom coached her for an hour a day during this time. Her parents would like to fly Tom to China all expenses paid to coach her – this would include paying for the quarantine costs on returning to New Zealand. With all that is going on in Tom’s life at the moment this is not possible. The family are hopeful that when travel restrictions are lifted that they will be able to return to Christchurch to continue the lessons.

Tom has a presence on Social Media with Facebook and Instagram with hundreds of followers. It is well worth checking these out – you can see videos of his clients and the progress that they have made including Gus Eathorne who added 30 metres to his drives this week as the result of a half hour lesson!

For two years one of Tom’s highlights each week is coaching a 48 year old blind golfer. Prior to each shot he has to line him up and choose the club for him to use before he hits the ball. Recently he had three pars in a row. There is a video of him on Tom’s Facebook page getting immediate feedback on his shots on the driving range from his recently purchased Trackman.

Rather than taking on a large number of junior players Tom is starting to concentrate on a small number of elite players who he coaches on a weekly basis. He enjoys making personal connections with these young players and being able to grow with them through their golf journey. Tom has some young golfers who he considers have the ability to follow in the footsteps of Cooper Moore and our current ‘young guns’.

With his workload Tom doesn’t get a lot of time to play golf himself – he endeavours to play 9 holes every two weeks, occasionally has some time hitting balls on the range and sometimes has the opportunity to play on other courses.