JAMIE GOUGH South African specialist swing coach Jamie Gough is riding high. We caught IN up with him on one of his whistle-stop trips home to the KZN Midlands. ALL A By Gaynor Lawson WEEK’s WORK is protege, Hao Tong money. The key to playing consistent in 1997 and at one stage he had 30 teachers Li, won the Dubai golf at Tour level is being able to control working for him. But he sold the academies Desert Classic in late your ball flight under enormous pressure to focus on coaching. He’s been doing it for January and at the and that’s what I try to develop with my 35 years. end of 2017 he won players: a swing that repeats under the Ball skills run in the Gough blood: the PGAs of Europe’s pressure of tournament golf.’ older brother Richard was a top footballer, John Jacobs Award Gough works with Li, Brandon Stone, playing for Dundee United, Rangers and for Teaching and Andy Sullivan, Soo Min Lee, David Drysdale Scotland. But for Jamie, it’s more than Coaching. It’s not an and Justin Walters, finding six players to an affinity with sports and looking with easy life, being on Tour for 32 weeks of the be ‘a manageable number to work with a clinical eye at players at the peak of Hyear, but for Gough, it’s what he does best. at an event’. physical fitness. He remains a good golfer Settling back with a cold beer, he ponders Having received the John Jacobs Award and is disciplined about staying in shape. the question: What does he bring to the for his coaching, it’s fitting that Gough is It helps him cope with his punishing year- players he works with? It’s not as simple a fan of the ‘doctor of golf’, whose attention round schedule. as just working on the game, he says. He to the flight of the player’s ball enabled him ‘I try my best to do a bit of gym work also focuses on his players’ mental state, to diagnose details about the swing: ‘I’m or treadmill at least three times a week on including their preparation and course a strong believer in John Jacobs, and a lot Tour as I find staying physically fit helps management, and the short game. of the technology today largely supports me stay mentally strong through the ‘I think my biggest strength as an much of what he said. weeks on the road. On average, I travel 32 instructor is that I tend to teach the ‘I’m a mix of old and new school ... much weeks a year so there are lots of long-haul individual, rather than having a standard of what I do each day is basic maintenance, flights and too many hotels to remember. one-dimensional method,’ he says. ‘I will reinforcing good habits. If a guy is playing Sometimes I wake up and don’t know always formulate a blueprint in my mind well you have to keep him playing well where I am!’ of how I would like to see a player swing – and earning well.’ He continues the fitness focus even S the club and guide them through that Gough’s golfing credentials are when away from the Tour, relaxing at process rather than trying to radically impeccable. After an initially promising home with his fiancee, Lani, and their three /GALLO IMAGE /GALLO S change the way they swing the club. junior career in the 1980s (he represented dogs and her horse on a smallholding near ‘A large part of my success with top South Africa), he turned pro at 18. Over Nottingham Road. Their home gym is players is that I work hard to improve time, he felt drawn to coaching, a calling comprehensively equipped and Gough what they already do well and slowly that saw him opening a chain of Jamie also runs a few times a week. iron out the faults and idiosyncrasies Gough Golf Schools across South Africa. It’s a lifestyle that wouldn’t suit many, STUART FRANKLIN/GETTY IMAGE STUART while keeping them in form and making The first branch opened in Cape Town especially after so many years. ‘My compleatgolfer.com 101 JAMIE GOUGH average day is about 10 to 12 hours; most of that is spent standing on the range teaching, or out walking the course to observe my players in tournament conditions,’ he says. ‘Most tournament weeks we arrive at the course on a Monday and leave on a Sunday, heading on to the next venue, so it’s a seven-day-a-week occupation. It’s incredibly stressful and draining, so staying physically fit is of massive importance to me.’ ‘For most of my players, I’m a member of their team trying to make them perform at their optimum, week in and week out’ The bond between the guys helps How many ‘touristy’ things does he course is great, as are the people. I love relieve the stress. ‘The highlight of manage while trotting the globe? ‘My peri-peri chicken, so Portugal is home most days is dinner time where we favourite cities are Singapore and Austin, away from home.’ often have a mix of players and caddies, both, funnily enough, for the food!’ he Gough cannot ignore the lure of ‘the and there’s great camaraderie and banter. laughs. ‘Great Asian cuisine in Singapore big guns’, though. ‘Obviously, events like The days of late nights and drinking and the best barbecue ribs in the world in The Masters at Augusta are amazing to on Tour are long gone. Golf has become Austin. On Tour we rarely go sightseeing work at, as are all the Majors, especially such a multimillion-dollar business that – it took 10 years at the tournament in Paris The Open. Last year was incredible with the modern players are professional before I even saw the Eiffel Tower – but we Hao Tong finishing third. My previous athletes. Most of them have full-time do get to sample food in restaurants around best finish at a Major was fourth at coaches, physios, nutritionists, managers the world, which is a plus.’ Augusta with Miguel Angel Jimenez.’ and psychologists. And his favourite event? ‘It has always The afternoon sun is fading and Jamie ‘For most of my players, I’m a member been the one in Vilamoura in Portugal. It needs to get home to fire up his pizza oven of their team trying to make them perform feels like a holiday as we generally stay for some friends. It’s now that rare moment at their optimum, week in and week out.’ down at the port, which is beautiful. The in a week: Jamie Gough downtime. THE JAMIE GOUGH CV PGA qualified pro since 1983, has been teaching for 35 years Coached the men’s SA Eisenhower Trophy team in 2006 Accolades include: PGA Teacher of the Year in 2005; Golf Digest’s No 1 teacher in SA in 2014; PGAs of Europe’s John Jacobs Award in December 2017 Current stable: Hao Tong Li, Andy Sullivan, Brandon Stone, Soo Min Lee, David Drysdale and Justin Walters Past clients: European Tour S winners such as Miguel Angel Jimenez, Thomas Bjorn, /GALLO IMAGE Anders Hansen, David Howell, S Gregory Havret, Michael /GETTY IMAGE Hoey, Bradley Dredge and D Alex Noren. Also names such INNAIR K as Jose Maria Olazabal, Charl SS Schwartzel, Richard Sterne, ULLAN/RO James Kingston, Haydn M Porteous and George Coetzee DAN 102 compleatgolfer.com.