The world-renowned golf coach David Leadbetter is set to open the Leadbetter Golf Academy European Headquarters at Stoke Park Country Club & Hotel, in Buckinghamshire.

David Leadbetter, who has coached players to 22 Major championships and more than 100 individual worldwide tournament victories, has more than 30 academies across the globe. The Stoke Park Academy will be the 13th to open in Europe.

Many of the world’s top golf coaches have gone through The Leadbetter Golf Academy certification and Stoke Park’s team of dedicated professionals is already undergoing the training programme.

Sussex-born Leadbetter will be at Stoke Park in July to officially launch the academy that will bear his name, and the five-star venue’s director of golf, Stuart Collier, believes the Stoke Poges resort has pulled off a coup in partnering with a man for whom the often-overused sobriquet ‘legend’ is surely deserved.

Collier said: “Few people in the world game can match David Leadbetter’s track record in golf coaching – or the success his students have achieved. His name has become a byword for the very highest level of coaching and tuition.

“We have enjoyed unprecedented success in our academy over the past few years – not just in competition wins but in the overall improvements shown by the students – and having the European headquarters of The Leadbetter Golf Academy here is testament to the effort put in by everybody concerned. It will prove of immense benefit to members of all ages.”

Leadbetter added: “I am looking forward to July, when The Leadbetter Golf Academy at Stoke Park will be officially opened. The Academy is located at a fabulous resort that I am very familiar with. Among other things, I am delighted to be able to choose Stoke Park as the new European headquarters for the LGA Academy.

“A lot of time and money has been invested in the golf courses at Stoke Park in recent years and the team there has invested a lot of energy into elevating their academy to new heights. I am delighted to be able to recognise their efforts by partnering with the team at Stoke Park to launch a new Leadbetter Golf Academy – one of just three in the UK.”

Leadbetter, who received the 2017 PGA Teacher of the Year Award in November, opened his first academy in 1983 when his then student, six-time Major winner Nick Faldo, finished top of the European order of merit for the first time. Leadbetter went on to work with six more world number ones, including Greg Norman and Ernie Els.

His academies offer that same world-class instruction to players of all ages and abilities, while his passion for growing the game and developing junior golfers has seen his Leadbetter Kids Schools expand across Asia. He continues to coach Tour professionals while authoring numerous best-selling books and providing occasional punditry.

The launch will coincide with the official opening of the new-look Lane Jackson course – the third nine-hole loop to be refurbished in three years, work having begun on holes 19 to 27 late last year. Academy members will also have full playing rights on the improved Lane Jackson nine once it and the academy are fully open.

The historic Stoke Park – one of just two five-AA Red Star golf clubs in England – boasts 27 Harry Colt-designed holes and a thriving golf club with around 800 members. Its numerous facilities include a state-of-the-art health club, spa and pool, 13 tennis courts, and three restaurants and bars, including the three AA rosette, fine dining Humphry’s.

Set within 300 acres of mid-19th century Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown-landscaped parkland, in Stoke Poges, Bucks, Stoke Park is only 35 minutes from London and seven miles from Heathrow Airport.

The historic land on which it stands is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 and the celebrated course played host to the PGA Matchplay in 1910 and, even more famously, the iconic golf match between Sean Connery’s James Bond and Auric Goldfinger, in the 1964 film, Goldfinger.

ENDS

About Stoke Park

Stoke Park Country Club, Spa & Hotel is one of just two five-AA Red Star golf clubs in England. The land that constitutes the estate is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086.

Laid out across 300 acres of mid-19th century, Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown-landscaped parkland, the 27-hole golf course was designed by the legendary Harry Colt and opened in 1908 and comprises:

• The Colt course (holes one to nine): The seventh hole was the inspiration for the original 16th at Augusta National, home of the US Masters, before the latter was amended in the 1940s. Augusta designer Alister MacKenzie (1870-1934) a partner in the short-lived practice of Colt, MacKenzie & Alison.
• The Alison Course (holes 10-18): Holes 17 and 18 on the Alison – the second of the nine-hole loops to be renovated, in winter 2016/17 – featured in a classic cinematic exchange in 1964, between Sean Connery’s James Bond and the eponymous super-villain Auric Goldfinger. Their round of golf ended in front of the iconic clubhouse – purportedly ‘Royal St Mark’s’ golf club – which itself dates from the late 18th century and has featured in many other films including Layer Cake, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and Wimbledon.
• NOTE: The iconic still from Goldfinger, which shows Bond and Oddjob looking on in front of the clubhouse as Goldfinger putts out, is owned by Stoke Park Country Club, Spa & Hotel and may be available for editorial use in features about the venue.
• The Lane Jackson course (holes 19-27): Holes 19 to 27 were turned over to potato fields during World War II and were not fully restored to use as a ‘Colt’ golf course until 1998. The nine-hole loop is named after the creator of the Stoke Park Club, Nick ‘Pa’ Lane Jackson (1849-1937), who also launched the famous Corinthian Football Club. Hole 21 features the much photographed Repton Bridge, which takes its name from the gardener, Humphry Repton, who picked up the mantle at Stoke Park from ‘Capability’ Brown.
• Practice facilities: The striking monument at the bottom of Stoke Park’s practice area is of Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634), a former Solicitor General and speaker of the House of Commons, who was a tenant on the estate from 1598. He was the country’s first Chief Justice and, as Attorney General, tried Guy Fawkes and Sir Walter Raleigh, among many others.

Check out Stoke Park on video here.
High-resolution images of golf at Stoke Park Country Club, Spa & Hotel are available for download, for editorial purposes only, from here.

About David Leadbetter

David Leadbetter is regarded as the world’s premier golf instructor, 2017 PGA Teacher of the Year, PGA Hall of Fame Professional, Golf Digest Teaching Professional and a regular contributor to the Golf Channel. 

Leadbetter’s clientele includes 22 Major champions; seven players who have held 1st place in the Official World Golf Ranking along with many more of the world’s very best and most famous golfers. 

Leadbetter is also the author of seven golf instruction books, including:
- The best seller, The A Swing, making him the world’s top author of golf instruction books with well over two million copies sold. 
- Written and produced a number of instructional golf DVDs
- Written and co-produced over 40 television programs.

About the Leadbetter Golf Academies

Global network of the 34 Leadbetter Golf Academies spans 13 countries, and includes over 65 highly-trained certified instructors. 
- The network of academies delivers over 50,000 golf lessons per year, as well as corporate events and elite junior training, including a full-time Junior Golf Academy at the World Headquarters in ChampionsGate, Florida.

The world-class instruction and unique programming at Leadbetter Golf Academies has helped thousands of everyday players build lifelong games, as well as producing many elite juniors who went on to successful NCAA and professional careers, multiple Major champions and top players on the PGA, LPGA, European, Web.com and Semetra Tours.