Ladies European Tour member Sarah Bennett is flying the LET flag with the news that she has been named one of the UK’s Top 50 Golf Coaches, in a list compiled by Golf Monthly.
The list was first published 15 years ago and featured 25 Top Coaches. However, the latest has doubled that number to reflect not only those who offer face-to-face coaching, but also the online world.
The criteria includes having a minimum of three years’ teaching experience, any golfer should be able to book a lesson with you and you must be based at a club or facility in the UK. Coaches were nominated by their students and had to fill out a questionnaire designed by Dr Paul Schempp of the University of Georgia.
Commenting on the high-profile recognition of her coaching skills, the PGA Captain-elect (pictured above), who is attached to Three Rivers Golf and Country Club, Essex, said: “I never set out to win prizes so obviously I’m delighted and proud to be included in such an elite group.
“Playing on the LET has given me a huge grounding for my coaching. These playing and life experiences are invaluable and have been instrumental with my areas of delivery.
“I just love coaching. I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”
Sarah has been a member of the PGA and LET since 1990 and played on Tour until 2005, when she was forced to stop due to losing 95 per cent of her balance after suffering from Vistibular Neuritis, an inflammation of the inner ear and the nerve connecting the inner ear to the brain.
She started coaching in 2010 and, as well as being a dedicated and well-respected coach in Essex, is well-known for the hours she devotes to helping the less fortunate. She won the Toby Sunderland Award in 2018, an accolade to celebrate the many wide-ranging charitable achievements by PGA professionals across Great Britain and Ireland.
After working with injured service personnel, she set up Golf FORE Recovery: an event which she ran for three years. In honour of her late friend Wendy Lodder, she continues to raise funds for research into Thymic cancer at Guy’s London.
“Through ordinary golf days, we’ve raised just under £40,000 for the first ever research worldwide into this rare cancer. That has probably given me the greatest satisfaction as a coach.
“There is a group being set up for sufferers who can talk to each other about this type of cancer. We are also trying to raise more money for research.”
Sarah’s wide range of experiences include being the U/18 East England regional coach for the boys and girls mixed squad for seven years and she was honoured to take the U/18 English team out to play against Spain.
She is also the WPGA Cup Captain 2022, a PGA Specialist Professional, on the PGA East Region Committee, the Three Rivers GC Head Teaching Professional and Essex Girls Development Head Coach and was previously an LET Committee member and WPGA Vice Chair.
She will become just the second female to Captain the PGA in 2022, replacing Bernard Gallacher. The first female to Captain the PGA was the late LET Founder member Beverly Lewis, Sarah’s former mentor and friend.
