A swinging triumph adds to Bowood's Golf celebrations around its silver anniversary and Pro-Am competition on Friday 25 August.
1st August 2017: As Jordan Smith competed in a nail-biting play-off against defending champion Alex Levy to win the Porsche European Open in Hamburg at the weekend - securing his first European Tour title - the excitement was palpable at Wiltshire’s Bowood Hotel, Spa and Golf Resort for particularly personal reasons.
Since he was a 14 year old schoolboy, living around the corner from the Bowood Esate, Jordan has been coached at Bowood Gold Club by its Head Teaching Professional, Simon Shanks. It was here that Smith's natural talent was spotted, to which he was then selected to enrol in Bowood's scholarship programme.
As Smith began his first full season on the European Tour circuit earlier this year, Simon Shanks was named the PGA’s ‘Coach of the Year’ for the South West - just three years after first collecting this award.
Smith said: "Bowood has been a second home to me for just over 10 years now and the support and interest from not just Simon but from Lord Lansdowne, all the team of resident coaches and club members has been invaluable and certainly motivated me along the way.
“I would definitely encourage youngsters to explore the game of golf and to do so at Bowood!”
Head PGA Gold Pro Paul McLean added: "His triumph on Sunday now sees him move up to 82nd position in the world rankings, having only broken into the world’s Top 100 professional players this season.
"All of us at Bowood, send our hugest congratulations not just to Jordan but to Simon Shanks also for his significant role in this wonderful success.”
The England and Wales golfing body honoured Simon again this spring for his achievements in 2016, recognising particularly his role in helping Jordan climb the amateur (competing in the 2013 Walker Cup) and professional ladders. While his protege now travels the world competing at professional level, Simon remains in regular coaching contact.
Those signing up for this month’s Junior Summer Golf Coaching Camps (7 - 9 & 14 - 16 August from 9am - 3pm daily) are bound to be inspired when they hear of how Jordan Smith went through his early paces at Bowood, competed at amateur level before turning pro at the age of 21 and is now heading out to the US PGA Championship next week (7th -13th August).
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