Inaugural overseas PGA Conference deemed a big success

The PGA Members’ International Conference will return to Thailand in 2018 following the success of the inaugural event held at the stunning Laguna Phuket resort earlier this month.

The conference brought together PGA Members and delegates from 14 countries to one of Asia’s finest fully integrated resorts and home of the first PGA branded facility in Thailand.

While there, they heard leading figures from the golf industry sharing their experiences and passing on invaluable advice.

One of the conference highlights was a presentation by Paul Gibbons of MST Golf, who spoke about his diversified career in golf.

PGA Master Professional Paul Burley, senior vice president and global head of golf course management – IMG, impressed delegates with his presentation on golf club management in Asia.

Junior coaching was also a topic of debate for Junior Golf Alliance’s Neil Plimmer and Michael Dickie, head coach to China’s Olympic golf team who also spoke about training elite players in Asia.

Asian Tour winner and PGA Member Simon Yates delivered an entertaining Trackman clinic and was aided by Thomas Tontapanish, the company’s representative in Southeast Asia.

The conference was also an opportunity for PGA chief executive, Robert Maxfield, to outline his vision and plans for the Association.

He said: “I am delighted with the success of our first ever PGA Members’ International Conference hosted at Laguna Phuket, Thailand. We had Members attending from 14 different countries which is a reflection of our truly global membership base and was incredibly valuable.

“It was also a fantastic opportunity to listen to those members, hear about the fantastic work they are carrying out within the industry and understand better how we, as their Association, can stay relevant to them into the future. We very much look forward to providing further opportunities like these for our Members to support them in their careers.”

Paul Wilson, AVP/Group Golf Director of Laguna Golf, added: “We are thrilled to have gathered PGA Members across the globe at one of the region’s finest resort destinations, to experience the resort service and facilities including our award-winning course and recognised PGA-branded academy. We look forward to hosting the conference again in 2018.”