Robinson a contender for top coaching accolade

The lead coach for England’s successful women’s golf team, Steve Robinson, will be flying the flag for The PGA at the 2017 UK Coaching Awards this month.

Robinson, the highly-respected head PGA Professional at Sandburn Hall Golf Club near York, has been nominated for the ‘High Performance Coach of the Year’ award at the prestigious annual event.

He has coached both the Yorkshire boy’s and women’s teams to success in their respective County Championships this year.

But guiding the England women’s team to become European champions in 2016 and 2017 has been a key factor in his nomination.

Robinson, who also taught former European Tour star Simon Dyson and is personal coach to Charlie Thornton, winner of the England Golf Boys’ Order of Merit, said: “There’s a lot of good coaches out there and it’s nice to see golf get some recognition.

“From a personal point of view I’m obviously delighted to have been nominated, but I’m also very pleased because there’s a lot of coaches in golf who don’t get any recognition.

“I did a UK Sport Inspired programme two years ago, working with other Olympic sports and that helped me develop as a coach.

“I did that for two years and that was a massive eye opener for me as a golf coach. It was England Golf who persuaded a 53-year-old golf coach to go and do some exploring in other sports and I really enjoyed it.”

Robinson faces stiff competition in the ‘High Performance Coach of the Year’ category.

He is up against sailing coach Ben Rhodes, fencing expert Ziemek Wojciechowski, and the trio who helped mastermind Great Britain’s relay success at the Athletics World Championships in August - Stephen Maguire, Benke Blomkvist and Christian Malcolm.

“We’re now up there along with the other top sports and there’s some pretty stiff opposition,” Robinson added.

“We all love golf and it’s nice to see I’m a name in there alongside the guys who coached the world champion sprint relay team to victory.

“I have no expectations, I’m just delighted I’ve made it into the final four and am representing golf, The PGA and the work all of us golf coaches do.”

The UK Coaching Awards, which take place in London on November 30, honour coaching excellence from people and organisations who have demonstrated outstanding success over the past 12 months.

Hosted by UK Coaching, the event raises the profile of coaching and the role it plays in transforming lives and inspiring an active nation.

For more information about the 2017 UK Coaching Awards or to view all nominations from the ten award categories click here.