Sparrow inspired to up his game ahead of final

Midlands professional Mark Sparrow has been using the inspirational words of his late mentor to help him prepare for the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Professional Championship Final.

Sparrow will be representing Dudley’s Halfpenny Green Golf Club at the £78,000 showpiece event which takes place between June 13-16 at Luttrellstown Castle Golf & Country Club near Dublin.

But Sparrow has made a concerted effort to improve his game this year.

He heads up the growing Sparrow Golf Academy which has produced a string of up and coming young players from the West Midlands region.

And while Sparrow has a solid golfing pedigree behind him, he felt it was ‘make or break’ time to show he was still capable of mixing it with the best club professionals.

He qualified for the final at Little Aston Golf Club in April with a strong second placed finish - and will now prepare to travel to Ireland.

“I used to work with Jim Rhodes at South Staffs Golf Club, a very good European Seniors Tour player who sadly passed away a couple of years ago,” explained Sparrow.

“He was a bit of a mentor for me. And he always said to me that I should try and always try and remain the best player at the club, because you’ll always get the respect of the people you’re coaching.

“That’s always hit home with me. With lads here playing off plus one and two I have to make sure my game’s honed.”

Sparrow took the decision to focus on his game last year.

“I’d been non-competitive for a while and decided it was make or break time - play and practice, dedicate myself, or not play at all,” he said.

“I started to work hard on my own game in September and spent a lot of time over the winter making some swing changes, I’m working with a fitness coach too.

“It’s not an afterthought, I’m time-managing my own game to make sure I’m playing every day now.

“Now it’s starting to show fruition, the results are starting to come which is starting to make me work even harder.”

Sparrow says interest in the academy has expanded since it was founded nine years ago with some promising players emerging with a second base added at Worcestershire’s Little Lakes Golf Club.

“With myself and Matt McGuire we are a coaching academy, and we’re trying to push the junior side with some promising players developing over the last four or five years,” he said.

“We’ve got a lad called Jake Walley who’s plus one now and he played in the English Amateur last year and got through to the last 32.

“He’s the most notable one, but we also have Daniel Richards and Matt Roberts, all three are looking to go into golf as a career with more to follow.”

Other players from the Midlands taking part at Luttrellstown Castle include: Lee Clarke (Beeston Fields Golf Club); Cameron Clark (Moor Hall Golf Club); Craig Shave (Whetstone Golf Club); Ian Walley (Kedleston Park Golf Club); Jamie Carney (Kings Norton Golf Club); Luke Howe (Brocton Hall Golf Club) and Mark Butler (Mark Butler Golf Academy).