\n Mr Gray explains more about the ethos of Mearns Academy and why he is keen to create a place where\u00a0“golf is, as it should be, for everyone”.\n<\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n How has Mearns Academy changed compared to the years prior to 2013?\n<\/p>\n
\n Major investment was made\u00a0with the key development being the\u00a0early adoption\u00a0of Toptracer technology within the driving range. There was also\u00a0major investment\u00a0to improve the 9-hole\u00a0golf course and coaching facilities.\n<\/p>\n
\n This has really allowed\u00a0golf at Mearns Castle to flourish with driving range use up 300%, membership for the golf club at an all-time high, and the Kids @\u00a0The Castle coaching programme now offering tuition to over 300 children every week.\n<\/p>\n
\n The academy also has five\u00a0full-time PGA professionals who offer one-to-one tuition to\u00a0beginners, established golfers and fellow professional golfers. But it is the growth of kids’ golf that is really encouraging\u00a0as this will inevitably lead to\u00a0more long-term\u00a0stability in golf for generations to come.\n<\/p>\n
\n How many people are passing through the doors?\n<\/p>\n
\n We estimate we have\u00a0around 2,000 daily users of the facilities\u00a0who come for a mixture of golf and non-golf activities. Everyone is welcomed\u00a0with a friendly smile, and the atmosphere and culture is very much far removed from the perceived traditions of golf. There is even music played within the bays and TVs showing all the latest sporting events.\n<\/p>\n
\n What’s available for people who don’t golf?\n<\/p>\n
\n We have brought in key local businesses such as a hair salon, nail bar,\u00a0cafe, gym and counselling services.\u00a0The aim is to bring more non-golfers into the academy\u00a0to create a real community hub in East Renfrewshire.\n<\/p>\n
\n The final piece of the jigsaw was added in November last year, when Affordable Golf moved in to really compliment the service provision of the academy.\u00a0They offer a full range of apparel and golf equipment within the store, as well as\u00a0club fitting, repairs and services.\n<\/p>\n
\n Russell Gray How many people do you employ?\n<\/p>\n
\n The academy\u2019s golf operation currently has 25 members of staff which includes nine\u00a0PGA professionals looking\u00a0after their\u00a0coaching programmes and running the golf club. When you include the other businesses operating within the building, there are over 70 local people working here.\n<\/p>\n
\n What developments are on the horizon?\n<\/p>\n
\n Over the next five\u00a0years the academy has ambitions plans to cement itself as one of the UK\u2019s top golf and leisure facilities. Continued investment on the driving range will include\u00a0additional bays, along with\u00a0more teeing options and drainage on the golf course. Work on that will start early next year.\n<\/p>\n
\n There are\u00a0also plans to add an extension to the main building to allow for additional food and beverage offerings and create Glasgow’s first Padel tennis centre.\n<\/p>\n
\n At ground level we have just launched the most comprehensive Get Into Golf programme giving\u00a0beginners a full 18 months of tuition, practice and play under the\u00a0guidance of the coaching team.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n How did you get involved in the game?\n<\/p>\n
\n I have been playing golf for over 30 years and first learned to\u00a0play on my parents’ farm by\u00a0simply hitting golf balls up and down a field with my brothers. My first golf course “design”\u00a0was digging out some bunkers and cutting out a green in the back garden, much to my dad\u2019s delight!\n<\/p>\n
\n I joined a local club at a young age but\u00a0the enjoyment of golf disappeared due to bad experiences of the traditional barriers that existed back then such as snobbery and a lack of open and friendly facilities.\n<\/p>\n
\n When the golf academy opened that all changed, and I have tried to create a facility that breaks down all\u00a0barriers\u00a0to ensure golf is for everyone. I want\u00a0everyone to feel welcomed and\u00a0enjoy golf for what it is\u00a0\u2013\u00a0the best sport in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mr Gray explains more about the ethos of Mearns Academy and why he is keen to create a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-101888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}