IT’S the final week of November, and Mark Gibson (aka Gibbo) is celebrating a major milestone – 30 years as a full-time educating skilled at Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast.
Thoughts you, the 66-year-old, who runs Distinctive Golf at Royal Pines, was well-credentialled lengthy earlier than arriving there after having hung out working as a membership and educating skilled at Royal Queensland, Gladstone, Keperra, Pine Rivers and Caloundra golf golf equipment.
At Royal Queensland, Gibbo labored with the legendary Charlie Earp as did Greg Norman who did his traineeship beneath the grasp coach.
Whereas Norman pursued a taking part in profession, Gibbo selected the educating pathway that has introduced its personal success – two PGA Australian Trainer of the Yr awards and three PGA Queensland Trainer of the Yr awards.
Norman and Gibson seldom crossed paths within the early years, however someday their worlds collided at a PGA trainee event and that was the catalyst for Gibbo deciding a educating profession could be his most suitable choice.
“I didn’t have rather a lot to do with Greg, however he performed a pivotal position in me wanting to educate,” he defined.
“The primary trainee occasion I performed in 1976 was at a course at Coomera, which now not exists. I had a 7.10 tee time and, being my first ever professional occasion, I didn’t wish to entice a penalty for being late to the tee so I walked to the tee when the 7am group have been about to tee off.
“On the tee in that group was a man referred to as Greg Norman. He’s hit this tee shot and the sound of it and the flight of it was unbelievable and I assumed to myself, ‘I hope I can coach’.
“It was a golf shot that I had by no means seen, heard or dreamt of. The crack of the persimmon driver on the balata ball was wonderful.”
Gibson, who did his traineeship beneath Reg Need at Coolangatta Tweed Heads, went to work for Charlie Earp at RQ earlier than accepting a place as head professional at Gladstone GC in Central Queensland.
After 5 years, he was lured again to Brisbane when Keperra CGC head professional, Ian Triggs, sought an assistant.
“My time with Triggsy cemented the concept I needed to educate,” Gibbo stated. “We agreed to spend half a day every week capturing the breeze over teaching methods, mechanics and the philosophy of teaching.”
Educating skilled Mark Gibson believes he made the fitting name on his profession alternative.
For Gibson, the seed was nicely and really planted and he took off for Pine Rivers as head professional for a spell after which moved to Caloundra the place teaching took up a lot of his time.
Since arriving at Royal Pines Resort, Gibbo has taught 1000’s of scholars desperate to hone their abilities.
Even celebrities like Jackie Stewart, the Scotsman who received three Method One world titles, and Australian V8 Supercar collection championship winner Marcus Ambrose have turned up for classes.
“I really like teaching and I’ve been fortunate sufficient to have a lifetime of being out within the fresh-air and sunshine coping with individuals,” Gibbo stated.
“It’s an ever-changing setting as a result of you’ll be able to’t coach two classes the identical. You’ve people who study in another way, react in another way, have totally different bodily capabilities and other people with totally different ambitions.
“Each lesson you give is a brand new problem – even once you coach somebody long-term the challenges change a bit as a result of their angle to golf modifications.
“So, the scholars train me as a lot as I train them. Folks say to me they play golf to get pleasure from it however find yourself being essentially the most aggressive individuals on the planet as a result of they get to fifteen after which wish to get to 9 after which to 6.”
Gibbo’s tip: don’t set unrealistic targets in the case of lowering your handicap.
“Certainly one of my steepest studying curves was once I went to Pine Rivers,” he defined. “I had a woman come to me on a 25 handicap. She needed to get right down to 18 and I stated it could take 9 to 12 months.
“We did that in 9 months and she or he requested ‘can I get right down to 12’? We modified focus and that was achieved in 10 months. Then she needed to get right down to single figures she ultimately acquired right down to a two handicap.
“If somebody off 25 had requested me to get them down to 2 I might have seen that as a bridge too far, however by breaking it down and setting targets alongside the way in which, we have been in a position to obtain it.
“Proper there after which I made a decision I’m by no means going to say no to a pupil who’s prepared to breaking their objective down into items. That also works as we speak.”
FOOTNOTE: In 2022, Gibson was awarded life membership of the PGA of Australia becoming a member of the likes of Norman von Nida, Peter Thomson, Kel Nagle, Charlie Earp, Paul King, Alex and Dave Mercer, Peter Senior, Graham Marsh, Rodger Davis, Ian Baker-Finch and as featured in a earlier version of Inside Golf, Dennis Brosnan and Kyle Francis.
Between 2010-16, Gibson was the chairman of the PGA of Australia contributing to coaching younger gamers.
“The updating of the training program for PGA members was one among our massive steps ahead as was aligning our targets with Golf Australia,” he stated. “We began the ball rolling, and it has continued in a a lot larger vein. The golf business is now way more united with the Ladies’s PGA, PGA of Australia and Golf Australia sharing companies and places of work.”
