Written and photographed by Mike Besa
Junior golf got an unexpected boost with the inadvertent arrival of British teaching professional Paul Creasy in the country last October. Mr. and Mrs. Creasy began their life in Asia in Singapore some four years ago when Mrs. Creasy was assigned there by the Asian Development Bank. After three years there, they then moved to the United States when an opening presented itself. When the stay there failed to meet their expectation, they jumped at a chance to move to the Philippines and back to Asia.
Philippine golf has much to gain from his presence. Paul Creasy is a seasoned PGA teaching professional with a passion for teaching children. The Orchard Golf and Country Club was quick to recognize the potential synergy of having Creasy teach at the club and organized this clinic to gauge how the members would respond. Based on the faces of the children that attended, it was a home run.
Creasy has an easy manner and a genuine interest in helping children into the game. His enthusiasm is contagious and quickly rubs off on the kids. His instruction produced visible results that inspired the kids to work harder at their games.
He lined the kids up on the range and spent time with each of them, working mostly on their fundamentals. There were some very good looking swings present which impressed Creasy no end.
“I thought I’d see some good swings here but I had no idea just how good they were. I’m blown away. It was very impressive. There’s some real talent here,” he said.
Teaching children is a real challenge. Their enthusiasm and desire to learn is offset with an often short attention span. A good teacher knows just how much he can impart at a given time. To make the most of the short time he had with the large group, he focused mostly on fundamentals. The children’s enthusiasm and natural aptitudes did the rest.
After going up and down the line and spending quality time with each child, Creasy laid out some cones to simulate a golf hole and organized a little chipping contest with for the children. This brought out their competitive instincts and was great fun for the participants and the parents that were present.
Creasy and The Orchard are planning to make the clinics a regular fixture at the club as long as there is enough interest to sustain the program. Paul is also open to coaching older golfers and his knowledge should be just as effective for them as it was with the juniors. We can only hope that Mrs. Creasy’s tenure at the Philippine office of the ADB gets extended indefinitely. Golf in the country can only benefit.
