Regular live golf viewers will be familiar with Simon Holmes and his coaching tips and advice. He’s often on television on a Sunday evening in the UK, when Sky Sports golf shows live coverage of the PGA Tour.
During these stints, Holmes takes his place in the studio to analyse the players’ swings to give viewers more of an insight as to how the best players in the world execute certain shots.
Holmes is also a busy man away from the camera. Get to know him a little better with these facts…
1. Holmes has worked with a long list of professional golfers over the years (over 80), including Sir Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Retief Goosen, Robert Karlsson, Ernie Els, Barry Lane, Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Thomas Bjorn, Ian Woosnam, Soren Hansen, Jasper Parnevik, Joakim Haeggman, Bernhard Langer, and Suzann Pettersen.
2. He has previously said that he learnt the most about coaching from Faldo, the “most focused and best prepared player of his era.”
3. He's a disciple of David Leadbetter, the man behind much of Faldo's success.
4. Holmes spent most of his youth playing at Helensburgh Golf Club, before he went to study in America.
5. He attended Wake Forest University in North Carolina, which is where the late, great Arnold Palmer also studied.
6. In 1986, he broke both wrists after hitting a tree stump in the British Amateur Championship.
7. In 1988, he left college and went to Leadbetter's academy at Lake Nona near Orlando in Florida.
8. Holmes once reached the last 16 of the Scottish Amateur Championship.
9. He founded Simon Holmes Golf Academy in 1992, and he teaches golfers of all abilities, from beginners to tour professionals.
10. He has also taught at The Wisley, a private club south of London, England.
11. Holmes is the Chief Tuition Officer for Your Golf Travel.
12. He was coaching Langer at the time the German won The Masters in 1993.
13. Holmes was also coaching Faldo when the Englishman reeled in arch rival Greg Norman to win the 1996 Masters.
14. He’s a big fan of links golf, and says Turnberry would be up there with his favorite tracks.
15. He says his favorite golf destination to go to with his wife and two sons is Verdura Golf Resort in Sicily.
