Aaron Cox – Blackwell Grange Junior Golf Academy

Those of you who watched some or all of the inaugural 2020protour, streamed live via Facebook by ContentLIVE Golf, will have ‘noticed’ Australian professional golfer Aaron Cox.

For the purposes and context of this article, by using the term ‘noticed’ I don’t mean as a consequence of:

• the high quality of his golf which saw him finish 16th in the Order of Merit.
• his natural ability as a commentator and ‘on the course’ analyst.
• his ‘sartorial elegance’.

What I mean by ‘noticed’ is Aaron’s genuine passion and enthusiasm for all facets of this great game of golf. Thus I was absolutely delighted when Aaron agreed to be interviewed on a golfing topic where his passion and enthusiasm knows no bounds, namely his Junior Golf Academy and his championing of Junior Golf.

Luckily, we had arranged to meet up just before the second (COVID-19) lockdown in England and so I travelled North to Blackwell Grange Golf Club in County Durham to chat with Aaron, albeit socially distanced, and…well, you will just have to read the article!!

Blackwell Grange

(Paul): Aaron, how did your golfing flightpath take you over 10,000 miles from Australia to here at Blackwell Grange Golf Club in ‘The Land of the Prince Bishops’?

(Aaron): I moved to the UK in January 2018 and I spent 12 months working in Essex. I then wanted to move North and at the time I moved the Assistant Professional who was here left, so it opened up a position. Peter Raine, who has been the Head Professional here for over 20 years, wanted a golf pro who was very similar to himself…I had about 7 years Head Pro experience back in Australia at various golf clubs so I knew exactly what he was looking for.

Passion

(Paul): So when you started at Blackwell Grange Golf Club in early 2019, did your initial remit include establishing and development of the Junior Golf Academy?

(Aaron): Kind of…it was mentioned when I joined the team here to try and revitalise the junior section. When I arrived there were 8 kids getting coaching per week and there were only 2 kids with a handicap playing on the course. Yeah, so effectively I took it upon myself to go ‘This is not good enough!!’.

(Paul): Since turning professional, have you always been passionate about the development of junior golf and a facet of coaching that you always wanted to specialise in?

(Aaron): Absolutely. In my very first Head Pro role when I was 26 there was a very young junior who I started teaching…she is now 16 or 17 and is an elite Queensland amateur winning championships. I am not going to take the credit but I was part of her development very early on when she was 7, 8, 9, 10 years of age. Yeah, junior golf has definitely been at the forefront of my professional career…I turn 35 next week so I am only a young kid myself!!

Resuscitation

(Paul): None of us ever really grow up!! So how did you start to resuscitate the junior golf section?

(Aaron): What I did was to take my experience from all of my years of being a Pro in Australia and my twelve months down in Essex and I created this ‘7 level’ Junior Development book. Though there are obviously different books around that other Professionals use and other programmes such as that used by the Golf Foundation.

G.A.S.P.

(Paul): So what are the 7 levels within your bespoke development book?

(Aaron): The first 2 or 3 levels are all about the kids’ development…so they learn about G.A.S.P.…Grip, Aim, Stance and Posture, so very much all of the fundamentals. I then teach the kids about different swings using a clock…for example, a half swing is between 9 and 3. From there, build up to understand the different ball positions for the different clubs. Then the later levels introduce chipping regimes, practising regimes, on course visualisation, pre-shot routines and it gets harder and harder. The book takes nearly three years to go through.

Up and Running

(Paul): Having the embryonic junior coaching framework in place was obviously only part of the overall equation, another part being ‘how do I get children from the local area to come along to Blackwell Grange and try out golf’…so what was your enrolment approach?

(Aaron): I went straight out to the schools in person. I am very pro-active and can’t sit still for 5 minutes!! After emailing all of the schools I literally just hopped into my car and started driving around and following GPS to every school in the area!! Whether they had read the email or not I just turned up at the schools and just dangled a massive carrot, in that I gave all these schools a flyer which said ‘4 weeks free golf coaching’…and I advertised that for one class of 15 kids on a Monday night. Then all of a sudden within 72 hours I had 45 kids signed up!! So I had to quickly organise more classes…thus by that point, I started Monday night classes at 17:00 and 18:00 and a Tuesday night class…which was fine. Then it was up to me…I had sold the idea, now I had to deliver!!

(Paul): But a fantastic challenge all the same…better to be dealing with a swell of interest and trying to work out the best way to deliver as opposed to being totally becalmed.

(Aaron): Absolutely…then the enquiries kept on coming because word had got out…so I ended up going from 8 kids to about 60 kids in a matter of a month…I started the classes in March (2019) and by October (2019) I had 100 kids coming to weekly classes!! Which meant going from one class a week to eight classes a week!!

(Paul): That is an incredible take-up…just taking a slight step back, from what age do children start attending your weekly coaching classes?

(Aaron): From between 5 and 11 years of age…and then once I had started getting those weekly numbers I needed to start putting the kids into different classes for ability levels as you could see some kids and go ‘wow, you have got a golf swing there!!’. So then I started moving the kids around to then have my Elite class on a Saturday morning at 10:00, with a 09:00 class for the very young kids (5, 6 & 7-year-olds) and then through the week I tried to create classes matched to age groups/ability levels and also by friends…as you get a lot of kids who are friends. Then all of a sudden, in addition to the classes on a Saturday morning I had 2 classes Monday, 2 classes Tuesday and 2 classes Wednesday!! And that class separation all started to work…friends, abilities and ages across all those classes throughout the week.

Junior Golf Course

(Paul): And within those various classes, have you had much interest from girls?

(Aaron): Yeah…by October (2019) about one-fifth were girls, so about 20 girls. Unfortunately, what we have gone through this year (with COVID-19) the numbers have dropped off slightly but I still have a decent core of about 12 girls at the classes and of those about half of them are ready to go on the golf course now. It is very promising in that respect.

(Paul): I assume by golf course you are referring to the Junior Academy course?

(Aaron): Absolutely…there was a spare fairway between the 10th and the 18th so in the summer of last year (2019) I went to the golf club and asked to build a 6 hole junior golf course on this spare fairway. So I mapped, lasered and marked out the 6 holes and asked the greenkeeper to start cutting the holes/course for me!! It’s just grass out there…it’s not like I have got proper greens or bunkers…I have literally got 6 holes out there varying in length between 60 and 70 yards and varying in direction. But what it does is give the kids under the age of say 9 a direct pathway from learning golf to actually playing golf on their own golf course with no speed of play issues, no worry of what I must wear on the golf course…they can wear whatever they want as long as they are comfortable.

(Paul): That is such a great way to introduce young children to golf…so when was the 6 hole Academy course actually ready for them to start ‘playing golf’?

(Aaron): We got the Mayor of Darlington to officially open the academy course last September (2019)…we had about 170 people attend the opening, including about 60 or 70 kids….there were parents and grandparents and even some of the members turned up. And I am thinking this is pretty cool!! There was also an article in the Northern Echo. In the direct Darlington area we are the only golf course with their own kids’ golf course…to give the young kids the opportunity to actually play golf…and to actually see a tee, markers, flag and green and to be able to putt, chip, etc. So with the coaching and the junior course, there is a pathway to the golf course. Because the Academy has taken off so well we are now going to have an Academy golf course membership.

Pathway

(Paul): What does that entail?

(Aaron): That will mean that the kids can play on the 6 hole course as much as they want and then when they get of age I will write a recommendation to the (Blackwell Grange) Golf Club and they can then join the golf club and play on the main course and pay the difference in membership, which is not much.

(Paul): So the clear pathway you have established provides the children of this area with a fantastic ‘no pressure’ introduction to golf and a natural progression to becoming junior members of the golf club if they so wish.

(Aaron): Absolutely.

Elite Classes

(Paul): Would it also be your intention to hopefully continue coaching those juniors who do ‘graduate’ from the Academy to become junior members of Blackwell Grange Golf Club?

(Aaron): Yes…I am already doing special ‘Elite’ classes of a night time.

(Paul): The word ‘Elite’ has various connotations so in terms of your class what does ‘Elite’ mean?

(Aaron): What I do is bring the kids into this room where we are chatting today, to teach them with the aid of the TV and the monitor all about course management, the mental aspects of the game, nutrition, physio, biomechanics. I am literally teaching kids who are between the ages of 8 and 11 about the information that you would not normally get until your late teens. Back in Australia, I went to a golf school when I was at school…I actually did golf as a subject in years 10, 11 and 12 at High School. So we had gym twice a week, we did golf almost every day, we had coaching, we had assignments…then there was theory where we had to learn about launch monitors, ball flights, spin rates…and angles of attacks and how that is going to alter the shape of shots!! Now obviously I am not going into that kind of detail with 9-year-olds but I am introducing them (at a high level) to subjects such as how your body can influence your golf swing, and what the various body movements are…getting the kids from an early age to learn about what their body does in their golf swing.

(Paul): Effectively the kids are learning the basics about biology and physics which one day might be of collateral benefit for their academic studies at school?

(Aaron): Yeah…a bi-lateral integrated approach between sport and study.

(Paul): You can sort of picture the scene where at school one of your golf juniors might say something like “Miss…I learnt about this from Aaron at the Golf Academy!!”.

(Aaron): Yeah that’s right…if I hit an object with this much velocity from this angle, this is going to create that sort of curve!!

Australian Mindset

(Paul): Sounds like a very positive ‘win-win’ scenario to me…returning to a topic which we briefly touched upon earlier, what was the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the number of children attending your weekly coaching classes when the lockdown was finally lifted?

(Aaron): I lost about 20% of the kids because they didn’t come back but then at the same time I have gained that percentage back with new interest from other kids. Today I have just over 100 kids across my weekly classes.

(Paul): As there is just you, would that number (of just over 100 kids) be your maximum capacity for weekly coaching?

(Aaron): No!! I am still under what I originally envisaged that I could do. Professional golfers…are we ever happy where we are at? We are always tweaking something!! My goal at the very start was 120 to 150. Being Australian my mindset is…

‘If I am going to do anything I want to be the best at it’

…so in this area (of England) I want this Academy to be the biggest and the best and the most fruitful for the kids….to learn, have a pathway and have opportunities that I didn’t necessarily have when I was a kid. I want to give back now and to give the kids as many tools and as much information as I can and potentially try and see one or two of them go all the way!!

Tournament Series

(Paul): I look forward to reading or watching in the years to come about the golfing achievements of Joe Smith and/or Samantha Jones, alumni of the Blackwell Grange Junior Golf Academy!! To that end, in addition to the weekly coaching, do you also organise any competitions?

(Aaron): The junior course opened in September 2019 and a month later I started a Winter League for the kids so they started playing competition golf every fortnight on a Sunday on the junior course playing 6 holes. Then the next idea I had was to create a tournament series.

(Paul): Driving into the Golf Club I could not fail to see the poster advertising the tournament series, sponsored by Darlington BM.

(Aaron): That’s right…I was coaching Liam McDermott who had stepped away from BMW to create a new business…Darlington BM. I approached him with this idea of the Academy and that I would like his business to be part of the Academy…he was on board immediately very much wanting to support my vision. Then I went to him to say I wanted to create a tournament series which would comprise of events throughout the year, and align them to all of the major tournaments…so the ‘Players’ in March, the ‘Masters’ in April, the ‘PGA Championship’ in May, the ‘U.S. Open’ in June, the ‘Open’ in July, the ‘Playoffs’ in September…and then as luck would have it the BMW PGA Championship was in October so we renamed it the Darlington BM Championship!! So I went and got a Green Jacket, a Claret Jug, a trophy as close as I could to the ‘Players’…I then organised the ‘Blackwell Playoffs’ at the end of the series and also ran an Order of Merit throughout the 7 event series. Because of lockdown, we had to put everything on hold but then re-scheduled/compacted the series which eventually started in June and we played the last of the 7 events in early October.

Event Format

(Paul): What was the format for the various events?

(Aaron): The events were all played over 2 rounds (12 holes), but I did a seeded draw for the second round!! When we held the ‘Players’ it was a 2-day event, on Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon. Which meant the leaders after the first round ‘slept on their lead!!’ In the first event, we had over 30 kids playing and in the last event, we had a 3-way playoff. One kid dropped out after the first hole but the other 2 went a further 4 sudden death holes!! It was funny as the 2 kids who did the 5 hole playoff were the kids who were first and second in the Order of Merit so it actually worked out perfect.

(Paul): Global pandemic permitting, the same format in 2021 for a 7 event series?

(Aaron): Yeah…the trophies have already been engraved with the kids names and all being well we will align next year’s series to the proper schedule of the major championships and tournaments.

Handicap System

(Paul): Do you have a handicap system for these events?

(Aaron): I do have a handicap system. What I did was to use the proceeding Winter League to calculate an initial handicap for each kid from their average scores over the 11 events played over the winter months. Then in the series, I docked the handicap for those who were playing well. It’s funny as it is only now that I have managed to get one of the parents to be the Handicap Secretary for the Junior Academy!! The handicaps were there very much to create nett scores as I wanted the kids to start learning about scoring. And by playing in the tournaments the kids also started to learn about etiquette, speed of play, etc. And by the end of this season, the greens were starting to match the speed of the greens on the main course!! So it gave the kids a sense of tournament golf and this is the pathway of learning about golf, then play golf on the junior course, then play real golf…from there maybe play in junior opens. The pathway at the Academy helps them achieve the mental process of ‘I can do this’.

(Paul): Underpinning all of the fantastic coaching and the innovative junior tournament series has to be ‘unconditional enjoyment’.

(Aaron): Absolutely…it’s all about making it fun for the kids but also giving them something to play for as all kids are competitive.

The Presidents Cup

(Paul): Any plans to have a Junior Academy Team Event?

(Aaron): Yeah…we are going to play the Presidents Cup, Internationals vs. Europe…as I am an Aussie and the majority of the Presidents Cup team are always Aussies and South Africans!! We are going to have the top 26 players from the Order of Merit and then I will do a random draw for who is on the International team and who is on the European team.

(Paul): When are you looking to play the inaugural (Blackwell Grange) Presidents Cup?

(Aaron): Probably March or April next year in-between the ‘Players’ and the ‘Masters’…so at the start of the season…not only to get the kids excited but also teach them about team events as well…playing for a teammate and playing with a teammate. Not sure yet on the format but I do want to include ‘alternate shot’ as I would love to see the kids play this format on the junior course. Very much about getting the kids involved…and we will have ‘streamers up’ all down the side of the course and just have a ‘big fun day’.

Membership

(Paul): There was absolutely nothing like this Junior Academy when I first picked up a golf club…it was very much just go out and try to play on the 18 hole golf course!! Talking of playing on an 18 hole course and looking at the bigger picture, what is the current ‘state of health’ of the Junior Membership at Blackwell Grange?

(Aaron): When we started (the Academy) there were 2 kids with handicaps playing on the main course. A fortnight ago we had 17 kids playing in the last Junior competition of the year!! They took up 5 slots on the tee sheet on the Saturday afternoon which was just fantastic. Over the season there were 4 junior comps on the main course and in one of the events I actually went out with them and played golf with them!! I took my sticks out and played and put myself under pressure and scored as well…I did not go out onto the course for a ‘hit and giggle’. I went through my pre-shot routine on every shot and had the ‘blinkers on’ and made sure they knew the rules and observed the speed of play.

(Paul): They must have learnt so much from you with that on the course ‘first hand’ experience, such as your pre-shot routine?

(Aaron): Yeah…processes, that is the biggest thing that I teach. How I play, and you have seen me play this year on the 2020protour, is how I teach. At times with specific kids, I can be a bit more of a drill sergeant but then there are times when you just have to go ‘let’s just have fun’.

(Paul): Not just in golf but in most individual sports, coaches have to be very chameleon-like in their approach and adapt to the needs and the makeup of the pupil.

(Aaron): Exactly right…you really get to see and understand the personality of each kid when you are coaching them something that they enjoy. I get the parents involved as well…the Junior Development book gets the parents involved as the kid has to sign it and show them and then show me.

(Paul): And of course, some of those parents, who are bringing their children on a regular basis to the Academy classes and competitions, might well end up joining Blackwell Grange as an adult playing member?

(Aaron): They already have!! I would say about 10 to 15 parents have actually joined…and junior membership has probably gone up about 300 to 400% since lockdown, so about 20 more juniors paying club membership fees. I have also had a couple of grandparents who have been members of other golf clubs actually, come and join here so that they play with their grandson or granddaughter. What it does is give them somewhere that feels like home in that they feel comfortable. As soon as the Academy kids hop out of their parents’ car in the car park then this is their place…they have their own golf course which they can play on day or night.

Academy Model

(Paul): Also, they get to see the clubhouse, the adult members (men and women) playing golf on the main course and so on.

(Aaron): And the members start to integrate with them…some of the members would come out to watch when the kids’ tournaments were being played, start to recognise some of their faces and passing on some great comments on what they have seen. I am lucky in that I have the complete support of the golf club behind me and not just working as some rogue golf pro!! I really appreciate what the secretary (Neil) and the chairman (John) have allowed me to do…it is thoroughly enjoyable and it is hard work with a lot of ‘blood, sweat and tears’ and coming up to 2 years on the track it is gratifying to see what we have achieved so far. I just love to help and engage with people so when you are looking at this type of set-up, against a backdrop of so many clubs worldwide struggling in the junior section, I would like to use this model at Blackwell Grange and go to another golf club and help by asking “Do you need help? I have a model that I know works”. Clubs are yelling out, going “we don’t have juniors and what can we do?”…and going to the Golf Foundation and England Golf saying they need help. And yet as a golf pro of another golf club, I could go “I have seen you are struggling, do you need help?” only to hear “No, we are fine!!”. I am not trying to poach, just trying to help others by sharing a model which they could use and adapt to increase their own junior membership.

(Paul): Costs nothing but some time to listen and chat with you to understand the model in more detail and then decide on whether that model could be rolled out at their club.

(Aaron): Spot on…adapt for location, demographics, where they are at with the juniors, costing, etc. But the model is set and works. I really want to get out there and talk to other golf clubs and ask whether they need a hand and if yes more than happy to help and consult. For me, maybe in 18 months or so, I would like to franchise out this model. It’s not rocket science…I am not the first to start this as you have Graeme Storm and Robert Rock with their respective academies.

(Paul): I know this is a bit cliched but ‘today’s juniors are tomorrows adults’ and without that sort of production line you potentially put the future of your golf club at risk, even more so with all of the financial challenges and issues as a result of the global pandemic.

(Aaron): Exactly right…from my current group of 100 kids, I am going to get between 5 and 10 that might make ‘Elite’ golf. I might get 20 kids that might just continue playing golf through their teens and twenties…but I will probably have a high number of them who will get to teenage years, stop golf and then…University, get a job, family, kids and then what next…go back to golf!! All of a sudden I am earmarking them for twenty years down the track to possibly come back into golf with full membership, clubs, lessons, food and drinks at the bar. That income becomes a massive circle and potentially comes back here. I know I am not going to get every kid in my Academy to play golf and yes it is a revolving door.

Junior Team

(Paul): A case of ‘watch this space’ and see what unfolds and whether other clubs warm to and take on your Academy model…in the same vein of looking ahead, are there plans to establish a junior team to play matches against other juniors from some of the other local golf clubs?

(Aaron): I have already got that earmarked for 2022. Next year I want the juniors to have a full season of playing comps on the course and play in junior opens in the county…to represent the Academy, to represent the club and to represent me…and to reduce their handicaps and gain confidence. Whether it was the way I was brought up and the way I was brought up in golf…is that when I was part of the junior section, it was really drummed into us that when you play in an event and you have the name of the golf club next to your name then you are representing that club. You are representing all of the members, the golf pro, the staff…you are representing everybody. So when I say to the kids “go out and play” I want them to remember that they are representing Blackwell Grange Golf Club, representing Blackwell Grange Junior Golf Academy and also representing Aaron Cox. Is that a lot of pressure on the kids? Yes and No…I just want them to go out, have fun playing golf but remember respect.

(Paul): Through your Academy, the juniors are learning some fundamental life skills which they will certainly need when in a few years time they are out in the ‘big bad world’.

(Aaron): Absolutely.

Academy Investment

(Paul): What other ideas or plans could we see bubbling to the surface at Blackwell Grange?

(Aaron): Currently, the application is in with backed up funding to build a dedicated Junior Academy area, specifically for the kids, at the end of the driving range. We have an architect working up some drawings to then submit for approval. That will take me and the Academy to the next level. I can close the door if required or open up if I am not too busy with junior classes which will generate more income for the club as we will have more bays, more range balls…but for me, it will provide a designated area where I can sit down with all of the kids to go through some theory before going to the bays and hitting some golf balls. Also, I have a few contacts back home in Australia, scouts and the like…so when the kids get to teenage years I will have access to scouts for golf at American colleges. In a few years time, several of the kids who I currently coach are going to be playing off low single figures…which then gives me a great chance to get the kids noticed by the county, then England Golf, then national and international teams and then the ultimate prize of taking them all the way to the European Tour or the PGA Tour. Hopefully, they won’t forget me and take me along for the ride as their coach and caddy!!

(Paul): I am sure they won’t forget you, Aaron!! So when do you hope to have the new Junior Academy area ‘up and running’?

(Aaron): End of summer next year…which will then lead us into winter which is fantastic really because we will have a bit more warmth with heaters down there!! That is the immediate goal, then as we discussed teams in 2022 and by then we will have kids pushing into their teenage years. Then I will have new 6-year-olds coming in and start the pathway and process again. Hopefully, I get better and my teaching gets better and I am constantly learning. I am always looking at the courses I do through the PGA so I am always trying to increase my knowledge base. I am always watching other golf pros…the Leadbetter’s, the Foleys and the Claude Harmon’s…I am always listening to their terminology and how they talk to their players and how they talk about how they are doing stuff with players. For me, it is very much about building something I love doing.

(Paul): If you were not passionate and enthusiastic about what you were doing, the kids would immediately pick up on that and you would lose them.

(Aaron): Absolutely…there are so many times during the classes where I will say something like “OK guys, it’s competition time…how far can we hit the ball off our knees?”. They will look at me and go “what…you can’t do that!!”. So I have to show them how it is done and hit the ball about 200 yards!! Then they are all on the knees playing shots thinking this is really cool…and then I get them to switch back to the serious stuff.

The Nineteenth

(Paul): To finish off at the Nineteenth, in addition to your full programme of work here at Blackwell Grange, will you be playing again next year in the 2020protour?

(Aaron): Yeah…I will be playing a full year. I will probably not play in all 20 events because I will probably be commentating on a number of them with Ian Waterhouse and the guys from ContentLIVE Golf which I thoroughly enjoy. The golf is being streamed to ‘everyday players’ so coming from a teaching point of view I try to make the information really viable and concise…and trying to show the average golfers what a professional is thinking about such as weighing up the options for a certain shot and reading the undulations on a green.

(Paul): Aaron, a great way to finish. Thanks so much for your time today and for sharing such a passionate insight into the Blackwell Grange Junior Golf Academy, your thoughts about junior golf and about golf in general. All the best for the future with the Academy, your golf and your commentary/on the course analysis. Also, many thanks to the kind hospitality of Blackwell Grange Golf Club.

For more information, then please visit Blackwell Range Junior Golf Academy

Acknowledgement

I would also like to say thanks to Andy Crook who kindly permitted me to use photographs of Aaron Cox for this article…to view his photographic gallery from this seasons 2020protour and Clutch Pro Tour then please visit Andy Crook Photography Golf 2020.