‘If someone wanted to work in the golf industry, the Foundation Degree is the best thing to do’
From county golf to running her own coaching business, Lydia Derbyshire reflects on how taking on the Foundation Degree in Professional Golf Studies shaped her career and her approach to coaching
Golf has always been part of Lydia Derbyshire’s life.
Introduced to the game by her grandfather at just three-years-old – “when I was born, my grandpa said, ‘this girl plays golf’ – she played junior county golf for Yorkshire.
So when university called, it wasn’t a huge surprise she decided to take a different path. “It got to the point where I sat down with my parents and said, ‘I don’t want to go to university. I want to do golf’.”
It led her to the PGA Training Programme. After discovering the pathway through her club, she attended an Open Day at The PGA National Training Academy and chose the Foundation Degree in Professional Golf Studies, while holding roles at Ilkley, and now Knaresborough, in North Yorkshire.
Speaking ahead of The PGA’s latest in-person Open Day on May 27 at The PGA National Training Academy, she said: “I read up on it, went to one of the Open Days, and thought, ‘this is amazing. This is what I want to do with my career’. So I quit my A-Levels.”
A key attraction for Derbyshire was the breadth of opportunities the Foundation Degree opened up in the industry – whether that was studying coaching, sports science, equipment, or business management – and was something she only fully appreciated once she started the course.
“The amount they teach you is incredible. It's absolutely fantastic. You learn how to run your own business, which is what I do now – run my own coaching business. They taught me how to do that.”
It also challenged her expectations of what working in golf would involve, particularly when it came to the technical side of the game.
“The amount of theory there is to learn about teaching is incredible,” she said. “Club fitting was much more in depth than I imagined it to be. It’s very technical and complicated. It’s a challenge.”
But it wasn’t just in the classroom where Derbyshire felt The PGA’s support. The association played a significant role when she faced a challenge that threatened to severely impact her burgeoning career.
Derbyshire had experienced back pain from the age of about 12 and thought it was because of the time she spent playing and practising.
But as she competed in PGA events, and worked as a coach demonstrating technique to students, it became more than just a discomfort.
Competing in a Pro-Am, she broke down. “I couldn’t feel anything down my left leg whatsoever. I couldn't bend down, I couldn't move. I was in absolute agony.”
She was finally diagnosed with a curvature at both ends of her spine. “[The surgeon] showed me the X-ray and said, ‘I don’t know if you can play anymore’. That broke me completely. I couldn’t go to work and I felt like I didn’t know what I was going to do – because I wouldn’t be able to do my job anymore.
“That was heartbreaking. I’d put in all this time and effort into doing my course – the exams, the essays, the learning – and I thought it was all going to be taken away from me.
“When I told The PGA about it, they were so supportive. It was a lot of hand holding for me. I’d send them notes from the surgeon, doctors, and X-rays, and they were really supportive and they said I could still do my course and be able to coach. I’d just not be able to play.”
It shifted the way Derbyshire coaches, now paying more emphasis on positions and observation than showing and hitting the shots for her students. It’s also made her more empathetic when considering the individual needs of golfers.
Having graduated from the Foundation Degree, Derbyshire plans to continue her career at Knaresborough GC and is unequivocal about the impact the course has played in her development.
She said: “The degree was fantastic and if someone wanted to get into coaching, or working in the golf industry, the degree is the best thing to do.”
Derbyshire was speaking ahead of the PGA In-person Open Day at The PGA National Training Academy on Wednesday, May 27, which gives prospective students the chance to explore careers within the golf industry. To book your place, and to see the dates for other Open Days this year, visit:
https://www.qualifications.pga.info/open-days