Why Vipingo Ridge’s Nick Marsh chose PGA Training without walking away from playing
After a decade competing on tours around the world, the 31-year-old wanted to tread a different path. He’s found the answer in training to become a PGA Professional
Winning the English Amateur Championship in 2014 was the pinnacle of an amateur career that saw Nick Marsh ranked the 14th best men’s player on the planet.
A successful ten-year spell on professional tours all over the world followed, including a season on the Challenge Tour, and brought victories on the EuroPro and MENA circuits.
But as that decade passed, Marsh began thinking about forging a new path in the game.
The 31-year-old said: “My dad, who is a PGA Fellow and has been a Member for 35 years, suggested ‘why don’t you start your PGA training and become a Member of The PGA?’”
“Being part of The PGA can open so many doors for you – on the management side and the coaching side.”
Nick during the Year One FdSc residentials at The PGA National Training Academy at The Belfry
Now enrolled in the Foundation Degree in Professional Golf Studies, and attached to Vipingo Ridge, in Kenya, where his father David is the PGA Professional, Marsh is loving the new direction his life is taking.
“I’ve always found the game so interesting,” he explained. “Having my dad being a Fellow of The PGA – it was quite an easy decision.
“The last couple of years I’ve really delved deep into the coaching side, done loads of lessons, and helped a lot of people out with their game."
He added: “I’m very fortunate to be attached to Vipingo and it’s a great facility. My dad is my mentor and he’s been a big help to me. I couldn’t really imagine having somebody else, to be honest.”
As a first year Trainee, Marsh enjoyed meeting his fellow students at a residential week at The Belfry – “I felt like a right old grandad”, he joked – and learning new things about the game that has shaped his life.
“We’ve done a lot of work on ball flight laws, the coaching side of it, and impact factors and shot data,” he said.
“It's key understanding ball flight laws – how to coach somebody, the science and the physics of it. It's really helped me, not just as coach but as a player. It's helped me understand the golf swing better.”
Local wildlife grazing on the fairway at the PGA Baobab Golf Course
As he now juggles his role at Vipingo Ridge with the learning commitments demanded by a distance course, Marsh said he is approaching it “like a second job”.
“I’ve gone back to school and I’m starting to learn about a completely different industry. It has been really good.”
And contrary to popular belief – and even Marsh’s own early assumptions – becoming a PGA Trainee does not mean hanging up the clubs.
“This isn’t the end of my playing career,” he explained. “I haven't stopped playing. I played 18 holes this morning."
Marsh added: "The PGA offer everybody loads of avenues to play in different tournaments and I’d love to qualify for the PGA Cup. I think that would be class.”
Nick at the 2018 Challenge de Espana
So for players thinking about making the transition from full-time tour golf to a new career in the game – whether it be in coaching or management – Marsh doesn’t hesitate in recommending becoming a PGA Trainee.
He said: “I think The PGA offer so many brilliant avenues -to go down the managerial route or the coaching side. It just broadens your horizons and gets you to understand golf better.
“I think I was a bit frightened. I would have probably done this a bit earlier but I always thought ‘as soon as you start your PGA, that’s it, you stop playing’ and that’s definitely not the case."
Nick Marsh was talking ahead of the first PGA Open Day in 2026, which will be held online on April 15. For more details, and to see dates for other Open Days this year, click here.