Meet the Pros
 Chris Kelby - Head Professional
Chris comes from Grantham in Lincolnshire, UK. He started playing golf at the age of 9 but also had a strong interest in rugby, cricket and football representing various clubs and his county in each sport. By the age of 16 Chris had managed to get his golf handicap down to scratch and won the Lincolnshire County Cup, participated in numerous national events as well as representing his county at all levels. By the age of 19 Chris had decided to concentrate on golf for a career and started work at Belton Park Golf Club as a trainee assistant professional.
In 2002 Chris took up a position as a PGA teaching professional at the Abu Dhabi Golf & Equestrian Club where he enjoyed teaching people from a diverse range of nationalities and cultures. He joined Riffa Golf Club in 2004 and became instrumental in expanding and improving the junior and ladies tuition programmes at the club. He was promoted to Head Professional in September 2010.
From: Grantham, Lincolnshire
Age started playing golf: 9 yrs
Favourite Course: Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire
Favourite Tournament: The Open Championship
Biggest influences in golf: Nick Faldo, John Jacobs and Tiger
Favourite player of all time: Ernie Els
Fantasy 4 ball (plus self): Tiger Woods, Samuel L Jackson and Anna Rawson
Notable golfing achievements: County Champion at 16, holing a 9 iron for an albatross on the 3rd hole at Riffa
Best tip for a Beginner: "Get lessons straight away, good fundamentals are the key to good golf"
 John Howells - PGA Teaching Professional John is from Porthcawl in South Wales and started playing golf at the age of 15, having previously competed in swimming at a high level, representing Wales and Great Britain for many years in youth development squads. By the age of 17 John had got his golf handicap down to 4 and enrolled for the new Applied Golf Management (AGM) degree at the University of Birmingham in association with the PGA Training Academy at The Belfry. In 2009 he graduated as trainee of the year with a BA first class honours. Between 2006 and 2009, John worked at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in South Wales whilst continuing his PGA training and he developed a strong research background focusing on the effects of physical conditioning on golf technique.
In 2010 John joined Wales' oldest club, Tenby Golf Club, where he co-founded the new West Coast Academy teaching programme which was designed to attend to each player individually whatever the age, gender, physical ability or skill level. This senior coaching role allowed him to develop a system whereby he assess each player’s goals, motivation and mental tendencies along with a physical screening to develop a long term sustainable plan for their improvement. John continues to further his skills and knowledge through ongoing professional development such as:
• Titleist Performance Institute Certification, world leaders in golf fitness
• Qualified YCQ Level 2 Gym Instructor
• Working with leading biomechanics experts Ramsay McMaster, Rob Neal and Mark Bull
• Shadowing leading short game coach and Golfing Machine coach, Gary Smith Internship with Ryan Crysler, TPI level 3 coach and Titleist custom fitting centre (Austin, Texas)
During his time here at the Royal Golf Club John will not only be focusing on individual tuition; he will be employing his knowledge from the Titleist TPI training and his experience in many other forms of golf fitness techniques to further develop the popular Junior Programme into a more holistic programme for our up and coming players. He will also be working with the Royal Country Club staff to develop golf fitness related packages and programmes to suit players of all abilities, ages and fitness levels.
From: Porthcawl. South Wales
Age started playing golf: 15 yrs
Favourite Course: Austin Golf Club, Texas, USA
Favourite Tournament: The Open Championship
Biggest influences in golf: Ryan Crysler and Rhys Harry
Favourite player of all time: Ben Crenshaw
Fantasy 4 ball (plus self): Ben Crenshaw, Tiger Woods, Rob Brydon
Notable golfing achievements: Youngest ever Club Captain at home club, unbeaten matchplay record for club first team
Best tip for a Beginner: “Trying to make even the simplest movement consciously following a list of complicated instructions is very difficult to do, let alone swinging a golf club. Our subconscious is very good at getting our body into position so focus externally on swinging the club in a circle around the body. If you do it enough the movement will become ‘unconscious’ and easily repeatable without too much thought.”
 Mark Underwood - PGA Teaching Professional Mark comes from Stevenage, Hertfordshire in England and started playing golf at the age of 12. He represented Hertfordshire at golf in the under-16 and under-18 categories. In 2000 Mark moved to Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire where he represented the county’s first team and was Woodhall Spa’s scratch team captain. He went on to play in the English Amateur, the Brabazon Trophy and a number of other major amateur events.
Mark turned professional in 2005 and then took up a position as Teaching Professional at Taba Heights golf resort in Egypt.
During his time here at the Royal Golf Club Mark will not only be focusing on individual tuition; he will also be further developing the Ladies Tuition Programme as well as establishing a coaching programme specifically aimed at residents of the Riffa Views community. Mark is an experienced club repairs technician and will be also allocating a significant amount of his time to developing and improving the club repairs service at the Royal Golf Academy.
From: Stevenage, England
Age started playing golf: 12 yrs
Favourite Course: Woburn, Marquess Course
Favourite Tournament: The Open Championship
Biggest influences in golf: Ian Poulter when he was assistant pro at Mark's first club
Favourite player of all time: Tiger Woods
Fantasy 4 ball (plus self): Walter Hagen, Moe Norman, Bubba Watson
Notable golfing achievements: Achieving six hole in ones, having a handicap of +1 at age 16, holding two course records
Best tip for a Beginner: "The correct grip, set up and posture are essential to control your golf ball.”
 Tim Backhouse - PGA Teaching Professional Tim is from the Wirral in England. He started playing golf at seven years of age, getting down to a handicap of two when he was 15 and being part of the National County Championship winning team with Cheshire boys. Tim went on to play for the ‘A’ team at 17, reducing his handicap to +1 and also winning numerous individual tournaments in the region. Tim turned professional at the age of 22 working at his home club of Bromborough, qualifying through the PGA institute in the same year as fellow professional Martin Robinson. Developing his coaching skills, Tim started teaching players of all levels including a lot of junior coaching whilst also still entering professional tournaments. He also does some work with Taylormade/Adidas, custom fitting golfers around the UK and Ireland to ensure that the equipment suits each individual player.
From: The Wirral, England
Age started playing golf: 7 yrs
Favourite Course: Royal Birkdale and The Old Course Villamoura
Favourite Tournament: The Masters
Biggest influences in golf: Aunt, Uncle and Father
Favourite player of all time: Seve Ballesteros
Fantasy 4 ball (plus self): Tiger Woods, Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman
Notable golfing achievements: Northern Schools champion, Fairhaven Silver Pheasant
Best tip for a Beginner: “Work on two or three things at a time, don’t complicate the game too much.”
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