The legendary golf coach David Leadbetter opened his new European academy headquarters at the multi-award-winning Stoke Park Country Club & Spa and described the venue as “one of the world's premier golf facilities”.

Leadbetter, who has coached players to 22 Major championships and more than 100 individual worldwide tournament victories, has more than 30 academies across the globe – with Stoke Park the 13th to open in Europe.

Many of the world's top golf coaches have gone through the Leadbetter Golf Academy certification and Stoke Park's team of dedicated professionals has been undergoing the training programme.

West Sussex-born Leadbetter said: “We're really excited to open our new academy at Stoke Park. Stoke Park is one of the world's premier golf facilities, with an amazing hotel, a 27-hole golf course and a great practice facility.

“I want to thank (Stoke Park chief executive) Chester King for his vision and everybody involved for making this happen, as this is going to be our European headquarters. We've had academies in the UK for some time, but to have a facility such as Stoke Park really is a dream come true.

“It's going to be a tremendous facility and we can't wait to get started, to help the members out and really promote the game of golf in general. I know how much involvement Stoke Park has in developing young players and we look forward to being part of that as well.”

Chris Murtagh, Stoke Park's head of instruction, leads the facility and his team of teaching professionals have been trained in the Leadbetter philosophy by coaches who have flown in from the USA.

Stoke Park's director of golf, Stuart Collier, added: “This is wonderful news for all connected with Stoke Park, for David Leadbetter is a legend in golf coaching. Few, if any, in the world game can match his track record in golf coaching – or the success his students have achieved. The opening of his academy's European headquarters here at Stoke Park is a further exciting development and will be of great benefit for golf in the south.”

Voted the number one golf resort in England, in the inaugural Golf World 'Top 100 Resorts in UK & Ireland' ranking in 2017, the historic Stoke Park – one of just two five-AA Red Star golf clubs in England – boasts 27 Harry Colt-designed holes and a thriving golf club with around 850 members.

Set within 300 acres of mid-19th century Lancelot 'Capability' Brown-landscaped parkland, in Stoke Poges, Bucks, Stoke Park is only 35 minutes from London and seven miles from Heathrow Airport. The historic land on which it stands is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 and the celebrated course played host to the PGA Matchplay in 1910 and, even more famously, the golf match between Sean Connery's James Bond and Auric Goldfinger, in the 1964 film, Goldfinger.

www.stokepark.com

ENDS

Written and distributed on behalf of Stoke Park Country Club, Spa & Hotel by Azalea.

Information for journalists

• Stoke Park Country Club, Spa & Hotel is one of just two five-AA Red Star golf clubs in England. The land that constitutes the estate is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086.
• Laid out across 300 acres of mid-19th century, Lancelot 'Capability' Brown-landscaped parkland, the 27-hole golf course was designed by the legendary Harry Colt and opened in 1908 and comprises:
  • The Colt course (holes one to nine): The seventh hole was the inspiration for the original 16th at Augusta National, home of the US Masters, before the latter was amended in the 1940s. Augusta designer Alister MacKenzie (1870-1934) a partner in the short-lived practice of Colt, MacKenzie & Alison.
  • The Alison Course (holes 10-18): Holes 17 and 18 on the Alison – the second of the nine-hole loops to be renovated, in winter 2016/17 – featured in a classic cinematic exchange in 1964, between Sean Connery's James Bond and the eponymous super-villain Auric Goldfinger. Their round of golf ended in front of the iconic clubhouse – purportedly 'Royal St Mark's' golf club – which itself dates from the late 18th century and has featured in many other films including Layer Cake, Bridget Jones's Diary, and Wimbledon.
  • NOTE: The iconic still from Goldfinger, which shows Bond and Oddjob looking on in front of the clubhouse as Goldfinger putts out, is owned by Stoke Park Country Club, Spa & Hotel and may be available for editorial use in features about the venue.
  • The Lane Jackson course (holes 19-27): Holes 19 to 27 – upgraded in winter 2017/18 – were turned over to potato fields during World War II and were not fully restored to use as a 'Colt' golf course until 1998. The nine-hole loop is named after the creator of the Stoke Park Club, Nick 'Pa' Lane Jackson (1849-1937), who also launched the famous Corinthian Football Club. Hole 21 features the much photographed Repton Bridge, which takes its name from the gardener, Humphry Repton, who picked up the mantle at Stoke Park from 'Capability' Brown.
  • Practice facilities: The striking monument at the bottom of Stoke Park's practice area is of Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634), a former Solicitor General and speaker of the House of Commons, who was a tenant on the estate from 1598. He was the country's first Chief Justice and, as Attorney General, tried Guy Fawkes and Sir Walter Raleigh, among many others.
• The European headquarters of the Leadbetter Golf Academy – named eponymously after the world-renowned golf coach David Leadbetter – opened at Stoke Park in the summer of 2018. The first Leadbetter Golf Academy opened in 1983 at a time when Leadbetter's swing philosophies and teaching methods were revolutionising the way people thought about instruction itself. Today, there are more than 40 academies across the world.
• Check out Stoke Park on video here.
• High-resolution images of golf at Stoke Park Country Club, Spa & Hotel are available for download, for editorial purposes only, from http://bit.ly/StokePk.

For further information please contact Dave Bowers (dave@theazaleagroup.com) or Luke Frary (luke.frary@theazaleagroup.com) at Azalea on +44 (0) 1730 711920.