James Drew talks to the Belgian golf academy’s latest recruit.
“Aimpoint reinforces Hulencourt Golf Academy prowess,” says lead instructor Peter Bacon.
So, how much more accurate do you want your putting to be? Apparently, ‘Aimpoint’ can help you.
With his great coaching experience, Titleist Performance Institute Instructor Peter Bacon, who joined Hulencourt Golf Academy on 1 May as Lead Instructor, is one of the few certified ‘AimPoint’ professionals in Belgium. The AimPoint method, used by many professional players, has been developed for a better reading of the slopes on the greens. It is now very much appreciated by amateurs, but requires very precise coaching, which the new Hulencourt Academy teacher can provide.
So, what’s it all about then, Peter?
“Essentially, Aimpoint is all about allowing you to find exactly the right direction for your shot. It’s about learning to take internal measurements around your put, which enable you to find your exact line of fire.”
And the system is already taking off – European Tour winners, major champions and the top pros around the world all use it. Instruction takes place over twohour sessions, which cover all you need to know about applying the system to short, medium and long putts. Peter was chosen by Hulencourt to strengthen the academy’s team. He joins Jérôme Theunis (Head Instructor), Naima Ghilain (Instructor) and Emmanuel Spies (physiotherapist) in the now very famous Walloon golf school, just 30 minutes outside Brussels.
Peter also has all the certificates and skills related to the many technological tools used at the Academy, such as TrackMan (Master Certification), SamLab and SkyTrak – for Peter, though, it is all about simplicity: “In golf, you have got to keep things simple – turning our clients complicated problems with their swing, their drive, their putt, into simple solutions.”
And he is also very much a fan of the technological advances from which golf has recently benefited: “Take Trackman, for example. It is a radar system, which allows us to measure a client’s swing, to see exactly what a player is doing, and assist with improvement as best we can. It is based on a multi-million-dollar radar system, which came first, and someone had the bright idea of applying it to golf!