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Player SupportPGA professional & director of golf

Alex Smith

From PGA coaching → to leading academy programme development across Asia.

Alex Smith, PGA professional and director of golf at an international golf academy
ref: Skillest

A PGA professional whose coaching qualification grew into designing and running whole academy programmes across Asia.

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Where they started

Studied Psychology at Rollins College, turned professional in 2004 and played across several tours before moving to Asia in 2014.

Career milestones

  1. PGA pro

    Qualified as a PGA Professional and moved into structured coaching.

  2. Director

    Took a Director of Golf role, leading academy programme development.

  3. 2025

    Spoke on the coaching-and-management pathway at the PGA Members' International Conference in Phuket.

What they do today

  • Coach elite juniors and competitive players.
  • Design and lead player-development programmes.
  • Use performance technology in player assessment.
  • Present at professional coach-education events.

Qualifications

Academic

  • Psychology studies, Rollins College

Continuing personal development (CPD)

  • TrackMan, K-Vest, BodiTrak & TPI trained
  • Harold Swash putting education

Advice for aspiring professionals

How to get started in this speciality.

  • A coaching qualification is a foundation, not a ceiling. It can lead to running programmes.
  • Working in a growth region like Asia opens leadership roles faster.
Your first step

Shadow a director of golf for a day and ask how they moved from teaching to running programmes.

Read or watch nextInternational PGA Academy — official coach biography

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