‘Great opportunity to spend time here’
I always love coming to Dubai, it feels like a second home, says Claude Harman
Golf Coach Claude Harmon speaks to Gulf News during his visit to Dubai.
■ Why are you here in Dubai on this visit?
I come over once a year to see Jamie McConnell, the Director of Instruction at the CH3 Performance Golf Academy and our team of coaches at The Els Club and it is a great opportunity to spend time with them, watch them teach and I also give lessons and they sit in on these. I speak to Jamie almost every day from my base in Jupiter, Florida in the US or when I am travelling. They have all done an excellent job and the Academy is doing great.
Tell us about your history in Dubai.
I moved here in 2008 from Los Angeles, and we opened CH3 in 2009. When I left Dubai after three years Justin Parsons took over. I am proud of how all our Pros have progressed. Justin is now at Sea Island, Georgia in the US, coaching at least seven players on the PGA Tour and LIV Tour: Branden Grace, Harris English, Charl Schwartzel, Brian Harman, Louis Oosthuizen and so many more. Others who have worked here with us include Richard Sheridan who went to Asia, and is
now Director of Instruction at The Olympic Club, San Francisco.
Stephen Sweeney, another of our former coaches under Justin and Wayne Johnson, when they were at the Montgomerie Golf Club, is now one of the top putting instructors on the PGA Tour, and has just linked up with Collin Morikawa as well as Joaquin Niemann.
I coached Ernie Els for five years and when we catch-up on our travels we always talk about how the CH3 and The Els Club is doing. When you do not live here and when your name is on the business, you have additional responsibilities. I always love coming to Dubai, it feels like a second home. If my global work schedule permitted, I would love to spend four or five months here every year.