The future of golf
A few months ago, I was talking to a ten-year-old junior golfer and his dad. I asked the young lad who his favourite golfers were. His answer was very revealing: Rory Mcilroy, Justin Thomas… and Rick Shiels. In under a decade, Rick has gone from being a teaching pro working at a driving range in Manchester to a genuine global star who moves the needle in the game like few others can.
I feel privileged to know Rick and to have had a ringside seat for his incredible journey. Rick has an amazing skill set and that is the secret to his success. At heart, he is a passionate PGA pro who wants to help golfers play better, but he is also an innovative content creator who is always pushing the boundaries. He has endless energy and always thinks big.
It was great to be part of the Golf Monthly content team who spent the day with Rick at Prairie Sports Village in Burnley at the end of last year. Rick was incredibly generous with his time and the result is a brilliant interview with Neil Tappin where he talks about his journey and his vision for the game, and a superb instruction piece where he gives you his tips to create the ultimate 30-minute range practice session.
There is a video to accompany that practice session on our Youtube channel and I’d encourage everyone to watch it. As somebody who really doesn’t like practising, I found it inspirational and it has encouraged me to hit a few more balls at the range since then.
This issue also includes our 2023/24 UK and Ireland Top
100 Course Rankings supplement. Golf courses are a passion for so many of us, and I love being a part of the process of bringing the biennial rankings to life. I’m delighted the premium apparel brand Peter Millar is partnering with us on the new rankings and I hope you all like the supplement.
I’d also urge you to look at the revamped Top 100
Courses section on golfmonthly.com too, where you will find in-depth reviews of all 100. The site also offers a number of features and some great video content aimed at inspiring you to get out and play some of the incredible courses available on our doorstep. Enjoy!