PGA Fellow Professional, Gillian Burrell, has been awarded the President’s Award for Golf Development by the Confederation of Professional Golf at the 2013 Annual Congress Gala Awards Dinner.
The award acknowledges the work of an individual or a specific golfing project that has excelled in developing the game and Burrell was the deserving recipient in recognition of her work with the Irish Ladies Golfing Union and Junior Golf Ireland.
Burrell was nominated by the PGA in Ireland for her work that has spanned many years in a number of areas in the game including grass roots and junior golf, as well as with the special Olympics and as a tutor for training PGA Professionals.
“I am both delighted and honoured to receive the Confederation of Professional Golf President’s Award for Golf Development this evening. As the Irish poet and playwright, Oscar Wilde, said ‘the aim of life is self-development, to realise ones nature perfectly, that’s what each of us is here for,” Burrell said during her acceptance speech at the Rolex supported Gala Awards Dinner hosted at Hotel Vila Galé Lagos, in Portugal’s Algarve region.
“I have had the very good fortune to meet many people within the PGA who have encouraged, mentored and provided me with the motivation not just to reflect on my own personal development but also on the development of the game of golf.”
The Gala Awards capped off the week long Annual Congress that was supported by Glenmuir and the Associação Turismo do Algarve, and ran alongside the International Team Championship at Onyria Palmares, and was an opportunity to recognise many individuals from across the sport that have excelled in their respective fields.
Burrell became a PGA Professional in 1995 and not long after began to establish herself as a development coach and in 2000 founded The Eagles Club which has introduced 3000 children across 5 locations and utilises 15 PGA Professional coaches. She has used this knowledge of coaching juniors to create numerous publications, manuals and seminars that help coaches to teach at a grass roots level.
More recently Burrell was listed in the Golf Monthly Top-100 Coaches in Great Britain & Ireland for her work with children and Special Olympics athletes, and after being appointed to the board of Junior Golf Ireland on behalf of the PGA in 2011, was elected Chairman in 2013.
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The 2013 Annual Congress & ITC are supported by Glenmuir, the Associação Turismo do Algarve, Hotel Vila Galé Lagos, Onyria Palmares Beach and Golf Resort, and the European Ryder Cup Development Trust. For more information on our partners, visit http://eur.pe/1aaFFgx.