PGA of Spain Professional and Director of Golf for the Real Federación Española de Golf (RFEG), Salvador Luna, has received the John Jacobs Award for Teaching & Coaching at the 2014 Confederation of Professional Golf Annual Congress Gala Awards Dinner supported by Rolex.
The John Jacobs Award for Teaching & Coaching is the Association’s highest coaching accolade in the name of one of the greatest coaches in the sport’s history. It is awarded to a person who has excelled as a golf coach at all levels of the game be it with elite or beginner players alike across a number of years.
Luna was nominated by his peers at the PGA of Spain and the RFEG for his work with Spain’s National Teams in the last 20 or so years. His input to players’ games, along with specific programmes such as the RFEG’s ‘BLUME’ programme for elite under-18s, means that he has influenced almost every professional player to come out of Spain in the past two decades, including the likes of Álvaro Quirós, Pablo Martin, and Sergio García.
“Receiving this Award has been an honour for me,” explained Luna. “John Jacobs worked for the Spanish Federation across 40 years sharing his knowledge with me and with all my colleagues around the country.
“This has been fundamental for me to become a coach and to also understand how a golf professional has to be involved in the development of the players. This is not only a recognition for me, but for the work that all the staff at the Federation have developed over the years.”
Luna received his award at culmination of the 2014 Annual Congress at Gloria Hotels & Resorts, Turkey, an event that sees the Confederation of Professional Golf’s 36 member countries come together to share knowledge and experience.
“I truly felt myself inside a familiar atmosphere at the Congress, where I could receive the warmness from all delegates at the event,” added Luna. “I think this Congress is so profitable for all delegates in terms of networking and sharing ideas in order to improve and develop good practices and strategies in their countries. The future of the golf coaches relies in many cases on the PGAs support, and I think the Congress helps a lot for the improvement of the profession.”
Known as ‘Salva’ to his friends and pupils, he turned professional in 1983, and very early into his coaching career he worked with elite-level players going through the RFEG’s national squads.
He then worked with the award’s namesake, Jacobs, across a number of years during the Master Professional’s visits to Spain and crafted his trade under his guidance.
Since 1994 Luna has been responsible for the RFEG’s ‘BLUME’ programme for elite under-18s overseeing an incredible list of names including the aforementioned Álvaro Quirós, along with Azahara Muñoz and Josè Manuel Lara to name but a few.
Luna is held in the highest esteem by his peers and is regarded as one of the most influential coaches in Spain:
“Salva is a model of what we all call a PGA Professional – he is a hard worker, he is passionate and is determined to continue learning all the time to make himself a better coach,” explained PGA of Spain President, David Pastor.
Find out more about all of 2014’s Award Winners here: http://eur.pe/2014AnnualCongress.
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For more information and news visit the Annual Congress Hub Page (http://eur.pe/2014AnnualCongress), follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter and search the hashtag ‘#AnnualCongress’ or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.
The 2014 Annual Congress Gala Awards are supported by Rolex and the Ryder Cup European Development Trust and hosted by Gloria Hotels & Resorts – for more information on the event partners visit http://eur.pe/2014AnnualCongress.
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