Annual Awards

CPG & The Coach Alliance Partner For Winter Webinar Series

12th Dec 2024

Qualification Process For 2025 Junior Ryder Cup Confirmed

10th Dec 2024

Morugan Masters Messinia

26th Nov 2024

Ballyneety Golf Club to Host 2027 Junior Ryder Cup

18th Nov 2024

CPG Festival of Golf Heads to Morocco

13th Nov 2024

CPG & Sportsbox AI Unite to Enhance Training & Education

13th Nov 2024

Sustainable Golf Week to Focus On How Golf Serves Communities

30th Oct 2024

GolfSixes League Debuts in China Alongside the Hainan Open

18th Oct 2024

Golf Genius Release Major Upgrade to its Tournament Management Product With Event Dashboard+ Feature

10th Oct 2024

The Westin Doha International Pro-Am Joins 2025 CPG International Series Line-Up

1st Oct 2024

Golf Genius Launches Off-Course Technology for Indoor and Entertainment Golf

4th Sep 2024

Olympic Officiating – Inside the Ropes with Christiane Stenger

13th Aug 2024

Rai Claims Maiden PGA Tour Victory With Trusted MacWet Gloves

13th Aug 2024

New Zeland’s Lydia Ko Completes Gold Medal Mission at Paris Olympics

10th Aug 2024

Lydia Ko, Morgane Metraux Locked at the Top Ahead of Final Round at Paris Olympics

9th Aug 2024

Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux Rides Record 28 to Second-Round Lead at Le Golf National

8th Aug 2024

Home Favourite Céline Boutier Stars to Lead After Day One at Le Golf National

7th Aug 2024

Qualification Process Confirmed for 2025 European Ryder Cup Team

6th Aug 2024

Team USA’s Scottie Scheffler Wins Olympic Gold in Thrilling Finale at Le Golf National

4th Aug 2024

Schauffele in position to land back-to-back golds, shares lead with Rahm

3rd Aug 2024
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Pioneering Ólafsson Receives Iceland’s First 5-Star Pro Award3 min read


Posted on: 13th Mar 2023

The CPG’s coveted 5-star Professional Award has been presented to a legend of the sport in Iceland, Arnar Már Ólafsson, at the CPG Annual Awards Supported By Rolex, recognising his achievements and progressiveness across his career as a PGA Professional. 

Ólafsson was one of the first PGA of Iceland Professionals, and across his career has played a fundamental role in the creation of professional education for Icelandic Professionals, developing a programme that is internationally recognised at the highest level, whilst also working as a coach himself to numerous players, particularly at the elite level.

“It is so amazing, just great, to be recognised, I was not expecting anything like this,” said Ólafsson during the Gala Awards Dinner at Costa Navarino, Greece. “I have been involved in many ways in setting up the educational system, as national coach…I’m always ready to help, always ready to do work, and so I think the PGA of Iceland wanted to thank me with this nomination.

“I have had support from so many people over the years, and of course I had to work hard, but I am proud of what we have done and I’m very thankful that I did this. My advice to young Professionals just starting out would be that it’s really important to just relax, to see what you see, and hear what you hear. Don’t have these built-in beliefs guiding you in the wrong direction. Because if you get a good mentor and good teacher, you just need to relax and let it flow. Then you can start seeing the right things and you will start to do the right things.”

Having been involved with the CPG from its very early stages, Ólafsson worked closely with the organisation and its Member Countries to help create the PGA of Iceland programme that has developed over time to be at the highest level of the European Education Level System [EELS] that recognises national education programmes internationally.

Still overseeing the programme today, Ólafsson [pictured below with PGA of Iceland President, Stefania Valgeirsdottir [right] and General Secretary, Rúnar Arnorsson [left]] has impacted every one of the 60+ PGA Professionals that have graduated the programme since 2008, with the programme being more popular than ever with approx. 50 people currently enrolled.

This direct effect on the professional workforce in the country then extends to touch the golf community overall, something that saw him being awarded with the Golfsamband Íslands [Golf Union of Iceland] gold medal in 2012 for his contribution to the sport in Iceland.

Ólafsson started out as a PGA Professional having graduated in 1991 from the PGA of Sweden and since then has split his roles between Iceland and Germany, working at clubs such as Keilir Golf Club, GKG Golf Club, Gut Düneburg Golf Club and Berlin Wannsee Golf-Landclub.

During this time both as an Iceland National Team Coach and individually, he has worked with a wide variety of golfers, including success with Icelandic players Bjarka Pétursson, Guðmund Ágúst Kristjánsson and Andra Þór Björnsson, and DP World Tour and Challenge Tour players such as Phillip Mejow, all of which has seen him voted as the PGA of Iceland’s Teaching Professional of the year on four occasions.

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For more information on the CPG Annual Congress visit https://cp.golf/2022AnnualCongress.

With thanks to the CPG Annual Awards Partners – Rolex, the Ryder Cup European Development Trust [RCEDT], Aegean Airlines and Costa Navarino

CONGRESS HUB PAGE

2022 CPG Annual Gala Awards