Llewellyn van Leeuwen, the head coach at the TuksSport Golf Academy, has scored another first for the University of Pretoria’s successful golf academy when he was voted the PGA of South Africa’s 2015 Teaching Professional of the Year.

Van Leeuwen’s award comes at a fitting time when so many of the academy’s golfers have excelled, including Brandon Stone winning the BMW South African Open, Zander Lombard finishing second in the Joburg Open and several of their other young professionals and amateurs doing well since the start of the year.

According to Van Leeuwen, that’s his true definition of success in this industry.

“I was nominated a few times for this award and this is the first time I’ve received it. It’s very nice to be recognised for your work, but I don’t coach for awards. The most important thing for me is to see our players doing well.”

It’s been an incredible journey for the Pretoria resident, who was a top junior golfer himself before being hit by a cricket ball in the eye in Grade 11. He suffered a detached retina that affected his vision and put an end to his plans to play golf competitively. But it did set him on the path to becoming one of South Africa’s foremost golf coaches.

“Even while I was a junior golfer I was always the one everybody asked for advice about their swings. That passion for teaching the game was always there.”

While he may not have played the game on tour, Van Leeuwen believes he lacks nothing in experience of this side of the game as he worked as touring professional Kevin Stone’s caddie for many years.

“Kevin was my mentor for a long time. I used to caddie for him full time on the Sunshine Tour. I learnt a lot about the playing aspect of the game from him and I can bring this to my coaching.”

Since joining the TuksGolf Academy in 2008, Van Leeuwen has worked together with a dedicated team to turn this into one of the pre-eminent golf academies in the country.

“We’ve got such a good team here and we take the team approach to the next level. The facilities here are fantastic. The university backs us financially and we are also able to tie in academics with sport and coaching. TuksSport sets high-performance standards so this award fits in with that vision.”

When he’s not honing the swings of the next world-beaters, Van Leeuwen spends time with his family.

“I have two kids, a daughter of five and a son of seven. My wife also has a very successful career. We try and stay fit as a family by running and cycling together.”

But his mind is never far from coaching.

“There are just too many of our current golfers that really excite me about what they can achieve on the world stage. I think a player like Brandon Stone is definitely a world top 10 player in the future.

“But I also enjoy working with juniors so much and will never stop that. So I think you’ll still find me at TuksGolf Academy in 20 years time.”

PHOTO (PGA 1): TuksGolf Academy Head Coach Llewellyn van Leeuwen (fourth from left), the PGA of South Africa 2015 Teaching Professional of the Year, with South African Open champion Brandon Stone and the TuksGolf team.