Andrew Mowatt
Responsible for all golfing activities at the Royal Fremantle Golf Club, Andrew Mowatt with his team of 4 golfing professionals, 2 golf shop assistants and 2 back office helpers, lives and breathes golf with a passion.
Look for Andrew on any day of the week [except Monday, when he tries to spend some time with wife Donna and his daughters] and you’ll find him in the pro shop, or out on the driving range, or in the workshop or doing what he really loves, teaching anyone that wants to understand how to play golf.
“Unfortunately there’s a lot of bad information in golf” says Andrew.
“it’s important to start at your own level and to work your way up, always understanding what it is that you do”. ‘I try to present golf in a way that people can understand, using ideas that they can relate to, which means rather than telling them how to do something I do the opposite and try to get the information out of them’. ‘If I’m explaining something and they’re not getting it – then I’m not doing a good job of explaining it – it’s not because they can’t do it, I know they can”.
Andrew went on to say;
“After leaving the professional tour as a 25yo I turned my passion for golf into teaching golf for a living, as I was fascinated with learning and passing on the skills and the intense interaction with people. ‘You learn everyday of your life and golf is no exception”.
Mates Forever
For the past 10 years Andrew has worked with Steve Herbert at the Royal Fremantle Golf Club in a relationship that has survived the test of time. Andrew teaches six days a week and Steve coaches the juniors, performs club fitting for members, specialist repairs in the workshop and of course he teaches too.
At about the time Andrew decided to become a Professional Golfer Steve had accepted his first position as Head Professional at Sun City Golf Club. During Andrews’s apprenticeship Steve was appointed as the PGA Director for Apprentices. And when Steve decided to join the Professional Tour he turned to Andrew for advice on his own game and how to improve it sufficiently to succeed on the tour.
It was almost inevitable, with this history, that when Andrew was appointed as Head Professional at Royal Fremantle Golf Club he invited Steve to join him as his Teaching Professional.
10 years later the bond that was ignited through a shared passion for golf not only lives on but thrives. ‘Working together you are expanding and developing teaching ideas constantly and finding new ways to present the same message. He helps me, I help him. Time flies when you’re having fun’.
Early Life
If your father (who was also a spitfire pilot) played rugby for RAS there’s a good chance that somewhere inside you is an elite sportsman waiting to emerge. Emigration to Australia at 8 years old, and the experience of an outdoor lifestyle was the trigger.
Although Andrew never actually played a round of golf until he was 12 years old he had spent years with his father, watching him play, collecting the balls on the driving range and although he didn’t know it at the time, he was receiving a thorough introduction to the game.
When he did finally pick up the clubs, within 6 months he won his first tournament and within a year he was the State Boys Champion.
The golfer inside had finally been unleashed.
Career
At age 24, and already enjoying a successful sales and marketing career Andrew decided that what he really wanted to be was a professional golfer.
After serving his apprenticeship with Peter Mills at Cottesloe Golf Club and joining Burswood Resort as the resident golf professional, Andrew looked towards his next challenge and joined the PGA Professional Golf Tour circuit, travelling throughout Australasia and the Pacific.
After a year of travel, competition and his share of success Andrew realised that his real passion was for teaching others the pleasure of golf whether it be competitively or as purely a social pastime.
Andrew returned to WA and was invited to teach at the Royal Fremantle Golf Club. When the club professional retired Andrew was an automatic selection as Head Professional.
Achievements
• Head Professional, Royal Fremantle Golf Club
• AA Rated PGA Golf Professional
• 1999 Course Record, Royal Fremantle Golf Club
• 1998 Club Professional of the Year, WA
• Professional Tournament wins in Australia, Asia and Tahiti
• Amateur wins throughout WA
• Captain State Junior Golf Team
The Future
The Professional Tour Dream still raises its head every now and then, and if the future pans out maybe one day “I’ll be back on the tour”, but my passion right now is to get every one enjoying their golf with the correct training information for their individual needs.
