Luke Benyon wins the ultimate golfing prize

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LUKE BENYON had only been playing golf for 18 months when he spotted a competition inviting golfers with the hunger to improve to apply for the ultimate amateur golfing prize.

The competition which was run by Worsley Park, A Marriott Hotel & Country Club, offered one lucky winner the resources at the disposal of the venue’s Championship Golf Course and award winning team, to see how much they could improve their game in six months.

Having already managed to bring his initial handicap of 22 down two shots, Luke said: “Given the help from the amazing team at Worsley Park, I truly believe that I could bring that handicap down to somewhere in the region of 12. My dad has a 12 handicap, so it’d be great to be able to beat him on a level playing field.”

Luke will now train with David Screeton, Worsley Park’s head professional, and the golf team at Worsley Park to help better his game over the winter and in the lead up to the Trilby Tour. This prestigious amateur golf tournament, now in its 8th year, will be broadcast on Sky Sports as part of the Trilby Tour series. The series attracts an annual viewership of over 2.5 million which officially makes it the largest event of its kind in Europe.

Instruction: Winter Tips with David Screeton

Worsley Park’s head professional, David Screeton, who once led the Open Championship, said: “We had a great mix of golfers come down for the final shoot out to choose our overall winner. Each and every one of them showed some great skill and technique; however it was Luke who really caught my eye as someone with true raw talent.”

“There is a lot to do between now and the summer and it will be really interesting to see how much difference we can make to his game in such a short period of time. Partly, this will be down to the work Luke is willing to put in – however he is a driven young man who really wanted to learn when we first met."

Derek Hervey, Worsley Park’s general manager said: “This really is a true test of the team here at Worsley Park and we are really excited to follow Luke through the months. He has the support of the whole hotel behind him!”

The starting point

About Luke’s current swing, David said: “There has already been a slight improvement on the grip but it still needs a lot of work. This will be hard even though he’s relatively new to the game as it’s already ingrained into him. His biggest difficulty will be creating power with a weak grip. His natural athleticism will help initially overcome some of the effects; however, in the long run it needs to be addressed.”

David continues: “His posture was also poor when we first met and he swung the golf club over one leg leaving his weight on his left side so we will need to alter his address position and posture to give him more stability in his leg action. It has improved already after a few pointers, but it needs more work.”

David believes that Luke will naturally move through the ball, as many youngsters do, and for the first few weeks he’ll focus his efforts on a few basic swing techniques. These include:

Grip

Luke’s right hand is holding the club too much in the palm and he takes too much comfort from the interlocking system. The Worsley Park team want to spread the grip, lengthening it down the club and improve his grip pressure.

Stability

He needs to improve the stability in the bottom half of his swing which will help his natural movement. He is a very natural player, but it is easy to get into bad habits.

The modern day player, especially youngsters like Luke, can keep his hips facing the ball. This means that his belt buckle will be looking at the ball whilst his upper body turns creating torque.

Luke doesn’t need to move his right hip as much which brings his left knee in. Cutting this movement out will create more stability in the bottom half of his swing and result in a better impact on the ball allowing him to hit the ball further. 

Address

Luke needs to work on his weight distribution. His weight is staying on the left hand side and should be spread more equally between both feet. As well as this, he needs to work on his posture to ensure that there is no roundness in his spine during the swing.

David continues: “There are obviously lots of aspects the game that we need to work on but at first it’s about drilling the basics and building from there. Once we have these basics ingrained as second nature, we’ll move onto many other aspects of the game like his short game, scoring, putting and course management. There really is no substitute for getting out on the course here at Worsley Park, however before we get to that stage we need to make sure we are working with solid foundations.”

When asked what potential he saw in Luke, David replied: “What Luke has got is club head speed, good basic balance and good stature. He swings the club poorly, but with raw talent. Some people just cannot hit the ball hard and hold their balance – but he can and that is a great asset. You can’t teach pace in a golf swing.”

With all of the support and time playing at Worsley Park, Luke and the team are hoping that he will have a ‘home advantage’ over others competing in the Trilby Tour. David adds: “Worsley Park is a really challenging golf course and, in the North of England, I don’t think there is a better place for a player to hone his game. With the grass driving range, gym to work on strength, short game area and putting area – you really couldn’t have better facilities to work with.”

David finishes by saying: “I’m really excited to see how it all pans out. I think we have caught Luke at an interesting time in the development of his game. I think he’s a rough golfing diamond and I’m sure the team at Worsley Park will do wonders with his game.”

All of the facilities at Worsley Park are nestled amongst an idyllic leafy setting just seconds away from direct transport links into Manchester and the surrounding area.

Awarded the best property for service within the Marriott hotel group for five years running and sporting nine meeting and conference rooms, 158 hotel bed rooms, a restaurant, extensive leisure facilities, health & beauty treatments and a championship golf course – Worsley Park is a haven for both business and pleasure.

For more information on golf at Worsley Park, visit WorsleyParkGolf.co.uk

Golfmagic will be following Luke’s progress as he develops with the assistance of Worsley Park’s team and facilities. Keep an eye out for his next feature where we’ll catch up with Luke to hear how his journey to the Trilby Tour is going.

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