ALISTAIR Welsher is the new PGA head professional at Tiverton Golf Club.

The 28-year-old was previously head professional at Reigate Heath in Surrey.

It represents a move back to the West Country for Alistair, who played his amateur golf at Oake Manor.

He started as an assistant at Exeter Golf and Country Club in 2004 before moving to Taunton and Pickeridge three years later to do his PGA training.

While there he won the West Region Assistant of the Year Award in each of his three years of training.

He was also ranked second in the UK for his exam grades when qualifying, finishing runner-up in the Titleist Trainee of the Year Awards.

Alistair secured his first head professional position at Reigate Heath in February 2012, building a strong reputation for coaching, custom fitting new clubs and running the golf shop.

He said: “It was a great success at Reigate Heath, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to move to Tiverton.

“From my time in the South West I’ve always been aware that Tiverton is a great golf club, with a strong membership and one of the best courses in the area.

“I’m very excited to get stuck into this new challenge, and the fantastic reception I’ve had so far from the members has been overwhelming.

“One of my main goals is to develop the coaching on offer at the club.

“The first step in this is the imminent opening of The Devon Golf Lab – our state-of-the-art coaching studio featuring the latest launch monitor, video analysis and simulator technology.”

Alistair is joined at Tiverton by his wife Gemma and new assistant professional Ali Williams, who previously worked and played at Taunton and Pickeridge.

The trio were introduced to members at a Meet the Pro event last week, which was attended by around 100 people.

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