Canadian PGA Awards Prestigious Master Professional Status to Henry Brunton
Click here to view Brunton's Executive Summary
Click here to view Bruton's Full Thesis
Canadian PGA Awards Prestigious Master Professional Status to Henry Brunton
ACTON, ON (January 14, 2008) - The Canadian Professional Golfers’ Association (CPGA) is pleased to announce the designation of Master Professional status awarded to Canadian PGA Member, Henry Brunton.
“The Canadian PGA is pleased to offer Henry this designation, as his dedication to growing the game of golf is second to none, and his commitment to the Association is apparent in his work during his career thus far,” states Gary Bernard, Director of Education at the Canadian PGA. “Becoming a Master Professional is an arduous process, as the requirements are much more complicated than ever before. It gives the Canadian PGA a great deal of pleasure to award such a worthy candidate.”
Achieving Master Professional status is the highest designation a Canadian PGA Professional can attain. All Canadian PGA Members seeking Master Professional status must meet a number of criteria before they are considered for the designation. The applicant must hold the designation of Head Professional, Executive Professional, or Teaching Professional at the time of election. They must have been a Class “A” Head Professional, Executive Professional or Teaching Professional for a minimum of 10 years and attained a minimum of 120 Continuing Education Credits (C.E.C. points are awarded based on golf or management-related educational programs the Member has participated in). The applicant must have been active in Zone and/or National affairs within the previous three years or for a minimum of six years throughout their membership. The applicant also must demonstrate tournament participation at a Zone or National level according to standards established by the Board of Directors. After these criteria are met, the applicant prepares a minimum 3,500 word golf-related thesis in accordance with the standards established by the Canadian PGA Board of Directors.
In keeping with the Canadian PGA’s commitment to improve competency within the Association, the process of writing a Master Professional thesis is extensive. Henry Brunton's thesis “The Development of Expertise for Elite Competitive Golfers and the Related Probability of Advancing to the PGA Tour – Key Information for Athletes, Parents, Coaches, Golf Professionals and Administrators” will be a very useful resource for all associated with the development of young golfers.
The objective of Brunton's paper is to positively impact the sport of golf by providing aspiring competitive golfers and their supporting stakeholders including parents, Canadian PGA Professionals/coaches, referees, event officials and sports administrators with pertinent information that leads directly to the enhanced enjoyment and performance for all those involved as well as improve design and delivery of related programs and services.
More specifically, Brunton’s paper provides aspiring competitive golfers and all those who support their pursuits with a clearer understanding of the stages of development of expertise. It includes information on the changing patterns of behavior and the environment necessary to facilitate optimal sports skills development and motivation at each stage, the time and effort required to reach the upper echelons of performance, and the related probability of advancing to the PGA Tour.
“I learned a great deal in the process of researching and writing this paper. It gives me great pleasure to share this important information with my fellow CPGA Members as well as with the parents of young golfers and all of the individuals in the golf community who are involved with junior golf,” says Brunton. “I hope that this paper will help to grow the game and to illustrate the effectiveness and leadership of the Canadian PGA professional.”
Brunton’s executive summary and full thesis will be made available online at www.cpga.com
About Henry Brunton
Henry Brunton is one of the world’s leading golf coaches and educators. In 2005 he became the first Canadian recognized by GOLF Magazine as a “Top 100 Teacher,” the publication’s biennial survey of teaching excellence. GOLF Magazine also recently named Brunton to the “Top100” list for 2007-2008.
The 41-year-old resident of Stouffville, Ontario is a 23-year member of the Canadian PGA and was named as the fourth Most Influential Person in Canadian Golf in 2004 by Canada’s National Post.
Brunton has a passion for developing elite junior golfers and has been Canada’s National Coach since the Royal Canadian Golf Association established its Player Development Program in 1999. Teams led by Brunton won the 2001Four Nations Cup Championship and the 2003 Americas Cup and have competed for Canada around the globe. Brunton coached the Canadian National Men’s Team to a Silver Medal finish at the 2006 World Amateur Championship in South Africa.
Brunton has authored the RCGA Achievement Guide, a comprehensive manual for high performance players and coaches. As well, in 1999, he was hired by the Canadian PGA to design and develop a national teacher and coach education program. The result was the highly acclaimed Teaching and Coaching Certification Program (TCCP). The TCCP is a mandatory training program for all CPGA Professionals. Brunton has received considerable professional training from many of the foremost golf educators in the world. He has studied and participated in select programs in Scotland, Spain, Sweden, the United States and Canada. In 2004, Dr. Deborah Graham and Jon Stabler of SportPsych in Boerne, Texas certified Henry as a GolfPsych Master Instructor. He is one of three golf professionals to date to earn this distinction.
In addition to his work with the Canadian Men’s and Junior Boys National Teams, Brunton also leads “Strive for Excellence”, a comprehensive year-round coaching and training program for aspiring high-level junior and collegiate golfers.
About the CPGA
Established in 1911, the Canadian Professional Golfers’ Association is a non-profit association comprised of approximately 3,500 golf professionals across the country with a mandate to promote and advance the game of golf, serving the needs of both its membership and the golf public through professional and junior golf development programs and high-calibre competitive events. The National Office is located in Acton, Ontario with nine Zone Offices across the country. For more information, visit www.cpga.com
For More Information:
Erica Bury
Communications Coordinator
Canadian PGA
519.853.5450
erica@cpga.com