Local amateur golfers have a new facility to help them improve their game, with golf instruction company GolfTEC setting up shop in the Central Business District.
Its 5,000 sq ft facility in Republic Plaza II features five teaching and practice bays geared towards improving the performance of amateur golfers through swing analysis, sequential lessons and customised fitting.
The Singapore facility is GolfTEC's first in South-east Asia, and the second opened by franchisees Pro Golf Asia, after the Hong Kong facility last October.
Said its chief executive and president Joe Assell: "The overseas interest in GolfTEC has picked up tremendous steam in recent years, and we're excited to bring our unique approach to Singapore."
Golfers first put on a harness that uses advanced motion measurement technology to help record the angle and positioning of various body positions that are critical to having a good swing.
The optimal angles for shoulder tilts or wrist extensions are crunched from the data of 13,000 golfers, including over 150 PGA Tour professionals.
The student is also recorded on video, enabling a GolfTEC teaching professional to quickly identify and point out any areas for improvement or problems that need fixing.
The basic lessons package costs $1,600 and comprises 10 half-hour lessons with a coach, 20 hours of video practice time and a club fitting session over three months.
With an eye on further regional expansion, Pro Golf Asia executive director Abhinav Gorawara said that opening a facility here was the natural step to take.
"Most companies or franchises that come to Singapore tend to have an easier gateway into other markets," he said. "Singapore is a mature market and I don't think the interest in golf is coming down."
Gorawara is banking on GolfTEC's track record, with its students having improved on average by seven strokes after going through the GolfTEC programme.
Amateur golfers here are adopting a wait-and-see approach.
Said Sheng Thong Yin, a managing director at a company here: "The question is what significant improvement do I get (from GolfTEC)."
