Tim Baker is the prime example of a PGA Member whose career path has already followed a diverse path.
In February, he was appointed as the UK's Sales & Support Manager for Golf Genius as well as being the lead on CoachNow.
Previously, he trained under Nicky Lumb at the Bristol Golf Centre, enjoyed two stints at Celtic Manor, the second as Head Professional, was a fitting specialist for Titleist and also worked as a membership coordinator for the Golf Club Managers Association.
Build relationships
'I've always tried to build as best relationships as I can within the industry. I qualified over 10 years ago and I trained under Nicky Lumb and he always emphasised the importance of this as the industry is very small. I'm never afraid to learn new skills and understand areas of the industry that I may not be fully accustomed to, and will always go away and learn. I like to be holistic with my work and this helps me improve every day. That's something I've always tried to do, learn from others within the industry and try to be as fluid as I can.
Hopefully I've helped a lot of other Pros in previous roles, and this is what I am looking forward to doing more of going forward as that's what I really enjoy. That's my background, coaching students initially and then also helping other PGA Pros to improve their businesses. That's how I personally get a lot of enjoyment.
Being diverse
That's one of the beauties about Golf Genius now as a whole and it's going to continue to diversify. We've got the coaching platforms with CoachNow, Operation 36 for beginner golfers and Golf Genius Tournament Management. We've also got the Golf Shop software, which helps manage all the back end and the middle bits such as the custom orders, re-gripping, repairs and autommating communications.
As Pros, I think you need to be very diverse and learn about many areas of the industry. Even if you're a full-time coach, you have to learn not only about the swing, you need to be an expert in biomechanics, administration, and communication skills. You have to continuously use technology and that is always evolving. I love technology and I've always tried to use technology with everything that I've done. Within my role at Celtic Manor and in previous roles, I've always tried to use technology as much as possible.
Likewise swing philosophies change. New research comes out. You need to be able to diversify and learn from that.
As Pros, I think you need to be very diverse and go into different things. Even if you're a full-time coach, you have to know about a lot of different things
Learning new skills
I had two stints at Celtic Manor, the first when I qualified when I was there for around three years. And then the second time when I was Head Pro for two years.
In between I looked after the Titleist Club Fitting Fitting Network in the UK and Ireland which numbered over 600 accounts. I also managed the team of Fitting Specialists across the UK and Ireland and the Titleist Performance Centre at Woburn. Here I helped launch a number of new software packages to internal teams and also to the wider network so technology has played a big part in my career to date.
