Swansea-based PGA Fellow Professional Mark Govier has added another eye-catching entry to his glittering CV by coaching not one but two players going for gold in the Paris Olympics.
Govier, 45, has recently returned to Wales after spending three years in the USA working for three-time major winner Jordan Spieth’s coach Cameron McCormick in Dallas, Texas.
And it is that experience which resulted in him coaching two players competing in the women’s Olympic tournament at Le Golf National – Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela and Ashley Lau of Malaysia.
“Albane plays on the LPGA Tour, is ranked in the world’s top 50 and I’d been working with her for 18 months,” Govier explained.
“And I started working with Ashley on the back of some coaching I was doing with girls on the Epson Tour. She qualified for what was her first Olympics and I was mainly supporting her for Team Malaysia.
“Albane was playing in her third Olympics and is a seasoned professional. She had her routine, and I was there to assist if needed. She also has a place in Paris and knows Le Golf National very well.
“It was a completely new experience for Ashley, by contrast. It was her first look at the course, so we did a lot of mapping and strategic work. That was key because the fairways were very narrow in places and the rough was penal.
“We knew there would be times when all the players would have to hack out of the rough, so we did quite a lot of work on that.
“We followed that with short game distance wedge work to practise making up and downs from 70 to 100 yards and spent a lot of time practising six-foot putts and under.”
In the event Valenzuela finished tied-13th and Lau tied-55th in what was a memorable experience for both players and coach.
“The crowds were huge – both the men’s and women’s were sell-out events, Govier added. “Every fairway was lined and every stand full for all four days, so the pressure on the girls was huge but it made for a great atmosphere.
“I’ve been lucky enough to work at majors and LPGA events, but this was my first time at an Olympics. It was a wonderful experience and an amazing event to be part of.”
