Mark Gibson is as passionate about teaching as he is about playing, so much so that he has won the Queensland and Australian PGA Teacher of the Year not just once but twice – in 1999 and 2002. Of the more than 1200 PGA members in Australia, only two others are so well qualified. He joined the PGA and turned professional in 1980, later becoming an AAA Professional and is a Master Club Fitter. Mark has been the chosen professional of more than six Queensland golf clubs, is the Education Chairman of the Queensland PGA branch and can coach golf in Japanese. Mark’s love of teaching and his commitment to learning and improving his own teaching technique is what sets him apart. He works with golfers of all abilities and adjusts his teaching accordingly. He has extensive experience in the development of programs for all ages and as a result is a key member of the PGA IGI Education Program at Griffith University.

Mark has a holistic approach to coaching, believing that to be effective tuition must encompass many things: good structure, body support, good levels of flexibility and strength, good equipment, and advice from physiotherapists, dieticians, sport psychologists – the lot. Golf has been Mark Gibson’s life pretty much forever. Born in Murwillumbah in 1958, he was only four when he regularly trudged the golf course caddying for his father Keith, and just six when he had his first lesson. His early schooling was at St Augustines in Coolangatta, where his family was involved in the fish  wholesaling business. He continued his love of sport into high school – he was part of the first intake at Palm Beach Currumbin High – where his plans of becoming a lawyer became unstuck with an offer of a part-time  job at the Tweed Heads Golf Club. He was just 18 when he leapt at an opportunity to become an apprentice there to professional Reg Want. With three years in the pro shop and plenty of time to hone his golf skills, he was on the path to a new career. He moved to Brisbane to work with Charlie Earp at Royal Queensland, and remembers how hard it was to beat one of Charlie’s protégés – a blond-headed guy just a few years older  than him – Greg Norman. It was about this time that Mark started to realise his passion lay in teaching rather than playing, so he headed to Gladstone to start this new side to his career. A few years there, and then it was on to Keperra, where he worked alongside Ian Triggs and furthered his teaching skills. Stints at Pine Rivers and Caloundra followed before he accepted the head pro’s job at Royal Pines in 1994.

In 1998, Mark was appointed Academy Director of the newly set up Australian PGA Royal Pines Resort Golf Academy, where he guided the talents of many up-and-coming players before moving on to Lakelands Golf Club, where he stayed for seven years before recently returning to Royal Pines to run their golf education program. Mark is currently the Director of Golf Instruction at Royal Pines Resort on the fabulous Golf Coast and is one of the most sought-after instructors in Australia, continuing to give over 2000 private lessons a year. Alongside Mark all the way in his career is long-time friend and wife Sue, who is also heavily involved in the golf scene on the Gold Coast. Mark and Sue have a love for all things Japanese, and have both completed extensive studies in Reiki, the Japanese art of healing and self-awareness. This, Mark says, has opened up a whole new world for them. Now every day is a fresh adventure for Mark who lives by his creed: “Those who dare to teach must never cease to learn.”