Aussie PGA professional Aaron Cox has built an impressive resumé in the five years since he arrived in the UK. In 2022, he has won an England Golf Award, grown his junior coaching to reach 150 players every month, won his first national PGA title, and become a father. We sat down with him at Blackwell Grange to hear all about it
Since his arrival in the UK in early 2018, Aussie PGA professional Aaron Cox has earned a reputation for success on and off the golf course.
Blackwell Grange-based Aaron has combined the roles of coach and player expertly, winning local and national PGA tournaments while earning an England Golf Award after growing his junior academy programme from scratch to reaching more than 150 youngsters every month.
“2022 has been a phenomenal year,” says Aaron. “It’s been four years in the making, but to get national recognition with an England Golf Award, win my first national PGA event, and follow those up with the birth of my son is pretty special.”
Having decided he needed an extended break away from Australia, where he was head professional at Gardiners Run in Melbourne and travelled the country on the pro am circuit, Aaron spent eight weeks playing and teaching in the North West of England in the summer of 2017. After flying home to defend his PGA of Australia Vanuatu Open title, he made the move to the UK permanent in January 2018, taking up dual citizenship [his father was born in Peterborough], and arriving with his clubs, a suitcase and just a few personal belongings.
“The summer of 2017 was the break I needed and when I got home, I knew I wanted my next chapter to be here,” he says.
After working in Essex, he moved north to take a PGA professional job with Peter Raine at Blackwell Grange.
“It’s been a great four seasons at Blackwell. I feel like I’ve fitted into the club well, gotten to know the members, and I hope I’ve created something which the management and members are proud to have associated with their club.
“My working relationship with Peter is the best I’ve had in my career. He’s given me the scope to be me, while supporting and guiding me when I’ve needed that too. I hope we can work together for a very long time.”
Aaron was crowned Participation and Development Coach of the Year at the England Golf Awards in recognition of his outstanding achievements working with junior golfers. Having set out to grow junior golf at the Darlington club, which had three junior members when he arrived, he now has contact with more than 150 youngsters through the Aced – Aaron Cox Elite Development – Academy, with junior membership at Blackwell nearing 100.
Aaron’s work began in local primary schools before he moved on to create pathways for further development at Blackwell.
“I’m not the sort of guy that sits still very long, so having the opportunity to create something new and exciting was exactly what I needed,” he says.
“Those early steps weren’t rocket science – I hit the road, contacted local schools and visited them in person. From the initial free, four-week sessions I retained 38 out of 48 kids and the academy was born.”
Repeating the process, Aaron soon had more than 100 junior golfers taking part in academy coaching. Within months, he was instrumental in the creation of a six-hole academy course. He has since setup a series of events on the academy course – including an annual Ryder Cup and majors – and a player pathway which introduces juniors to all aspects of the game, including strength and conditioning combined with fortnightly coaching as part of an elite programme.
“Having been so terrified of teaching when I was in training at Phillip Island, it’s amazing to think how far things have come. I’d never done junior academies on this scale before, but I knew all it took was some time and effort. Nothing I’ve done is complicated or overly difficult.
“Having a defined pathway and showing the kids aged five or six that with a little commitment and discipline they’ll be able to go out onto the academy course, then play in six-hole events, then get a handicap and move onto the big course, is all the drive they need.
“Seeing them progress into 12 years old playing in events like the Northern Junior Golf Tour is the most fun I’ve had as a PGA pro. The way they develop so quickly, and how some go from having little focus to being so attentive when they’re playing, is so great to see.”
Members of the Aced Academy progress to competing locally in junior tours and county events, while Aaron continues to work with them through the system as the coach of Durham’s under 14 boys’ and girls’ squads.
“Having done the hard work and built an academy and business, you get to see all the added benefits for the club and its junior membership growth, the pro shop, the regional tours, county teams, and so on. At first you don’t see it, but that little bit of effort creates a wave of momentum that touches so many other organisations and businesses, and ultimately leads other junior golfers to reach out to you. All I’ve done is put in time and effort, none of it is rocket science.”
As well as his success as a coach, Aaron has picked up wins on the course – winning the North East & North West PGA’s Portugal pro am twice and claiming top spot in the national PGA Open Series event Marriott Worsley Park in Manchester – shooting five under-par on the back nine in the second round, including a birdie-eagle finish.
“I’ve always been competitive and playing golf is still a massive part of my life,” adds Aaron. “I was a rubbish amateur, but turning pro was just in reach and I did my PGA of Australia traineeship straight after school. I then managed to make the cut at tour school and play a year on the Australasia Tour in 2011 – which cost an absolute fortune despite driving home after missing a cut to work the weekend so I had some money for the next event. That season proved I was never going to be a tour player.”
Having played a year on tour, Aaron committed to the national pro am circuit, which features some 300 events around Australia. “I loved the interaction of those events and did well, combining that with teaching, which is exactly how I structure my diary today,” adds Aaron, who also competes regularly on the 2020protour and reached Final Qualifying for The Open this season.
When he’s not doing all of that, he has also spearheaded the return and growth of the Blackwell Grange pro am, turning it into the largest event of its kind in the region and welcoming 58 teams in 2022 as former European Tour player Chris Hanson won the title.
“I couldn’t believe we didn’t have a pro am when I arrived, and the chance to bring the big occasion of an Aussie pro am to the North East was too good an opportunity to pass up,” says Aaron, who has brought in sponsors, including title sponsor SG Petch, to create an event unlike any other on the North East & North West PGA circuit. “Just like the junior programme, none of this was different to me, it just took some time and effort, and the amazing support of our sponsors.”
Away from golf, Aaron and his fiancé Jen welcomed their first child in August, and Aaron will be focussing more of his time on being a dad in the years ahead.
“Becoming a dad is my greatest achievement,” he says. “I’m very lucky to have been able to arrive here with nothing and put down roots – buy a house with my fiancé and welcome our son into the world”
Looking to his future in golf, Aaron has no plans to slow down his coaching and junior development programme, while bigger and better events are also in the works.
“I’d love to be able to help other professionals and clubs grow junior programmes and memberships. None of it requires anything more than time and effort. I was able to arrive here with no track record in the UK and work with more than 150 kids in a couple of years. I have no doubt this can be done exactly the same way in Northumberland, Durham or anywhere else in the country by any PGA professional and club. The kids are out there, we just need to put in the legwork and reach out to them.
“I’ve also got more events I’d like to do, for the juniors and adults, including a very special two-day Aced National Pro Am at Woodhall Spa in 2023.
“The support is out there and people will help you when you show you care about what you’re doing. I’ve been a PGA pro for 17 years and I’m very lucky that I have never run out of energy or passion. I’m looking forward to seeing how far I can take all these projects and ideas in the future.”
The career of any PGA professional varies greatly and allows them to grow their skills in many ways. For Aaron, each of the hats he’s tried so far seem fit him very well indeed and there appears to be nothing that will slow him down any time soon.
