RUGBY STAR CUETO OPENS £50,000 NEW PLAYGOLF ACADEMY NEAR MANCHESTER’S TRAFFORD CENTRE

MANCHESTER, UK - May has been an unkind month to football fans in the North West, but the region’s golfers can celebrate after the new-look Playgolf Academy was unveiled near Manchester’s Trafford Centre yesterday.

The Tour-standard golf coaching facility, which features four state-of-the-art video teaching studios, was formally opened by Sale Sharks and England rugby union international Mark Cueto at the spectacular Playgolf Manchester golf centre, on Monday May 10th 2010.

Cueto, a regular visitor to Playgolf Manchester (www.playgolfmanchester.com), has seen his golf handicap plummet from 18 to 12 since he started taking lessons at the Academy eighteen months ago.

In recent months Playgolf has invested over £50,000 in refurbishments and new technology at the Playgolf Academy, giving golfers access to the very latest teaching methods.

The Academy now has four video coaching studios, where golfers can book lessons to have PGA professionals film their golf swing from multiple angles, enabling them to compare their golf swing with Tour stars in real-time.

Playgolf has also installed a new indoor putting green, plus a floodlit short game and bunker practice area.

“When the world’s #4 ranked golfer Lee Westwood opened Playgolf Manchester in December 2000, he said he thought that our facilities were world-class,” said Playgolf’s Head of Operations, Craig Whitfield. “These improvements bring the Playgolf Academy in Manchester up to the very latest Tour specification, and Playgolf’s vision is to upgrade its other facilities in London and Bournemouth to a similar standard.

“We promised that Playgolf Manchester would be the ultimate golf centre when we opened ten years ago, and the new-look Playgolf Academy delivers that promise emphatically.”

The golf centre, which is clearly visible from the M60 motorway as it sweeps around past the Trafford Centre, is one of the UK’s largest, and generates some impressive statistics:

• The Playgolf Academy gives over 1,000 golf lessons a month
• Its PGA pros have taught over 100,000 golf lessons since it opened in 2000
• 3,500 golfers visit Playgolf Manchester each week
• Golfers hit 12 million balls each year on the Playgolf Manchester driving range
• There are 57 driving range bays, including the four new-look video teaching bays
• The Playgolf Academy has four full-time PGA-qualified coaching professionals, who are all also experts in teaching golf fitness, NLP mind training and golf psychology
• The american golf store at Playgolf Manchester is one of the largest golf superstores in the North West
• The floodlit 9-hole Championship Miniature Golf course is rated as one of the UK’s finest mini-golf experiences, and features replicas of some of the world’s most famous golf holes

Many Premiership footballers regularly practice and take golf lessons at the Playgolf Academy, including several from Manchester United and Manchester City.

“With British golfers such as Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Rory McIlroy so prominent on the world stage in 2010,” said Whitfield, “we are expecting our busiest-ever year, as club golfers are inspired to emulate their heroes. The new-look Playgolf Academy has a wide range of offers and options for golfers who want to get their handicap down, so we invite anyone in the region who hasn’t visited us yet to come along, and sample the North West’s premier golf practice facility.”

Sale Sharks and England rugby union international Mark Cueto (centre) cuts the tape at the official launch of the Playgolf Academy at Playgolf Manchester, flanked by David Standing (left), Playgolf's Managing Director, and Craig Whitfield (right), Playgolf's Head of Operations.

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Sale Sharks and England rugby union international Mark Cueto hits the ceremonial first shot from one of the video coaching bays at the official launch of the Playgolf Academy at Playgolf Manchester.

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Sale Sharks and England rugby union international Mark Cueto (far left) poses with two Playgolf Academy pupils and a PGA coach at the official launch of the Playgolf Academy at Playgolf Manchester. From the left, England U-16 Boys international squad member Haydn McCullen, Playgolf Academy pupil Jamie Kinsley-Wilson, and Playgolf Academy coach Pete Styles.

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England U-16 Boys international squad member Haydn McCullen, a Playgolf Academy pupil, blasts a driver in front of the Flightscope machine at the official launch of the Playgolf Academy at Playgolf Manchester.

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The four new video coaching bays which form a central part of the £50,000 refurbishment of the Playgolf Academy, at Playgolf Manchester (exterior shot).

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The four new video coaching bays and indoor putting green which form a central part of the £50,000 refurbishment of the Playgolf Academy, at Playgolf Manchester (interior shot).

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The dramatic entrance to Playgolf Manchester, home to the new-look Playgolf Academy Tour-standard golf coaching facility.

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Craig Whitfield, Head of Operations, Playgolf
Email: craigwhitfield@playgolfworld.com / Tel: +44 (0)161 749 7000
Web: www.playgolfmanchester.com