Dean Robertson is

coach to Palmer

Cup team for USA

FROM THE SCOTSMAN.SPORT.COM WEBSITE
By NICK RODGER
Deaj Robertson's growing reputation as a golf coach has been recognised by some of the leading figures in the European amateur game.
The 38-year-old former Italian Open champion from Paisley, pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency, has been appointed head coach of the European team for June's Palmer Cup match with the USA at Cherry Hills in Denver.
"I was quite shocked but obviously elated when I was handed such an accolade," said Robertson, who will lead an eight-man side featuring some of the leading university golfers on the world rankings.
"In my short coaching career it's quite an honour me for that a selection panel made up of some of the top coaches in Europe have thought of me this highly."
Robertson, one of only a handful of players to win both the Scottish Amateur and Scottish PGA titles, has been making impressive strides in the coaching side of the game. Along with his colleagues, Kendal McWade and Steven Orr, Robertson formed the Scottish Junior Golf Tour for under-14s in December 2007 and has watched the programme grow rapidly from having six members just over a year ago to 85 now.
With a coaching philosophy based on developing the natural swing of a player and allowing a golfer to learn the game through experience, Robertson is drawing on two decades of top-level competition, as well his fight against clinical depression, to help nurture the next generation of Scots.
"When I was playing, I could walk down a range and see a silhouette of a player and know who it was," added Robertson. "There was a personality to the swing but I think now we suppress this. We constantly tell players what they are doing wrong but that just fills them up with technical baggage.
"True coaching should be about developing self-belief and skill and allowing players to learn through experience. My vision is to have Scotland re-emerging in world golf and it starts at the grass roots. There are moves to get everybody involved in the development of Scottish golf around the table and I'm looking forward to being part of that."