PETER SMITH APPOINTED DEESIDE GC TEACHING PROFESSIONAL

The Deeside Golf Club pro shop team: Left to right, standing: Graham Nethercott (assistant pro), Sheila (Frank's wife) Coutts (shop manager), Peter Smith. Front: Frank Coutts. Picture by Cal Carson Golf Agency.

DIRECTOR OF GOLF FRANK COUTTS AND HIS TEAM

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Former Northern Open champion Peter Smith, who has played on the European Tour and the Challenge Tour in years gone by, has been appointed teaching professional at Deeside Golf Club, in the leafy, western suburbs of Aberdeen, by the Bieldside venue's Director of Golf Frank Coutts.
"Peter gave me my first job as an assistant professional in December 1983 when he was Murcar's club pro, so I've finally returned the favour," said Frank.
"But, of course, it's more than that. We now have excellent practice facilities here at Deeside Golf Club and it follows that we need a first-class, experienced man like Peter here to help members make the most of them.
"Peter's services will also be available to non-members, whether individuals or corporate groups."
Smith is 51 now but his total of 20-under-par 264 still stands as a record low for the Northen Open he won at Murcar in 1992. Winner of the New Zealand club pro title during his spell down there, Peter has a competitive streak that would serve him well if he got on to the European Seniors Tour but he missed out narrowly at the over-50s Q School on the Algarve last November.
He might still be able to make a handful of appearances on the European Seniors Tour in 2010 and that will not interfere with his duties at Deeside Golf Club.
"I've been training hard in the gym, the motivation being that I want to get back to playing golf at the level I once enjoyed. Playing with Deeside club members and others who fancy a round with me will be good for my game, and, as Frank says, the practice facilities, particularly for the short-game here at Deeside are excellent" said Peter who hails from Udny Station, Aberdeenshire originally. His father was a Highland League footballer.
"Club golfers tend to go and hit balls on the range with perhaps the odd spot of putting when they turn their minds to practice. But if you really want to get your handicap down, the short-game work is where you can make the biggest difference by regular practice.
"That's the message I want to get across to Deeside members and other golfers in the North-east - male or female, boys or girls, individuals or corporate groups - who would like to be better golfers: Come and see me and give me the chance to lower your handicap.
"Frank's duties as director of golf mean he doesn't have as much time as he once had for teaching and coaching - and this is my opportunity to fill the gap. I'm very grateful to him but I am sure there will be a two-way benefit."
Peter, who has an infectious enthusiasm for the game, realises that his biggest hurdle, especially in the depths of this long winter, is letting the North-east golfing public know that he is now based at Deeside Golf Club  after years away from his homeland and he is itching to pass on the know-how he has acquired over the past 30 years. 
If you want to contact Peter Smith, his E-mail address is:
petergolfsmith@hotmail.com
To get in touch with Frank Coutts, the address is:
pro@deesidegolfclub.com

FOOTNOTE: Peter Smith tells the story that when Frank Coutts applied for the vacant assistant pro's job at Murcar late in 1983, he actually told him that he (Frank) was too good a player to get the job.
"Frank was still an amateur, having been named non-travelling reserve for the GBandI Walker Cup team and having just returned from missing out at the European Tour School," says Peter.
"I told Frank, who was 23 then, that if he joined the Murcar pro shop staff, he could forget about a playing career ... he would have to work hard as an assistant and that his future in game would be as a club professional ... and that he should really go away and think about such a move because he was a very good player and, in many ways, it was a waste of his golfing talent.
"Frank consulted his father and came back to tell me the next day that he did want to become a club professional and that he wanted to start as an assistant with me."
Coutts stepped up to become the head pro at Murcar when Peter Smith moved to then new club and course, Newmachar, to become its director of golf. In 1989 Frank became the pro at Deeside, renewing his relationship with the club where he had been a member since he was a junior.