Supporting Coaches: Justin Martin & Bridget Ackley
The Park West Palm, one of the most high-profile and exciting new golf facilities, opened in 2023 to much fanfare and expectation. And at the centerpiece of this impressive venue would be: Serving kids and families through golf.
So it’ s certainly no surprise that they would bring in two highly acclaimed coaches to lead the junior program. Justin Martin is the Director of Coaching, and Bridget Ackley serves as the Junior Golf Leader, both with a long history of support from the U. S. Kids Golf Foundation’ s Coaches Institute.
“ I’ ve known this is what I wanted to do since I was a young girl and went to my first golf class,” says Bridget.“ I knew I had a passion for it, and I had golf skills and knowledge, but I needed some help in putting a good structure in place for my program. From the first Coach Seminar, I knew I could get that and more from the Coaches Institute.” The Coaches Institute Learning Program is a staple of the classes for young players at The Park West Palm.
Justin adds,“ I’ m a data guy; I love seeing the analytics and making sure the metrics not only back up what we teach, but guide us in how to move forward. No one has more data and knowledge than U. S. Kids Golf. Every coach will have their own way to educate and inspire, but the program has to be supported by the science. We have that with the Coaches Institute.”
Martin was named a U. S. Kids Golf Top 50 Kids Coach in 2021, and Bridget was named a Master Top 50 Kids Coach( 3-time winner) in 2024.
“ Another really valuable aspect of the Coaches Institute is the network you become a part of when you join,” Ackley states.“ The people I’ ve met and learned from, I couldn’ t get that through any other group.”
“ Our goal is to have the best junior program in the world. To do that, we need to make it fun, we need to make it effective, and we need to make it valuable,” Martin adds.“ What we’ ve learned from the U. S. Kids Golf Foundation has been a big part of that.”