Dear Students, Parents, Partners and Friends
of Bishops Gate Golf Academy,
As many of our students wrap up their final exams and prepare to
travel home to various parts of the world, it is a great time for us
to reflect on the past year.
As a golf academy, perhaps the starting point should be the
success of our students in their various tournaments, a testament
to their hard work and to the leadership of Kevin Smeltz and
Jonathan Yarwood.
The following statistics speak for themselves:
Wins 27
Top 3 64
Top 10 135
Although many of the wins were stand out, we should honor Julian Perico, the BGGA Player of
the Year, who not only won the South American Amateur championship, in its 90th year, but won
a professional event in his home country of Peru. Another big winner this year was John Daly
Junior who won 5 of his 7 events. Great job to all these students who have worked hard and been
outstanding competitors.
On the academic front we were immensely proud of the hard work of our students, at both the
top end of the scale with some remarkable GPA’s, but also those who significantly improved their
grades over the course of the year. We wonder how we ever managed without our Education
Center, that has been such a positive addition, and a good home to Felicia Simpson who oversees
the academic programs, with her colleague tutors.
Tom Simpson and Jeff Hay are proud of their work in supporting our students into their various
colleges, a list of which is attach. As you can see, some wonderful colleges with good golf
programs, and we look forward to tracking our graduates through their college careers – such an
exciting time for them.
But as you know, my passion is the personal development of our students, and it’s with pride that
I reflect on the growth and maturity of so many under our care. The real credit for this must go
to our “peer” group, who collectively set standards of behavior that all conform to. We in the
student care team work diligently in managing departures from these “peer” group expectations
and bringing students in line to preserve these high standards, and with Lynda Hughes returning
as Director of Student Care next year will continue this most important responsibility.
We offer our best wishes to our graduates, and look forward to staying in touch and hopefully
frequent return visits. To our returning students, we wish you an enjoyable summer holiday with
your families, hoping you can come back refreshed to continue your hard work next year on the
road to becoming champions!
All the best,
Andrew Summers
BGGA CEO