McDonnell on Justin Rose and Golf At Goodwood Juniors recent triumphs

He has had back-to-back victories in winning the WGC-HSBC Champions in China and the Turkish Airlines Open in Turkey. Both events earned him a whopping 2.4 million euros, which has closed a gap to Order of Merit Leader Tommy Fleetwood by 200,000 euros. The Race to Dubai Tournament at Jumeirah Golf Estates is going to be a thrilling week and one to keep an eye on.

It’s great to see two English players head the European Tour Order of Merit, and with four English players in the top six, it shows you just how strong golf is in England at present.

I think one of the contributing factors for the huge amount of success is the players feeding off each other – as they say, success breeds success. Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, Ross Fisher and many others are all competing to be England’s leading golfer. This competitive environment itself is a huge contributor to each individual success; obviously, the work they do individually is a big factor, but without that collective, competitive environment they wouldn’t reach the same heights at an international level.

Here at the Golf At Goodwood Academy, it is all about fostering that same, group environment as we believe that learning together is more beneficial than someone learning and doing everything by themselves. It is also far more fun that way, which is especially poignant when younger players are starting out. With our Junior Golf Camps, weekly coaching, weekly junior leagues and junior competitions, we are building a natural pathway for development.

In 2017 we have witnessed some incredible evidence that this approach is paying off, as our talented group of juniors has occupied the top places in both the Under 13 and Under 15 league tables in the Sussex County Order of Merit this year, with some remarkable achievements along the way.