As the newly appointed Club Professional of Kingsknowe Golf Club in Edinburgh and Certified Putting Instructor (CPI) Iain Lowdean has passion and energy for the game and looks forward to sharing it with his members when he starts his new position on June 16th 2018.
Lowdean, formerly of Murrayfield Golf Club, embarked on the CPI Course under the special PGA in Scotland initiative, to make sure that he was doing the right things when it came to putting.
“I liked the structure of the CPI Course. It was easy to revise, re-read and absorb the information.
“Before I did the CPI Course I had knowledge of putting, but doing the course gave me more substance and it was good to know that what I was saying was backed up.
“I was telling people about the CPI Course and was doing putting lessons as I was doing the course. By raising awareness of what I was doing people understood that they could improve by coming to see me and people started to flock to me,” said Lowdean who had an interesting experience with one of his members.
“I had just qualified as a CPI and one of my members who struggled with his putting came to see me. After the lesson he commented that he could see why I was so confident in being able to improve his putting because of the information I delivered as a CPI. My confidence in what I am saying builds confidence in the student.”
CPI Iain Lowdean, newly appointed Club Professional at Kingsknowe Golf Club in Edinburgh, Scotland
Lowdean is a graduate of the University of Cardiff and has an extensive background in hospitality and sales and marketing. He travelled across Asia and Australasia, living in New Zealand for 2 years and decided to return to the UK and become a golf professional.
Golf is in his family; his dad was a 2 handicap, his mum a 9 handicap and his brother played on the Euro Pro Tour. Lowdean represented Gloucestershire, and played off a +1 handicap as an amateur. He sees the impact that family involvement and junior coaching has, having been at Murrayfield Golf Club for several years where they have a very active, structured junior programme.
“Junior coaching is a feeder for club membership. It is a great way to get the parents involved and over time they start playing as well. It keeps everyone involved.”
In his new role, Lowdean looks to bring his putting knowledge and overall expertise as a coach to his new members as well as his passion for people and customer service.
“I am big on people, the enjoyment factor. I want them to feel good in a friendly environment. It is important to know people’s names and offer a coaching experience so that the student enjoys the process of getting the lesson. It is a way to build relationships for the long term.”
Frank Thomas, founder of Frankly Golf, former longtime USGA Technical Director, inventor of the graphite shaft and the person who introduced the Stimpmeter to the game, said,
“We are as excited as Iain is about his new position and being able to take his newly acquired skills to help the members of Kingsknowe improve their putting. He will obviously be very successful because of his entrepreneurial spirit and being able to take advantage of his CPI qualification to help his member and his business.”
Certified Putting Instructor 