A familiar face on the local golfing scene is looking to help players develop their game with the launch of a new business.

Oliver Hirst-Greenham, an England international on the European Disabled Golf Association Tour, is providing on-course playing lessons for golfers.

However, instead of analysing a player’s swing, Oliver’s focus will be on course management and how they can take shots off their handicap.

He explained: “Lots of people can hit a golf ball but not everybody knows how to play a golf course.

“People turn up and whack the ball but there’s no process of how to play a hole to get the best outcome.

“You can go to any driving range and there might be someone belting it 300 yards, but playing off a 12 to 15 handicap because they have no idea how to put things into practice.

“Everybody knows how far they hit every club in the bag, but they don’t know how far it carries and then it runs on another 10 yards.

“If they were to hit 100 shots on a simulator, they can get a good average of how far it should be going.

“My service is going to be for people who want to move their game forward and want to improve.

“Some people are social golfers but I’m going to be there to help serious golfers who want to commit.”

A member at the Morecambe and Lancaster clubs, Oliver’s scheme is already up and running with a number of clients.

Instead of working with players at a fixed location, the plan is for him to go and meet them at a venue of their choosing.

The feedback has been promising so far and is something that conveniently fits around Oliver’s work life.

He added: “I was helping a chap at Lancaster, who plays off a handicap of three.

“When we finished the first session, he was amazed at how much stuff he didn’t know; how to set up on a tee depending where he wanted to finish etc.

“He messaged me to say his mind had been blown and he was excited to go out and put what he’d learned into practice.

“Learning the information is one thing but executing it is another. You can be 100 per cent in your mental game but executing is something else entirely.

“In terms of a base, I’m going to wherever people want me rather than having a fixed location.

“I think it’s going to work quite well. I already have a full-time job and this is something I’ll do on my days off.”

The idea came after Oliver did some work with Hertfordshire-based Alex MacDougall, the founder of tech company SamacSys.

He used funds from his ‘Built Forward Fund’ to pay for the website design, hosting, branding consultants and logo development.

Oliver added: “Working in golf is my dream career and he said I should be doing it for a living, so he talked me into taking that next step.

“He does mentoring and financial support with all the knowledge he’s got.

“He picks a few people each year to help, using his experience and knowledge.

“That knowledge and backing of the whole operation is amazing and I feel very lucky.”

As for the playing side of things, the 2027 season sees Oliver take the next step in his career.

It is an exciting one for a player, whose achievements included helping England win the European Team Championship for Golfers with Disability for the first time earlier this year.

“I’ve had a really good year and I’ve made the decision to turn pro next season,” he revealed.

“I’ll be playing on the 2020 Tour, which is a Northern-based tour.

“I’m 41 years old and I always wanted to be a professional golfer.

“Now’s the time to do it. I’m good enough to play in these events and I just want to see how I fare against the pros.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about the services Oliver provides can do do by visiting his website at olliegreenham.com