- 23/05/2025
Ce mois-ci, Louis Cohen-Boyer part à la rencontre de Neil Jones, un Britannique ayant commencé sa carrière comme pro de golf et maintenant à la tête du golf des Bordes.
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SportTranscription
00:00Sous-titrage MFP.
00:30Place maintenant à une rubrique qui nous tient particulièrement à cœur.
00:33Normalement, on l'appelle parole de coach.
00:34Aujourd'hui, on va l'appeler parole d'expert.
00:37Qui de mieux que Lee Jones, un Américain qui tient les bords aujourd'hui,
00:40il a énormément d'expérience et surtout, il a plein de choses à raconter.
00:43Et c'est tout de suite.
00:48All right, Neil, good to see you.
00:52Yes, sir. It's going to be a pleasure.
00:54Yeah.
00:54Pleasure is all mine.
00:55It's going to be, ça va être un super moment pour vous interviewer,
01:00pour avoir un petit peu un retour sur votre vie dans le golf
01:03et avoir aussi votre avis sur votre nouvelle vie en France.
01:08Qu'est-ce que tu penses de la France?
01:09I've only been here now, but seven weeks,
01:12and I'm loving every single minute of it.
01:16The country is fantastic.
01:17The people are super friendly, and the golf is amazing.
01:21You were in the East Coast before.
01:25You were working there.
01:27Can you tell us a little bit more about it?
01:28Yeah, so I've spent the bulk of my career, 36 years, in the United States,
01:35most of that being on the East Coast.
01:37So I've actually started in the Carolinas, North Carolina, South Carolina.
01:42Great region for golf.
01:43Yeah, super, super great region.
01:45You know, obviously, just had the Harbour Town, you know, golf tournament.
01:49So I was just up the coast from there in Myrtle Beach.
01:54Spent 15 years working for the PGA Tour in their TBC Golf Network.
01:59And from the East Coast, then, I moved up to the Midwest in Cincinnati, Ohio,
02:05not too far from Jack's home course, you know, Mirfield Village.
02:08Jack Negros, of course.
02:09Yeah, up in Columbus.
02:11And so, yeah, you know, I started most of my career on the East Coast
02:16and, you know, worked my way from an assistant golf professional,
02:20really learning the golf business, you know.
02:22I used to put golf bags on golf carts and, you know, all of that good stuff
02:26and put pyramids of balls on the practice tees.
02:29And then, obviously, worked my way up into an assistant golf professional
02:33and then a head professional.
02:35Got my first director of golf position in, that was actually in South Carolina
02:41at a facility called The Cliffs, which was a group of seven golf courses.
02:48And from there, just really worked my way through Virginia
02:52and then a little bit in Florida.
02:55And then my last stint was in Park City, Utah.
03:00Okay, amazing.
03:01So, my first question, ça, ça devrait être aussi,
03:03mais comment tu as pu débuter dans le golf?
03:07Qu'est-ce qui t'a fait commencer le golf?
03:08Yeah, so really, for me, you know, I started playing golf when I was eight.
03:14And, you know, like a lot of guys, I grew up with a close-knit group of guys, right?
03:20We all started the game at the same time.
03:23We were all part of the same junior team at my club in Cardiff, Wales.
03:29And, you know, golf was really just something I did in the summers.
03:33And then I originally moved to America to go to high school for a couple of years.
03:38And while I was there, it's actually when I really started to, you know, really play golf more.
03:46And I think when I played golf more than just the summer months,
03:51that's when I, you know, that sort of that passion sort of got ignited.
03:54and it became a little bit more than a hobby.
03:58It was just something I wanted to do.
04:00I found myself wanting to practice and play all the time and started playing competitive golf.
04:05And then worked my way up to a golf scholarship in America.
04:10So it was just, you know, it started out as a hobby,
04:13but then it became something that I loved to do, you know.
04:16Est-ce que tu penses que c'est tes amis qui t'ont fait vraiment jouer au golf
04:21et passer ton temps au golf?
04:22Ou alors est-ce que t'as vraiment adoré le jeu en plein air?
04:24Yeah, I think it was actually a little bit of both, right?
04:26I think, you know, a lot of us start playing golf
04:30because we have friends who play it.
04:34But I think what happens then is that, you know,
04:37it becomes a little bit more than sort of a social thing.
04:41I think it becomes, it ignites a little bit of a passion inside you.
04:45And for me, I think as I started to play and I became better at the game
04:51and I understood the game a little bit more,
04:53I wanted to be better, right?
04:56And I think when you want to be better, you just, you want to do it all the time.
05:01And so for me, it became, you know, it was no longer a hobby.
05:06It was just something I had to do every day.
05:08Yeah, so I have four sons and, you know, everybody asks me,
05:24how many of you boys play golf?
05:26How many of you guys, you know, do they love golf like you?
05:29And, you know, growing up, I never pushed my kids into golf.
05:33I wanted them to find a sport, you know, on their own.
05:37And I wanted them to play as many sports as they wanted.
05:42So what they found out is that, you know, early on in there,
05:45that when they were younger, golf was not something they wanted to do.
05:49I guess maybe because dad was doing it and, you know, we would go play.
05:53But what I found now is as they get older, they want, they're gravitating towards golf a lot more
06:01and they want to be a part of it.
06:03They want to learn and understand it more.
06:06So I have one of my sons who's very interested in golf right now.
06:10So he's a pretty good player, but I try not to put pressure on him.
06:15I want him to do it for all the right reasons and not because, you know, dad told me to do it.
06:21You know, I'm fine. He's sort of finding his own way.
06:26Toi qui qui a quatre enfants, tu pense que t'es l'exemple parfait et tu vas pouvoir nous aiguiller un petit peu.
06:32Est-ce que le golf pour les jeunes aux Etats-Unis est en train de devenir extrêmement populaire?
06:37Ou alors est-ce que c'est juste pour tes garçons à toi?
06:40No, I think it's a great question.
06:41I think golf, you know, ever since COVID, I think golf has changed.
06:46Not only in the U.S., it's changed globally.
06:52I think people have gravitated to playing more and more golf now.
06:58You know, you're seeing more people introduced to the game of golf,
07:01especially in America where, you know, Topgolf is doing so well.
07:05That's introduced a lot of people to golf that don't really have access to golf courses.
07:12So, you know, access was always a difficult thing, right?
07:16And but now you have so many different avenues for people to play the game and experience the game.
07:21And then, you know, you look at TGL this year on the TV in the States.
07:26That's, again, is really geared up to another audience, right?
07:30And so I think you're seeing the game grow by different generations as well.
07:37And, you know, people's entrances into golf is different now.
07:41Two questions now a little bit particular.
07:44First, as a coach in your old life,
07:47what would be your best advice to give to people who listen to us?
07:53And then, what would be your best moment, the best moment of your career,
07:56whether it be golf in your practice by yourself or in your club where you were before?
08:03Yeah, I mean, the best piece of advice for me is that, you know,
08:08golf is really a game that you just you can't pick up and put down.
08:12You know, you have to invest time.
08:15You know, as a youngster, I just wanted to play, right?
08:18And I didn't practice a lot.
08:20But one of my early coaches, a gentleman by the name of Dennis Scanlon,
08:24who was at the time was probably one of the best coaches in England.
08:27And, you know, Dennis was a type of guy that he would really, really instill in you
08:33that, you know, you've got to work on it.
08:36You know, if you don't put something in, don't expect anything out.
08:39No shortcuts.
08:41No.
08:41No shortcuts.
08:43It's, you know, you have to work at it.
08:47And, you know, all the best players are dedicated to their craft and they practice, right?
08:52And so you've got to dedicate time if you want to get better.
08:58What is one of my best experiences?
09:00You know, for me, it's, and this is one of the things that I love about golf.
09:07It's, you know, it's the ability, just a couple of weeks ago, I got to play with my dad.
09:13I haven't played golf with my dad in 20 years, right?
09:18You live here, you came down to Le Borde?
09:20Yeah, he came to Le Borde.
09:21And, you know, we got to play golf.
09:24I hadn't played with him in 20 years.
09:26And, you know, there's not many sports that afford you the opportunity to play with different
09:30generations in your family.
09:32And, and I love that about golf, you know, golf afford you the opportunity to play with
09:36your sons or your dad or your granddad, you know, best friends, uncles, you know, it's,
09:44that's what I truly, truly love about the game.
09:47And, you know, and that's a, that's a memory I'll take with me for a long time.
09:51Est-ce que, est-ce que ce serait un conseil que tu donnes à tous les, les jeunes qui
09:55rentrent dans une carrière golfique ou les gens qui veulent faire une reconversion?
09:58Est-ce que ce serait un conseil pour toi de leur dire, il faut jouer au golf, il faut
10:00continuer à jouer sur le parcours et à, et à, et voilà, à s'entraîner?
10:04Est-ce que, yeah, I think, look, as you, if you get into the business of golf, whether
10:09you're in a, a playing pro or if you're in the club business, I think, you know, respect
10:17is a big thing, right?
10:18And I think people tend to respect people who are good at a craft, right?
10:24So, you know, you think in life, you go to doctors, the best doctors you go to is because
10:28they know medicine.
10:30I think with golf, if you want to be a really, really good golf professional.
10:33The more that you continue to sharpen your skills, whether that's being a good teacher,
10:41you know, learning all the rules so you can conduct tournaments, you know, really being
10:47a good golf professional from a merchandising standpoint, all those type of things, but
10:52also playing, you know, playing is a, it's a big part of what we do and just having that
10:58ability to take a member out on the golf course, have a good game of golf with them.
11:03show them how to hit different shots or show them, give them some tips on their golf swing
11:08and, you know, where they may be struggling.
11:10It's, it's amazing how that changes somebody's perspective about the game of golf.
11:17And that to me is, it's priceless. I think that's what all golf pros really, really love about the business
11:23is when you can help somebody and make their game better.
11:26But now, we have to talk a little bit about the place where we are today. We are at the beginning of May, the season is going to start, we are at the Golf Des Bordes.
11:36Can you tell me a little bit about your arrival, how it's going to happen? And then, we will try to talk a little bit about the future project.
11:43You know, lay board is everything that I heard about lay board has been, has been 100% accurate. I mean, it is truly a special place.
11:57The two golf courses, the old and the new are amazing. They're so uniquely different design wise, they are, you know, different, but I think they afford our members and our guests, the ability to play really two world-class facilities that are, they're going to ask of your golf game, two totally different things.
12:19different things. Right. And, um, so for me, it's amazing to come work at a place that has two golf courses that do that on the same property. Um, you know, lay board, we've got a lot going on. We've got, um, you know, obviously we have, uh, real estate with Corder Baron and then, uh, the future six senses as well, which is going to be a great addition to the label to state our golf courses. We continue to, um, you know, work on our, uh, just our presentation every single day. Um,
12:49you know, we, we, we, we hold a very big high standard in the golf industry in Europe. So for us, we have a lot to live up to, but not only living up to it, but how do we surpass that every single day? So, you know, really pushing our teams to not only continue to deliver, but how do we get better? Right. And, you know, from where we were to where we want to be, we're going to continue pushing lay board and making it, you know, an even better facility.
13:18facility and not only renowned in Europe, but renowned worldwide. So it's exciting.
13:24Est-ce que tu peux m'en dire un tout petit peu plus sur les étapes qu'il va y avoir dans six ans, dans deux ans, dans trois ans? Est-ce qu'on peut avoir un petit peu une idée de l'avancement du projet?
13:33Yeah. So I think, you know, with our golf courses, um, the biggest thing about golf courses for me is, you know, we, we, we have to continue to, um, continue to elevate, right? We've, we've already, we're already well known for the, the golf courses itself.
13:52But I think as we continue to, um, how do you build on that, right? How do you build on something that is already got a very high sort of regard in the golf business?
14:03Well, for me, that's, you know, continuing to, to push our, you know, our agronomy, our conditioning, um, you know, our standards every single day.
14:15And, you know, so every time somebody steps foot on our estate and they play our golf courses, they know what to expect, but not only what they expect, we exceed their expectations every day.
14:28Um, the, the project as a whole, we have a lot of things that we, uh, we've already put into, um, into effect on the estate from some of our lifestyle components with like the equestrian center,
14:41um, uh, spa retreat. And then also we, we, this year we introduced our kids club as well. So, you know, families are very important to us at lay board.
14:51So having the, uh, worldwide kids, kids club here, uh, you know, really it's exciting for us because now as families come, you know, mom and dad or grandparents can play golf and the kids can,
15:04you know, go enjoy themselves at the kids club and, you know, do a lot of exciting and fun things.
15:10And again, it's, it's really, the family unit is very important to us and really providing activities and different things across the estate.
15:19Uh, you know, not only golf, but, but, you know, various activities. So it's, uh, it's, it's really exciting.
15:26So thank you very much. It was such a good time. And, uh, we hope to hear from you very soon.
15:32Absolutely. Merci beaucoup.
15:34Thank you, Neil.
15:35Thank you.
15:40Thank you.
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