KDV Sport was established to produce elite golfers, yet its greatest contribution to the game may be the welcoming environment it has created for juniors and newcomers.
It’s not a golf club, yet it provides facilities to please golfers of every standard and every age. It was built to develop elite players, yet it caters to the absolute beginners. It does not have members in the traditional sense, but there is a pro shop with three permanent PGA professionals on staff, a PGA trainee currently learning his trade and an in-house club-fitting and repair facility. KDV Sport was not built to emulate what had come before, but to show that a new model could be a success at every level of the game.
A development project undertaken by the family behind Russian confectionery empire KDV, the first step was the purchase of the former Carrara Gardens Golf Course in 2012. Four years later, a state-of-the-art golf and tennis precinct directly opposite the central hub for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games became a reality.
“The vision was to take this tired yet popular and well-located golf course and transform it into a modern sporting facility to attract and develop future golf champions,” says KDV Sport director Julia Shtengelova. “A redesigned golf course, new short game practice area, private golf studios, pro shop, specialised club fitting from Cool Clubs, fitness centre with a swimming pool and sauna, function rooms and a café were part of this vision which is exactly what you see today.”
The balance that KDV so expertly finds is to provide an elite training facility that is not intimidating to newcomers. There is a collective energy that visitors and KDV athletes share; a synergy of self-improvement that begins at the base level and – as all golfers know – has no end point.
Awarded the 2019 Junior Program of the Year at the Queensland Golf Industry Awards in July, the management team at KDV recognises that world champions are not born; they are developed from a wide base of participation.
“While we have ‘pockets’ of elite training, it is what we offer on a broader golf level which is paramount,” Shtengelova says. “While we have a strong focus on developing all levels of golfers from beginners to advanced tour players, it is also the social aspect of golf that is important to promote and increase participation. Our community-based facilities, such as our mini-golf course, driving range and short game area have all been designed to attract the local community and to enjoy having such a unique facility in their own backyard.
“Further, a strong focus for us is building and developing our junior golf program, which plays a primary role in attracting and increasing golf participation on the Gold Coast for local families. Attracting the local community to our facility to be actively involved with golf and having people feel like KDV Sport is their local ‘club’ – offering a range of services for the whole family – is enormously important to our reputation, future plans and longevity.”
In order to bring its vision to a reality, KDV turned to one of the PGA of Australia’s most accomplished coaches to provide the environment that would be appealing to the very best players we have and develop the stars of tomorrow.
Facilitating greatness
The Carrara Gardens pro shop was a far cry from the salubrious furnishings found at RACV Royal Pines Resort and a world away from what was being proposed at KDV Sport. Yet what happened within the walls that weren’t knocked down set the tone for what would be integral to the success of KDV as a golf training centre.
The 2005 New Zealand PGA Trainee of the Year, Richard Woodhouse moved to the Gold Coast in 2007 and set about observing Australia’s leading coaches as a way to advance his own professional development. He observed the likes of Ian Triggs and Mark Gibson on the Gold Coast before ultimately joining Gibson at Royal Pines as senior instructor. It was there that Woodhouse began coaching the man overseeing KDV’s Australian investment and which led to him being approached to guide the golf infrastructure as KDV Sport’s director of golf instruction.
“Once I got the feeling that the vision matched up with what I see as the direction I would like to see coaching move in, it was pretty much locked in,” said Woodhouse, named the 2019 Queensland PGA Coach
of the Year at the virtual Queensland awards night.
“It was incredible. The vision of what was explained and what I said was important for a coaching and golf academy, the costs involved and the magnitude of it was quite amazing. To the company’s credit they have delivered on absolutely everything that they’ve said from day one.
“There was an existing pro shop at the old Carrara Gardens and we knocked all the walls out and built two indoor golf studios. We had TrackMan and some force plates installed in the ground. We still had the grass driving range, but it was a great opportunity where we could test the technology and get comfortable with it. TrackMan was in its infancy at that stage so it was new to the coaching world. We were doing just as much study to make
sure we were competent with the data that we were seeing and being able to deliver that to players.
“The technology cost to fit out these studios is not insignificant. But when the vision is to develop world-class players, we need to be able to deliver the best information we possibly can. The owners understand that and they want the best coaches, the best information and the best facility.”
The 2016 PGA of Australia National Teaching Professional of the Year, Woodhouse’s understanding of what it would take to develop golfers capable of taking on the world was key in his initial appointment eight years ago.
“Richard was always going to be integral to the leadership and direction of our new golf program,” Shtengelova says. “His passion, knowledge and personal commitment to continuous learning and development further extends to his students in the pursuit of excellence for our players and programs alike.”
The team of PGA professionals at KDV Sport now includes Woodhouse, Ji McBryde, Lachlan Ritson and PGA trainee Harrison Wills. ALPG member and former Queensland state representative Ashley Nisbet leads the golf academy’s strength and conditioning program, utilising the on-site gymnasium and pool to deliver a comprehensive physical development environment for each athlete. And it is a team effort, as Woodhouse explains.
“Students work with all of the coaches at KDV,” he says. “We don’t have individual students that only we look after. We work as a team of coaches with all the students and that was something we wanted to purposely create from day one, that team environment. That is huge for us.”
Course of action
Popular among locals, Carrara Gardens rarely featured on any Gold Coast golf holiday itineraries. Yet despite its shortcomings, it provided those backing the KDV Sport development with the space they needed and an aspect of golf infrastructure that would be crucial to the overall offering.
Elite players may come for detailed swing analysis in the private, TrackMan-installed studio that faces out onto the 40-bay driving range and putting studio with SAM Puttlab capabilities but the custom-designed short game practice area and nine-hole short course not only caters to their needs but those of juniors and beginners.
“The short course is actually really good for the area of the game that’s probably the least practised,” Woodhouse says of the floodlit nine-hole course allowing golfers to play late into the night. “To have a short course where the holes are around 100 metres and in gives us an opportunity to get the players playing more of those shots where normally they might not put themselves in those environments as much.
“The premise of KDV Sport was to be open for everyone. Yes, we want an elite golf academy and an elite tennis academy to produce world-class players, but the facility was to be designed for everybody. For families, for kids, for first-time players of either sport. Our absolute No.1 priority is that the facility is open to everyone and we can provide a service for everyone.”
Which is where the mini golf comes in. A registered MyGolf facility, the first part of KDV Sport’s junior program is the ‘Fun-damental Phase’, with an emphasis on fun.
“When it comes to our junior academy, there are no barriers to entry,” Woodhouse says of the program that boasts 120 juniors across four different development levels.
“In the traditional golf-club environment there are barriers to entry everywhere you look, from what the members think of kids being on the course to tee-times, you name it. With our ‘Fundamental’ kids who are around the 5 to 7-year-old age group, mini golf is great for a bit of green reading and problem solving.
“When those kids come into the game you are planting that seed. Through the phases they will start to identify themselves as golfers and that’s where the ignition takes place. Then it’s up to us to drive that forward.
“One term into the program and the culture that is created among the kids is really cool.”
With the 70-room Elite hotel opening in December 2019, KDV Sport has now become a key training centre for both the Queensland Academy of Sport and Golf Queensland elite amateur programs. Yet all the creature comforts and technological advances count for little without the right people in place to take the individual athletes forward in their quest to become the best golfer they can be.
“KDV Sport has been specifically designed to measure athlete performance using the very latest and best technology available while guided by our expert coaches towards ongoing improvement,” Shtengelova adds. “Having the QAS train at our facility clearly aligns with our own ethos of high performance and athlete development with data-driven analysis the catalyst for individual and group development and improvement.
“To have both Golf Queensland and QAS base their training requirements at KDV Sport reinforces our vision to be the premier golf training facility in Queensland and further heightens the belief in our programs and coaches while significantly enhancing our reputation within the golf community. The longevity, success and growth of our golf programs is intrinsically linked to the high level of personal engagement from our coaching team and the value attributed to our programs from beginners to advanced players.
“Our aim is to operate the best golf program and facility in Australia.”
As was the case eight years ago, it’s a bold vision that Woodhouse shares.
“Our goal is to create top-10 players in the world. Everything is driven towards that,” he says. “When you have tour players at the facility such as Daniel Nisbet, Brett Rankin, Becky Kay and the girls who come over from Korea and Japan who I coach, the vibe generates a real ‘wow’ factor for the younger athletes. We’re trying to make it aspirational.
“The juniors who come in are incredible. The culture of the facility rubs off on their mentality. It won’t surprise me if we have multiple players take golf to an incredible level in the next 10 years, whether it be the guys who are 16, 17, 18 now or the ones younger coming through.
“It’s very promising.”