ONE has a famous grandfather who won a British Open title and the other has played with world number one Adam Scott, but Queanbeyan Golf Club professionals Jake Nagle and Mat Rainsford are now settling for coaching.
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Both men have played in the New South Wales Pro-Am tour for around a decade now, but with some mid-range results in the NSW/ACT Pro Am circuit this year, both men have turned their career focus to training and development.
Nagle became the lead professional and head of coaching at the Queanbeyan Golf Club in 2012 after taking out the Wagga Wagga and Yowani Pro Am events as part of the NSW/ACT circuit in what proved to be his best season in the sport.
And his Queanbeyan family has a very proud history in golf, with grandfather Kel Nagle taking out the 1976 British Open in it's centenary year and dispatching a young Greg "Shark" Norman along the way.
Jake Nagle also runs the golf shop at the Queanbeyan club, and after having to tussle these duties with playing the the nine-event, two week Pro Am circuit between February and March, said his main career focus was now passing his knowledge to others.
"I'm working very closely with our head coach Mat Rainsford, who was also took part in the Pro Ams at the start of the year," he said.
"We had to swap golf shop duties so we could both play in the NSW/ACT circuit. It was a hectic schedule."
Nagle's best finish was third at Royal Canberra, and he made six top-10 finishes.
Rainsford took the teaching professional role in 2012 and currently looks after 250 clients whom he takes through video analysis and develops their long and short range techniques.
He had played in the Pro Am since completing studies at Kooralbyn International school- billed as one of the worlds best golf educators- where he boarded with current world number one golfer Adam Scott and fellow famous Australian Jason Day.
"It was pretty impressive. They were a couple years younger, but when I left school, they just became geniuses of the game," he said.
"But I kick more in teaching nowadays. I like to hand the great teaching I had off to our new up and comers."