COLUMBUS, GA, November 29, 2011 — Roy Nix, Executive Director of the Association of Golf Clubfitting Professionals (AGCP), the world leader in the advancement of custom clubfitting and clubmaking is pleased to announce today the certification of Marcel Bal, Golf Op Maat, Netherlands to the highest level of qualification in the AGCP short of becoming a Master.
Marcel Bal, Certified as AGCP Level 10 Qualified
After a career of 40 years as a Dutch Marine Marcel retired in 2004 and needed to find hobby and find new goals in his life. During his time as a Marine Marcel also studied and got a degree in Physical Education. So his first thought was to do something with teaching golf because he played and loved the game for years. He found out soon that because of the golf teaching system in Holland it would be very expensive and looking at his skills impossible to go that route. Then he found club fitting on the internet and thought about it for a while. His first impression was that this was a technical profession but he also saw the relation with the physical aspects of playing golf. He did not learn much about technical work in his life so he hesitated for a moment but when he looked at it from the physical point he decided to give it a try. Marcel could not find a good school in Europe to learn the club fitting skills. The internet brought him to the website of Golfworks and Ralph Maltby’s books. He ordered the Maltby books and studied them. Then he enrolled in a Golfworks class in Columbus Ohio (2005) and came back knowing this is something he want to pursue. Back home he created a golf workshop in his garage and started fitting at his home course. About a year later he found Tom Wishon and read his books. Marcel wrote Tom a letter that resulted in translating Tom’s 12 Myth’s book into Dutch. Tom gave him advice to join the PCS and he became a member. He attended the yearly meetings in Louisville until the PCS ceased to exist, and qualified as a Class A Clubmaker.
After the PCS was gone Marcel felt he lost the backup of a professional organization and was very glad to find the AGCP. He immediately joined and this was the best decision he made in this profession. He felt like coming home! Marcel’s first roundtable was RT 3 and he was the first European to attend the AGCP RT convention. It was a great week and he was very surprised by all the help and kindness he got from all the members there. He planned to visit every RT from that moment on and so I did at RT 4 and RT5. Unfortunately Marcel had to give up RT 6 because he had to decided to buy a Flightscope and it was the Flighscope or come to RT6. He made the choice for a Flightscope for two important reasons. The first was that he needed to have a good launch monitor to be able to apply for an upgrade of his skills level. Up to that moment he had achieved a level 6 and above a clubfitter needs a launch monitor as part of their equipment to qualify. The second reason was that he felt that he could not serve his customers with the professionalism he wanted to. Even though, so far they were very pleased with his work he knew he could help them even better if he had the right equipment. So after he purchased the Flightscope X2 he applied for the upgrade to Level 10. He felt I could qualify for Level 10 because of all the skills and knowledge he had gathered at the RT’s and from the great email system the AGCP has for members. What Marcel noticed during the upgrade test is that the questions he had to answer were not about “book wisdom” but they force him to translate his book knowledge to his skill and his daily practice as a club fitter. It is this translation that Marcel believes proves that you know your profession. Still Marcel believes there is so much to learn and even if he lives to be a hundred years old he will never learn enough about this great profession. Marcel hopes the AGCP will be my anchor for many more years to come!
Requirements for Qualification at Level 10 are as follows:
Member of AGCP and has achieved Certification thru PCS or GCA testing, and/or has been building and fitting clubs for 5 or more years and/or appropriate schools or certification courses at PCS, Golfworks, Golfsmith, Mitchell, Dynacraft or attended Rifle or TT Black Gold Certification class. Member has a complete shop with hitting net, launch monitor, gauges for measuring shafts & heads and the ability to bend clubs to fit for loft and lie. Applicant’s equipment must include Launch monitor or swing analysis equipment similar to FlightScope, Trackman, Golf Achiever, Vector, Zeolocity, or other recognized equipment for swing testing. Member has bending equipment for loft and lie on irons, appropriate shaft removal equipment, equipment to spine shafts and measure frequency of shafts. Member has the ability to swing weight fit or MOI fit sets of golf clubs and has the approved equipment for such matching techniques. Member also has video capability with video cameras and software and/or teaching capabilities. Written and/or Verbal testing is required for certification at this qualification level.
To contact Marcel Bal: Golf Op Maat, www.golfopmaat.nl , m.bal@hetnet.nl , Malzwin 1408, 1788 XB Den Helder, Netherlands
About the AGCP
Based in Columbus, GA, the AGCP is dedicated to the promotion and growth of custom fitting worldwide by providing classes, schools and conventions for the club fitting and club making industry. Our Roundtable Education Conference and Convention classes are certified by the PGA of America for MSR Credits for PGA Professionals. To learn more about the AGCP or to become a Member call 706.507.0095 or visit www.agcpgolf.com.
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