Three Swiss PGA Members awarded
23.03.2020

On March 3, the renowned US golf magazine "Golf Digest" published its list of "Best International Teachers" (www.golfdigest.com/story/golf-digests-best-international-teachers). Particularly gratifying from a Swiss perspective: this list includes the names of three Swiss PGA members. "An enormous achievement for an association as small as ours," Swiss PGA President Keith Marriott is pleased to say. The three honoured Swiss-PGA members are Mario Caligari, Stéphane Barras and Stuart Morgan.

Mario Caligari has been a member of the Swiss PGA since 1970; from 1990 to 2006 he served as president of the training commission, and from 2001 to 2006 he was a member of the board. In 2013 the General Assembly appointed him an honorary member. Caligari has been a golf instructor at the Bad Ragaz Golf Club since 1972 and has held the position of Head Pro since 1997. He was one of the initiators of today's Swiss Seniors Open (Staysure Tour - formerly European Senior), which has been played on the course of GC Bad Ragaz since 1997.

Stéphane Barras was born in Crans and has a family background in golf - his great-uncles Géo and Guillaume Barras were involved in the founding of the Swiss PGA, his father Roger Barras led as caddie Ugo Grappassoni to victory at the Swiss Open (now European Masters) in Crans in 1952 and later crowned himself Swiss Golf Champion. Stéphane Barras describes himself as a "performance optimizer"; he works with various international playing professionals and holds a diploma in golf psychology. Among others, Barras coached China's number one, Zhang Lian Wie, from 2009. In 2011, Barras invested six months in research on the topic of "Putting - Perception and Goal Setting", visiting 13 tour events on three continents; he was involved as a coach, caddie and interviewer. In 2013, Barras launched CaddiePlayer - a range of practical solutions based on in-depth research. In 2014, he opened the first CaddiePlayer Center in France, with clients including Raphael Jacquelin, Gregory Havret and Gwladys Nocera.

Stuart Morgan has been Performance Manager of Swiss PGA and Swiss Golf since 2017. The former tour player and experienced elite coach is a PGA Advanced Member. He ended his active career in 2000 and since then has concentrated on coaching, including coaching professionals on European and Asian tours. The Englishman lives in Austria and runs his own golf school in Bad Tatzmannsdorf (Burgenland).