MEET OUR TEAM

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COACH ROB HOULDING - PGA CANADA CLASS A TEACHING PROFESSIONAL - PGA CANADA NATIONAL TEACHER OF THE YEAR AND GOLF DIGEST 2020 WORLD TOP 75 INTERNATIONAL TEACHER

Rob is our PGA Director of Player Development. He is a Class A PGA Member and the 2014 recipient of PGA Canada’s most prestigious Teaching Award the George Knudson National Teacher of the Year and a Golf Digest Magazine World Top 75 International Teacher.
Rob is the only teacher in Canada to develop his long term clients to win The IMG Junior World Championship and he has done it twice for both girls and boys divisions- Adam Svensson and Michelle Liu.
He is the long term Coach of the youngest player in history to win low Canadian at Canadian Women’s Championship and the youngest player in history at age 12 to compete in an LPGA Tour event at the 2019 Canadian Women’s Open Championship. Ivy Academy has been rated # 1 out of 100 junior academies across Canada by Maple Leaf Junior Tour 2017, 2018,2019, 2020

Rob began coaching golf full time in 1994 and in 2000 started his High Performance Program.
With a background in competitive sports and business he has studied biomechanics, motor learning and psychology to develop one of the worlds most successful junior development programs.He has developed an international reputation as a leader in golf instruction and is sought after globally by other coaches and players aspiring to perform at the highest levels of their ability.

Rob’s long term client list is impressive and ranges from several Junior World Champions to PGA Tour and Web.com winners. Some of Rob’s better known clients include PGA Tour winner Nick Taylor from 2006 to 2016 and Web.com and PGA Tour Member Adam Svensson for nearly 20 years.More recently Michelle Liu the 2017 IMG and US KIDS champion age ten girls from age 6 to present. His accomplishments are unmatched by any other Canadian Teacher.

These are some of Rob’s long term client results
2 clients long term clients of ten or more years to earn PGA Tour Cards in 2015 and 2018
Two PGA Tour wins – 2 NCAA Div 1 and Div 2 Mens Player of the year winners
12 Canadian National Champions – 28 Provincial Champions – 15 Juniors in the past 14 years were selected to Golf Canada’s National Development Team – 6 Junior World Titles – Scholarships and Universities our students have earned spots to include Stanford , Yale, UCLA,Washington, Dartmouth, and dozens of NCAA Division Universities

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COACH MATT CELLA - PGA CANADA CLASS A TEACHING PROFESSIONAL - CDC CERTIFIED GOLF CANADA COACH

Matt was born and grew up in Surrey, England. His introduction into the game of golf came at the age of 15 when he was hired as a caddie at the prestigious Wisley Golf Club in Surrey. Since then he has worked in just about every facet of the golf industry, from retail sales to maintenance crew and now as Senior Performance Coach at Rob Houlding Golf. Matt moved to Canada in 1994 and joined the PGA of Canada in 2005 and has enjoyed teaching the great game to all skill levels of golfers and especially takes pride in being a Coach for BC Golf working with many of the provinces top golfers.

Teaching Philosophy

Matt is familiar with many different teaching theories and has spent time with some of the games greatest instructors including, Stan Utley, Dr. Craig Farnsworth, Mike Bennett, Andy Plummer, E.A.Tischler, and Mike Adams and the past 2 years full time with Rob Houlding.

Matt has assisted Rob with many of the academies top students including junior World Champions Michelle Liu , Ryan Liang and Anna Huang.

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COACH COLIN BYKOWSKI - PGA CANADA CLASS A TEACHING PROFESSIONAL

Colin recently firmly established his ability to develop an elite junior by winning the US Kids Junior World Championship in 2019 with his longterm student Alex Zhang age 10.!
Born in Edmonton, Alberta and raised in beautiful Tsawwassen, BC., Colin turned professional in 2004 after a successful Junior, Collegiate and Amateur career with victories at every level. As an Amateur, Colin played in six consecutive national championships, and traveled to Scotland, the home of golf, to participate in the 2001 British Amateur Championship. After turning Professional he traveled to Australia in the mid 2000’s to play on the Australasian Tour. Upon returning home he joined the PGA of Canada and qualified for the 2005 Canadian Tour.

Colin started teaching golf in 2005 and has since worked with hundreds of students, racking up thousands of hours of teaching experience. An avid reader, he has collected hundreds of books on golf and has studied all of the greatest teachers from every generation. Colin’s teaching philosophy is: build a solid foundation of fundamentals, create a flawless swing plane, relentlessly pursue a sharp short game, while never neglecting the importance of the mental game.

Colin is a graduate of the Professional Golf Management Program (Camosun College). Further certifications include the Foresight Sports Peak Training Program, Trackman University, and the National Coaching Certification Program (PGA of Canada). He is also an expert in V1 Sports, BodiTrak and the SAM PuttLab. He sees technology as an incredible tool to further his students’ progress.

Colin’s passion for the game has fuelled his nearly three decades in the sport. He is humbled beyond words to be sharing his love of golf with the next generation of aspiring competitors.

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COACH MIKE AIZAWA - DIRECTOR OF ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT - TPI LEVEL 3 FITNESS PROFESSIONAL WITH MULTIPLE CERTIFICATIONS IN KINESIOLOGY AND FITNESS

Mike Aizawa grew up playing multiple sports at very competitive levels including baseball, badminton, basketball, track and field, and ultimate frisbee. He was a Vancouver and Districts champion in the 100m and 200m events during his high school days. He also started ultimate frisbee in high school, played on the UBC varsity ultimate frisbee team, played on Team Canada in 2008, 2012, and 2016 finishing with two world world championship gold medals and a bronze medal.

Mike studied exercise science at UBC through the human kinetics program and graduated in 2008. Since then, he has trained many professional athletes and golfers to help them to learn how to move well, efficiently, and powerfully.

Mike started golfing in 2012 and played in his first competitive tournament in 2014. Since then, he has studied the biomechanics of the golf swing and through this knowledge, training and application, he has gone from a 12 handicap to a +2, recently shooting a round of 63 in a competitive round on VGT and won several Vancouver Golf Tour events, placed top ten in the 2017 BC amateur, and qualified for the 2017 Canadian Amateur.

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COACH AUSTIN HUGHES- ASSISTANT COACH PGA CANADA MEMBER

As a golf professional, I have had the opportunity to experience and develop with some of the world’s finest resources, coaching, tournaments, and professional players. Developing as a professional athlete in this generation takes more than just playing the game. A current generation athlete needs a proper team of resources to develop and become a top player in the world. I have had the opportunity to caddie and player support inside the ropes on some of golf’s biggest tournament platforms. On this journey I have seen some of the top players in the world practice, prepare for tournaments with coaches, trainers and perform effectively in a tournament atmosphere.
I take pride in helping players develop to be the best they can on and off the golf course. I have had experience with all calibers of golfers, providing knowledge to help players develop with an elite perspective. Having access to technology resources allows me to provide information to the player for optimizing mechanical/perspective performance. I am dedicated to sharing my knowledge, providing tournament experience/outlook to players looking to compete. Golf has changed dramatically in the last 20 years and being current with the latest technology and trends is vital to compete. Competing as a Junior, amateur/college and professional golfer has exposed me to all areas the game of golf has to offer. I provide a youthful experience and keep up to date with the most current generation of golf knowledge.

I have had exposure to some of the world’s best practice facilities, golf courses, coaches, trainers and programs available in golf. My mission is to explain to the new generation why it is important to take advantage of these vital resources for development. Building a competitive pressured environment at a young age is essential for building confidence in our new generation of golfers.