Ayrshire golf professional Bill Lockie is the 2018 recipient of
the Professional Golfers’ Association prestigious John Panton Award for
outstanding services to golf, which was presented at the annual lunch of the
PGA in Glasgow in December 2018.
Bill Lockie with the John Panton Award Photograph courtesy of Kenny Smith Photography |
A very well known and respected figure throughout the county
and beyond, Bill’s roots remained firmly in his native Ayrshire throughout his
career.
His playing expertise came to the fore as a boy when, as a thirteen
year old playing out of the Troon St Meddans club, he won the Ayrshire Boys
Championship at Irvine GC in 1961. He repeated his county boys’ title win in
1965, the year after he won the 1964 Scottish Boys Championship title.
In 1968 Bill won the Scottish Universities Championship
before embarking on his professional career where he did his PGA training at
Turnberry and worked for a short time at Royal Troon before taking the club
professional’s post at Kilmarnock (Barassie) in 1974, where he remained for
over 20 years.
Though his main focus was on his club duties and player
development, Bill still competed when the opportunity arose, with successes
including the 1970 Scottish Assistants’ Championship, the 1982 Scottish
Alliance title, the 2000 Scottish
Seniors’ Professional Championship, and the British PGA Seniors' Professional title in 2008.
During his time at Kilmarnock (Barassie) Bill built an
enduring reputation as a coach which saw him progress to coach many an Ayrshire
youngster at club and county level as well as both the Scottish Mens’ and Ladies’
squads during his career, and he continues to use extensive knowledge to
contribute to the development of the game as he still assesses PGA trainees
during their training.
Bill’s coaching
acumen continues in the family, with son Neil, a former Ayrshire county player
himself, employed as the director of golf at Jonathan’s Landing Golf Club in
Jupiter, Florida, where he was voted Professional of the Year by the South
Florida PGA Southeast Chapter last year.
It was wholly appropriate that the award was presented to Bill
by PGA in Scotland chairman Alan Reid, who was a leading light in the junior
section of Kilmarnock (Barassie) during Bill’s time at the club.
Sincere congratulations are extended to Bill from everyone
at The Ayrshire Golf Association on this very well deserved award.