CHARLESTON, S.C. (Jan. 19, 2011) The NGCOA announced that David Leadbetter, who has helped amateur and professional golfers throughout the world improve their games, will receive the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award.

The NGCOA’s Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes longstanding contributions to the game and business of golf.

“For more than 30 years, David Leadbetter has helped golfers shoot lower scores and enjoy the game more,” said Mike Hughes, CEO of the NGCOA. “In doing so, David has helped make instruction a more vital part of the golf business for professionals as well as for course owners and operators.”

A native of Worthing in Sussex, England, Leadbetter is known throughout the world for his innovative teaching techniques. Over the past 30 years, players coached by Leadbetter – including Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Nick Price, Ernie Els and Michelle Wie – have won more than a dozen major championships and more than 100 worldwide events.

Leadbetter is a PGA of America Master Professional, Golf Channel instruction editor and Golf Digest teaching professional. Leadbetter is also the author of seven golf instruction books that have sold more than two million copies. He has written and produced a number of instructional DVDs, as well as written and co-produced more than 40 television programs.

The Leadbetter brand of golf instruction products and services includes 28 full-time academies located in 13 countries.

Leadbetter will be recognized with the association’s other 2011 award winners at the NGCOA’s Annual Conference in Orlando on Feb. 9.

The NGCOA previously announced that Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., will receive the 2011 Jemsek Award for Golf Course Excellence. Other 2011 award winners include Dan Clark, owner of Willow Creek Golf Course in West Des Moines, Ia., who will receive the Don Rossi Award for significant and long-lasting contributions to the association. Linda Rogers, owner of Juday Creek in Granger, Ind., and the late John Dodge, a former president of the Michigan golf Course Owners Association, will receive Champion Awards in recognition of service to course owners in their states. The Woodlands Golf Performance Center, which is owned and operated by Sequoia Golf, will receive the Player Development Award. Roy Clark, owner of Liberty Hills in Bellefontaine, Ohio, will receive the Paul Porter Award, which honors an owner who has established a legacy of commitment, service and leadership.

The NGCOA’s Course of the Year Award, which is chosen from course of the year winners at the chapter level, also will be announced at the conference. Finalists for the award are Hidden Valley in Norco, Calif.; Walnut Creek in Marion, Ind.; and Thunder Canyon in Washoe Valley, Nev.

NGCOA members and non-members can register for the conference at www.ngcoa.org/conference.

The NGCOA’s Annual Conference runs concurrently with the 2011 Golf Industry Show, Feb. 9-10, at the Orange County Convention Center. The Golf Industry Show, which attracts leading manufacturers and service providers, is presented by the NGCOA and the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.