Verdura Resort has launched The Simon Holmes Academy, a new coaching programme based at the Rocco Forte property on Sicily’s southern coastline. The academy is led by Simon Holmes, a coach with more than four decades of experience at the top level of European professional golf.
Holmes has worked with more than 80 Tour players during his career, a list that includes Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Ernie Els, Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Thomas Bjorn and Suzann Pettersen. He was alongside Faldo during his 1992 Open Championship victory and Langer during the German’s 1993 Masters win. A regular analyst on Sky Sports Golf since 2006, Holmes is well known for his ability to break down the technical side of the game for a broad audience.
His playing career, which took him from Scotland to Wake Forest University in North Carolina, was cut short by injury during the 1986 British Amateur Championship. He moved into coaching full time afterward, starting at David Leadbetter’s academy at Lake Nona in Florida before establishing himself as one of Europe’s leading instructors.
What the Academy Offers
The programme is built around long-term improvement rather than one-off lessons. Coaching is personalised to each golfer’s movement patterns, swing tendencies and on-course performance, with sessions combining technical analysis, scoring strategy and course management. Trackman analysis is also part of the offer.
“The most enjoyable part of golf is improving,” Holmes said. “Not just having a good day, but understanding why you played well and being able to repeat it. That comes from building a swing and an approach that genuinely suit the individual.”
He added that while golf instruction is widely available, not every piece of advice applies to every golfer. “At the academy, the work is entirely personal. We build a model around how each player moves, what they are trying to achieve and how they can improve their scoring over time.”
Sir Rocco Forte said Holmes “brings a level of knowledge and experience that very few coaches in the game can match,” and described the academy as designed to give guests a deeper understanding of their own game within the wider context of a stay at Verdura.
Verdura’s Golf Setup
The academy sits within one of Europe’s established golf-travel resorts. Verdura features two award-winning 18-hole championship courses designed by Kyle Phillips, set along 1.8 km of private coastline on Sicily’s southwest coast between the Valley of the Temples and Sciacca. Guests attending the academy will also have access to the resort’s practice facilities and the 4,000m² Irene Forte Spa.
The Simon Holmes Academy forms part of Verdura’s broader 2026 sports-academy programme, which includes coaching workshops across tennis, padel and other disciplines led by visiting professionals. For golfers, it offers instruction from Holmes alongside championship-calibre facilities in a resort setting built for extended stays.
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For more information on The Simon Holmes Academy click HERE.
Simon Bale
Simon Bale is the publisher of Golf Today. A low single-figure handicap golfer, he was previously a major shareholder and course reviewer for Top100GolfCourses.com for over a decade, starting in 2010. Through this role, he developed extensive knowledge of golf course design and architecture while playing more than 300 courses worldwide.