The former professional golfing coach at one of Britain's top 20 courses has opened a new driving range and high-tech coaching centre in the West Midlands.

Mark Pearson, who until recently was the head teaching professional and academy manager at The Belfry, near Sutton Coldfield, has taken a ten-year lease on a rundown driving range at Holberrow Green, near Redditch, through property agent John Truslove.

Following a £50,000 refurbishment programme, the centre has re-opened as The Golf Academy and is claimed to be the first commercial golfing facility in England to have a putting trainer which uses ultrasound to tell golfers at what angle they are holding the face of their putter.

The £10,000 SAM System is the centrepiece of The Golf Academy's indoor putting studio. The device has previously been available only to PGA players and has been creating huge interest among professionals who have tried it.

"This is the first driving range business I have owned myself and it is an exciting project," said Mark, aged 41, a professional golfer for 21 years and the coach of tour player Phil Archer who stands at 80th in the European rankings.

"I decided to try to lease it when I saw it advertised in a PGA circular a few months ago. We are trying to set up a base where people can learn how to improve their golfing techniques by having access to the latest facilities and coaching technology which have, until now, been available only to professional players.

"Although I have owned my own business before, I have never previously leased an entire driving range, so everything is mine for the first time and that is nice. I have invested a lot of time and money in this venture and, with a ten-year lease on the place, I am going nowhere for the next decade."

The ten-acre site has a 30-bay driving range and, in addition to the putting device, the indoor coaching facilities include a video analysis machine and a golf simulator which enables visitors to play a full round of virtual golf when the weather is too wet for the real thing.

Before Mark took over the range, it had become rundown over a period of several years and closed down completely a few months ago.

Mr Truslove said: "I am very pleased that we have been able to help a consummate professional like Mark to provide a wonderful facility. This is an excellent example of how we can always find exactly the right property to satisfy a client's requirements - no matter how specialised those requirements might be."