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Lockwood Academy

Facilities at Five Lakes

A coaching environment built for the whole game

Lockwood Academy coaches from a practice base that covers every part of golf: a full grass driving range, a covered and floodlit range, a short-game area with a greenside bunker, two contrasting putting greens, a par-3 academy course, indoor simulator access, and TrackMan and Capto technology.

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Craig Lockwood coaching on the grass practice area at Five Lakes

Our base

Why the practice environment matters

Coaching is only as good as what you can actually do in front of the coach. If the only option is a mat and a net, the conversation narrows to technique. When a coach has a grass range, a proper short-game area, two different putting greens, a golf course and measured data all within a few minutes of each other, the lesson can follow the problem instead of the problem following the facility.

That is the practical advantage of being based at Potters Resorts Five Lakes Golf Club in Essex. In a single session we can move from strike work on turf, to a chip-and-run over the manicured approach area, to pace control on a sloping green, to a tee shot on the academy course — and back to the numbers if we need to check what really changed.

For golfers comparing coaching in Essex, this breadth is one of the clearest reasons to work with us: we can coach the golfer, not just the swing.

What's available

Everything we need, in one place

Each facility below is used deliberately, for the part of the game it teaches best.

01

Grass driving range

What it lets us coach

  • True strike and turf-interaction feedback
  • Full-swing and ball-flight work
  • Practice from the surface you actually play from

Hitting from real turf changes what a lesson can achieve. On grass you can see the strike for what it is: where the club entered the ground, how much turf it took, whether the low point is in front of or behind the ball. That information is simply not available from a mat, which hides fat strikes and flatters poor contact.

A full grass range also means you practise from the same surface you play from, so the feel you build in a lesson transfers straight to the course. We use it for full-swing work, ball-flight control and shot-shaping, with plenty of space to work through the bag.

02

Covered and floodlit range

What it lets us coach

  • Coaching in poor weather
  • Evening practice under floodlights
  • Winter-friendly improvement work

Essex weather and short winter days should not stop your golf improving. The covered bays keep lessons and practice going through rain and wind, and the floodlights mean evening sessions are still productive well after dark.

For golfers who work full time, this matters more than it sounds: the winter is often the best window to make a change, precisely because there is less pressure to score.

03

Short-game area with greenside bunker

What it lets us coach

  • Pitching and chipping technique
  • Flight, landing and roll-out control
  • Realistic greenside bunker play

The short-game area lets us coach pitching and chipping properly: contact first, then flight, landing point and roll-out. Being able to see a ball land and release on a real, well-presented surface is what turns a technique change into a shot you trust.

The greenside bunker means sand play is coached in a realistic setting rather than described in theory — entry point, turn of the face, speed through the sand, and how the ball behaves once it lands.

04

Two putting greens

What it lets us coach

  • Green-reading and pace on real slope
  • Start-line and face-control work on a flat surface
  • Putting coached in the right order

Having two very different putting greens is a real coaching advantage, because putting has two very different halves.

The larger green carries meaningful slope, which is where green-reading and pace control are genuinely developed: uphill, downhill and across the slope, with breaking putts that behave like the ones you face on the course.

The smaller, flatter green removes those variables so we can isolate the stroke itself — start line, face control and consistent contact — without slope disguising what the putter is doing.

05

Par-3 academy course

What it lets us coach

  • Transfer from practice to play
  • Strategy, scoring and course management
  • Ideal for juniors and newer golfers

Practice grounds are where changes are built; a golf course is where they are tested. The par-3 academy course lets us close that gap in the same session — hitting a shot with a target, a lie, a wind and a consequence.

It is ideal for on-course coaching around strategy, club selection, scoring and course management, and it is a superb, unintimidating environment for juniors and developing golfers taking their first steps into playing golf rather than just hitting balls.

06

Indoor simulator

What it lets us coach

  • Fully weather-proof sessions
  • Immediate visual feedback
  • Controlled practice environment

Indoor simulator facilities are available where they add something to a session — a fully controlled environment, no weather, and immediate visual feedback on what a shot did.

We use it when it is genuinely the right tool for the work rather than as a substitute for hitting real shots on grass.

07

TrackMan and Capto technology

What it lets us coach

  • Measured ball and club data
  • Objective putting analysis
  • Data explained in plain English

TrackMan gives us measured ball and club data, so a conversation about strike, launch, curvature or distance control can be based on what actually happened rather than on guesswork. It is particularly useful for gapping work and for confirming that a change has done what we intended.

Capto is used for detailed putting analysis, giving objective information about the stroke to support what we see and what you feel on the green.

Technology is there to inform coaching, never to replace it. You will always leave with clear, plain-English priorities rather than a printout you cannot use.

From range to course

Everything we need to coach the golfer, not just the swing

Improvement stalls when practice and play never meet. Here, they sit side by side — so a change can be built, tested, measured and taken to the course in the same visit.

See how lessons work
  1. 01

    Grass range

    Build the strike and the ball flight from real turf.

  2. 02

    Short game

    Turn technique into scoring shots around the green.

  3. 03

    Putting greens

    Separate stroke mechanics from green-reading and pace.

  4. 04

    Academy course

    Test the change with a target, a lie and a consequence.

  5. 05

    Data and technology

    Confirm what changed with TrackMan and Capto.

  6. 06

    Indoor and covered

    Keep going through weather, wind and dark evenings.

Five Lakes, Essex

Where you'll find the academy

Lockwood Academy operates from Potters Resorts Five Lakes Golf Club in Essex, between Maldon and Colchester and an easy drive from Chelmsford, Witham, Braintree and Tiptree.

The golf club

Five Lakes Golf Club

For golf club, course and membership information — including tee times and club enquiries — visit the club's own website. Coaching enquiries, lesson questions and bookings are handled by Lockwood Academy here on this site, using our own contact details.

Visit Five Lakes Golf Club (opens in a new tab)

Where to find us

Potters Resorts Five Lakes, Essex

The academy is based at Five Lakes between Maldon and Colchester, around 30 minutes from Chelmsford. Golfers travel to us from across Essex, including Witham, Braintree, Tiptree and the surrounding villages.

  • Lockwood Academy at Potters Resorts Five Lakes
    Colchester Road
    Tolleshunt Knights, Maldon, Essex CM9 8HX
    United Kingdom
  • 07833 433766
  • Golfpro@pottersresorts.com
  • Free parking on site. Easy access from the A12 for Chelmsford and Colchester.
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Common questions

Facilities and practice questions

If you want to know whether the facilities suit what you are working on, just ask.

Contact the Academy

Lockwood Academy · Essex

Come and use it properly

Tell us what you are working on and we will suggest the right session and the right part of the academy to do it in.

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