Hi, oh what a little beauty his is! I agree about cockers, although I know from here that not all cocker pups are always easy, my boy was actually not that bad and they are indeed a wonderful breed, Humphrey was my first too, I‘ve loved all my dogs but Humph‘ has taken over my heart!
I groom myself and do use clippers in parts since he was castrated as the coat has altered and produces so much undercoat its hard to cope with but the general opinion is that clipping will spoil the coat and shouldn‘t be done if you’re intending to show.
I live in the sticks, in Germany, and have also found it hard to find good advice as cockers are no where near as popular as they are in UK. (Which is why COL is so great!) There are a couple of videos from ProGroomer online which I found helpful.
Good luck with showing him!