golfweloveit

Here Come The Girls is an innovative programme Alastair Spink has created and taught at Fynn Valley GC since 2011. This has resulted in a very successful uptake of the sport by younger women, reversing the severe national decline in England. To date over 300 women have been taught under the scheme. These ideas and concepts are the future of the game and it would be great to see this rolled out across the country.

Here Come The Girls is a project to encourage more women to play golf. 90% of the students are still playing and have many have gone on to become club members. Eight hours of group coaching is supported by free, unlimited use of the par 3 course to practice. Participants keep coaching journals about everything about their golfing experience, from interactions with people at the club, how welcome they are made to feel to their thoughts about their learning. Daily interaction with the coach and other participants by email takes place. There is a focus away from technical coaching. It isn’t directive it is conversational and skills are introduced when the sport requires them to learn technique. The focus is on “have a go”. They are taken out onto the course from the first lesson and allowed to work out their own way. Participants have found this empowering as some have previously had negative experiences leafing to confusion when instructed by men. The coach offers support, not instruction and the group give feedback. This builds success and confidence in ability. Being taught in a non-judgmental environment, and being allowed to dress in jeans and trainers, takes the fear factor of being in a golf club away. Alastair likes the idea that “women dont want to dress up to relax”. However, Alastair stressed that in order for this to work there must be buy in from the coach, club and members to support the new participants.

Over the past four years the uptake of women who go on to become club members has been low, showing that the time and finance involved is a factor, they are much more inclined to become nomadic golfers. The programme is interesting in that it aims to empower women golfers in what can be an intimidating male oriented environment. My own thoughts on this are found in “Golf. A game designed by men for just men?” at the beginning of this blog.

From its beginnings in 2007 to its popularity today, Surrey Golf’s Nike RookieTour has become the largest junior golf tour of its kind in Europe.

It has been described as the jewel in the crown of Surrey golf and all involved are rightly proud of its success. It has given hundreds of youngsters a head start in both their sport and in life by letting them play competitive golf, develop their skills and most of all have fun within their peer group. The Nike Rookie Tour players have twice been featured on Sky Sports.

Created in 2007 to broaden the competitive experience of the under 14 age boys and girls within Surrey, the Nike RookieTour has grown quickly. Under 12 and under 14 boys play 18 hole events in both scratch and handicap divisions. Since 2011 a dedicated girls division play 18 hole handicap events, with on average 20 girls registered to compete.

The Tour provides competition appropriate to age outside of home clubs. The juniors develop skills, self-discipline and confidence by playing against those of a similar age and standard. But they also build new friendships and play in a ‘family’ atmosphere.

There were 12 regular season events played across Surrey this year, leading to a special finale ‘The Race To The Stars’ where the top 12 boys and top 6 girls from each Order of Merit are invited to play. For 2015 the event will be held at the Royal Automobile Club later this month.

The Tour chooses tees and course length appropriate to age and ability. But for those juniors who have a handicap higher than 36 or no handicap, they can play in a separate Young Improvers Group. These YIGs players, as they are known, have 5 of their own events held on 9-hole par 3 courses. Their average age is 8-10 but there is no lower age limit and they do not even have to be a current member of a club. If a child is good enough, they are old enough. They are given a YIGs RookieTour handicap for these events which are managed by the Tour. But once they obtain a club handicap of 36 or better they progress to the main under 12 and under 14 Tour series events.

This year 227 players from 53 Surrey clubs registered for the Nike RookieTour. An average of 110 players entered per event, the highest number of entries being at Hoebridge where 130 players entered. The Tour is promoted within golf clubs, golf centres and driving ranges. Events sell out very quickly which does mean some youngsters don’t get to play in all the events they want.

The quality of competition is exceptionally high. There are 32 single figure handicap players in the under 14 division, with two players at 3 handicap. Often the scoring is so close that count back is used to separate the players The race for the Order of Merit titles has been intense. With many players still in with a chance to claim the title right up to The Race to The Stars event.

The Rookie Tour also acts as a player pathway to the mainstream junior opens. All of the Surrey under 12, under 13 and under 14 squads either come from or already play in the RookieTour. The Tour thus plays an important role in developing Surrey stars of the future. It provides a means to identify talent for coaching and inclusion into Surrey junior teams which have had outstanding, often unrivalled success, at this age group. The U12, U13 & U14 teams have so far played 15 County matches and apart from the U14’s losing a friendly at the start of the year all the teams remain undefeated, with the U12 team having never lost a match since their conception 3 years ago.

The opportunity to have regular competitive practice in Rookie Tour events has fed the success of the county teams.

Juniors who play in RookieTour events come from a broad spectrum of backgrounds but have the same fun, get on so well and the RookieTour fosters friendships that may last a lifetime. Parents who week in, week out help out, ball spot and taxi drive are invaluable to the Tour. But, as Rookie Tour Committee Chair Steve McNeill says “we develop the parents as well as the kids and help and support them through the process. The parents trust us to help their children, as such we are a family”.

There are firm rules, although parents are allowed walk the course and watch there is a 25 metre rule to ensure the players make their own decisions. Likewise golf etiquette and lines of discipline are spelt out to the competitors. “We sometimes take the mickey out of them and they throw it back at us, which is great, but they know not to cross the line” says Steve “and so they play in a happy atmosphere.

An outstanding competitor to come from the ranks of the RookieTour is David Boote. He became the first Rookie Tour player to compete in a European Tour event when he teed up in the ISPS Handa Wales Open at The Celtic Manor Resort and was selected for this year’s Walker Cup squad. David, a student at Stanford University in California, played on the Rookie Tour in 2007 and won the Under 14 scratch Order of Merit. He went on to captain Surrey, Wales and Great Britain and Ireland Juniors. He attended the Nike RookieTour annual prize giving and gave the players a motivational speech which inspired them all to improve.

The Rookie Tour has been a model for other English counties to develop their own leagues as Essex, Hampshire and Bucks, Berks and Oxon have done. It is a fantastic success for Surrey Golf, but it is only made possible by the generosity of Surrey golf clubs who host the events free of charge. The Tour is grateful to them – West Byfleet, Horton Park, Addington Court, Goal Farm, Broadwater Park, Foxhills, Banstead Downs, Merrist Wood, Redhill and Reigate, Effingham, The Drift, Camberley Heath, Betchworth Park, Windlesham, Top Golf, Hoebridge, Reigate Hill, Pine Ridge and Cuddington.

Any families interested in finding out how their children can join the RookieTour for events in 2016 can e-mailrookietour@gmail.comto register an interest and also follow @rookietour on twitter.

The boys and girls who belong to the Nike Rookie Tour have become players who do their county credit. As Steve McNeill says “I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

West Byfleet Golf Club have awarded their first Dame Laura Davies Girls Scholarship to Kelsey Newport aged 14 from Woking. The club wish to award further scholarships in the New Year and applications are now invited from girls who can already play golf who wish to progress in the sport.

Former World No 1 Dame Laura, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame at St Andrews this July  has given her personal backing to the scholarships where she honed her skills before turning professional.

“I’m proud and delighted to back what is a fantastic opportunity for girls at West Byfleet Golf Club. I have so many great memories of the wonderful support I received from so many members and friends of the club when I was starting out on my way, some of whom I’m still in regular contact with. I’m sure these scholarships will help generate interest in our great sport. I wish the lucky recipients every success – I know I’d have jumped at the chance to take part!”

Kelsey was awarded the scholarship on completion of West Byfleet Golf Club’s development scheme for juniors, the Woodpecker Academy.

“Kelsey was very promising in terms of ability and commitment and we felt she should
be encouraged to continue her development”

said West Byfleet’s Junior Organiser Mrs Fui Ling Bolton. Kelsey was awarded full junior membership of the club, unlimited access to practice, free range balls and specialised one to one coaching from Assistant Professional Jon Field.

Kelsey’s mother Melanie, who was a competitive golfer in South Africa, encouraged Kelsey to learn to play and felt that West Byfleet’s Woodpecker Academy would give her a full grounding in the game. She made such good progress that she was awarded the first scholarship. Mrs Newport says:

“Kelsey’s game is improving all the time and Jon is a fabulous teacher.
Her goal is to play more consistently and translate good shots into better scores and get
her handicap down”.

West Byfleet Golf Club would love to hear from girls aged between 11-16 on 1 January 2015 who would be interested in being considered for one of the Dame Laura Davies Girls Scholarships next year. The next Woodpecker Academy starts on Sunday January 10 12-1pm cost £55 for 18 sessions of coaching and unlimited practice.

Further details are available by e- mail membership@wbgc.co.uk or telephoning 01932 343433 option 6

A new generation of golfers are coming into the sport in England. Thanks to the initiative of England Golf and British Universities and Colleges Sport, golf has been made accessible and appealing to 16-25 year olds in colleges and universities. Since September 2012, University and College student activators have been trained by the County Golf Partnerships and now deliver golf activities on campus as part of England Golf’s Whole Sport Plan. As the new academic year begins golf activators will be at Freshers Fairs and social meetings at campuses across the country.

In Surrey development teams have been working with 3 universities – Royal Holloway, Roehampton and Kingston – and 2 Further Education Colleges, Reigate and East Surrey.  Volunteer student activators have been trained to create fun and informal activities on campus to get peoples interest and provided funding. He has helped them to find local golf facilities to learn to play and taught them to use social media platforms to publicise the game. Branded promotional material from the national Get Into Golf campaign and Golf Xtreme equipment, including velcro balls and targets have been provided to use indoors and outdoors.

The success of the initiative has been due to some dedicated work from the student activators. A shining example is Fiorella Badin, a second year Law undergraduate at Kingston University, who bubbles with enthusiasm about golf. She has created a great buzz at the Freshers Fayre using Street Golf to get over 50 students to have a go. From this great start she has managed to retain a core group of students who regularly play. They have linked up with Lee Mackie, professional at Sandown Park Golf Centre, where they regularly take lessons and play the Par 3 course every Sunday. Fiorella’s creative skill in delivering the activity is that she has made golf part of a great social experience. The regulars go out for dinner, dancing and to the movies after golf. They all dressed up for Halloween on the range and have just had an enjoyable Christmas social. They are looking into new things to do in the winter such as playing on simulators and trying out Foot Golf. Fiorella understands that not only can golf provide challenge and achievement, it is also a perfect way to get people to socialise and make new friends.

The student activators receive good training and support and the experience they gain will no doubt help their future employability. Fiorella says:

“It is great that opportunities like this are given to us. I am really enjoying my time being Kingston University’s Golf Activator. It is a very relaxing sport you can play in the open air and great for socialising”.

Her fellow students are equally as enthused:

Luke Fitzpatrick says:

“Golf is a great sport to play. The people are very friendly, I’m starting to win as well and the prizes are awesome”.

Farooq Rahimi agrees:

“It is fun, enjoyable, creates good team skills and we’ve made new friends. The game is brilliant and exciting. This improves our motivation and enthusiasm to move up time and time again. Above all it is very great fun”.

The health benefits of golf, the exercise and being outside in the fresh air help students to study better and be more productive, are promoted as an incentive to try golf.

Omar Faruk Abubakar, a MSc Student in Health Information Management at Kingston also likes the longevity of golf:

“I have chosen golf as an ideal sport to follow in my youth and to progress through to my advanced age. Unlike most sports golf provides the needed short and long term opportunities for players to keep on playing the game at various levels all their lives”.

Surrey’s students have certainly become intrigued by golf. At taster events a great cross section of ethnicities, male and female and disabled young people have tried it out. This is has shown a much more diverse appeal than the national average of the student pilot which showed that mostly young men were interested. Indeed at East Surrey College the girls trying golf outnumbered the young men 2 to 1!

The student market is a large one. Each Autumn half a million young people start university in the UK and raising the profile of golf on campus also reaches large employers within further and higher education. So adults can also be reached to get into golf. But to engage students in the 16-25 age group the sport must be branded in a relevant, convenient and friendly tone of voice using media and social media to engage their interest. From these fun have a go events, more structured activities are offered at clubs and golf facilities in Surrey, opening the pathways to welcome young people into club memberships and life long playing.

England Golf’s goal to significantly increase golf participation amongst the 16-25 year old age group looks to be on a great course. It’s Five Point Plan to grow, sustain, help excel, work in partnership with golf providers and encourage students employability will continue for the next four years at least. A mini conference is planned for students at the end of next Summer.

I really enjoyed watching the LGU Home Internationals at Royal Wimbledon Golf Club this month played in a great spirit with England retaining their title. The matches were supported by an enthusiastic gallery.

Good to see “spectators welcome”. There is a demand to watch golf events, particularly as there are not the professional tournaments there were in the UK. If it was made more widely known that amateur events can be supported it would help the top players gain experience playing with a gallery and with a good atmosphere. It would also satisfy a demand to watch live golf, free of charge.

It’s great to see the British Masters back at Woburn GC October 8-11 after an absence of seven years. Supported by Sky Sports and now sponsored by Zurich Insurance, the event will be hosted by Ian Poulter, Justin Rose, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald, in the way Rory McIlroy did at the Irish Open. The European Tour’s Volunteer Team, of which I am one, will also be helping at the event. Some of the volunteer team are pictured at the BMW PGA Championship this year with winner Ben An. Like the two random women photobombing behind them.

Tickets on europeantourtickets.com.

The British Battle Back team of wounded warrior golfers have arrived in Florida for their match vs the USA to be played at TPC Sawgrass this week, bouyed by a message of support from European Ryder Cup Captain Darren Clarke.

It was a highlight of last year to be at Walton Heath to see their magnificent skills and to see a home win as shown in the Golfing World film above. C’mon the lads, bring the trophy home!

Tickets for the golf events at the Rio Olympic Games 2016 will go on sale on rio2016.com next month. The course at Reserva de Marapendi, designed by Gil Hanse and Amy Allcott is completed but the course is still maturing.  A one day test event will be played in March with four leading male and female players. The men’s event will take place 11-14 August 2016 and the womens event 17-20 August.

Qualification for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will be based on the Official World Golf Ranking of 11 July 2016, making up a field of 60 players in each of the men’s and women’s events.

The top 15 men and women will automatically qualify, provided there are not more than four golfers per country. The remaining 45 places will go the highest-ranked players from countries that do not already have two golfers qualified, with at least one golfer from the host nation Brazil and one from each geographical Olympic region (Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania) guaranteed a place.

Players currently qualified at September 2015 are:

Men’s event

Rory McIlroy Ire, Jordan Spieth USA, Jason Day Aus, Bubba Watson USA, Justin Rose GBR, Jim Furyk USA, Dustin Johnson USA, Henrik Stenson Swe, Sergio Garcia ESP, Louis Oosthuizen RSA, Adam Scott AUS, Hideki Matsuyama Jap, Branden Grace RSA, Martin Kaymer GER, Shane Lowry Ire, Danny Willett GBR, Bernd Wiesberger Aut, Anriban Lahiri Ind, David Lingmerth Swe, Tongchai Jaidee Thai, Francesco Molinari Italy, Victor Dubisson Fra, Danny Lee NZL, Byeong-Hun An Kor, Miguel Angel Jiminez Esp, Joost Luiten Ned, Soren Kjeldsen Den, Kiradec Aphibarnrat Thai, Alexander Levy Fra, Hiroshi Iwara Jap, Sang Moon Bae Kor, Graham DeLaet Can, Marcel Siem, Ger, Emiliano Grillo Arg, David Hearn Can, Miko Illonen Fin, Thomas Bjorn Den, Ricardo Colveia Por, Ryan Fox Nzl, Brendon de Jonge Zim, Thomas Pieters Bel, Angel Cabrera Arg, Camilo Villegas Col, Fabrizio Zanotti Par, Wu Ashun China, Carlos Ortiz Mex, Hai Tong Li China, S S O Chawrassia Ind, Nicolas Colsaerts Bel, Vijay Singh Fiji, Roope Kakko Fin, Angeli Que Phi, Edoardo Molinari Italy, Felipe Aguila Chile, Mardan Marmat Singapore, Lucas Lee Brazil, Antonio Lascuna Phi, Chan Shi-Chana Tpe, Adilson da Silva Bra, Mark Tullo Chile.

Women’s Event

Inbee Park Kor, Lydia Ko NZ, Stacy Lewis USA, So Yeon Ryu Kor, Hyi-Joi Kim Kor, Suzann Petterson Nor, Lexi Thompson USA, Shanshan Feng China, In Gee Chun Kor, Anna Nordqvist Swe, Britany Lincicombe USA, Cristie Kerr USA, Minjee Lee Aus, Brooke Henderson Can, Karrie Webb Aus, Azahara Munoz Esp, Teresa Lu TPE, Pornanong Phatlum Tpe, Julieta Granada Par, Sandra Gal Ger, Mika Miyazoto Jap, Shiko Oyama Jap, Charley Hull GBR, Carlotta Ciganda Esp, Cariona Matthew GBR, Lee-Anne Pace RSA, Anya Jutanugam Thai, Karine Icher Fra, Mariajo Uribe Col, Caroline Maddon Ger, Christek Beljon Ned, Pernilla Lindberg Swe, Xiyu Lin China, Nicole Larsen Den, Line Vedel Hansen Den, Marianne Skarpnord Nor, Alena Sharp Can, Stephanie Meadow Ire, Paula Kelo RSA, Dewi Claire Shreefel Ned, Ursula Nikstrom Fin, Klara Spilkova Cze, Maria Balikoeva Rus, Noor TMmen Fin, Guilia Sergas Italy, Fabienne In-Albon Swiz, Christine Wolf Aut, Alejandr Llaneza Mex, Diana Luna Italy, Michelle Koh Mas, Leona Maguire Ire, PAZ echevmia Chile, Laetitia Beck Israel, Jennifer Rosales Phi, Lisa McCloskey Col, Chloe Leurquin Bel, Miriam Nagl Brazil.

As we know, an American Ryder Cup win has been a rare thing, and this is about one from last century!

I found this fascinating film of a (all male) dinner held at the San Antonio Country Club after the Brookline Ryder Cup. Interesting insights into what went on backstage.

The English programme to find more beginner golfers – get into golf – has had mixed success. Other initiatives such as the National Golf Month have fallen shy of their targets. Last year only 30,000 people tried out golf during the campaign, well short of the 100,000 that was aimed for.

The gold standard for drawing more participants into golf has been set independently by World of Golf whose three centres in England run the biggest learn to play programme worldwide, teaching 8,000 new golfers in the past 12 months. Their adult programme, which offers six completely free lessons, remains a blueprint for others to follow.

Jon Woodroffe, Group Golf Development Manager for World of Golf and current PGA Coach of the Year, is well aware that newcomers to golf can be easily deterred.

“As a PGA professional for 30 years, I have seen many beginners lose confidence and patience on the driving range or golf course, which leads to them giving up the game early in their golfing career,” he said. Jon sums up the success of this scheme: “What we have done is given beginners six free golf lessons in order to give them the basic skills, so they can enjoy the game of golf and get the ball going straight. The group lessons also allow beginners to play with other beginners and so they tend not to be embarrassed if they hit a wayward shot. Ultimately, this leads to World of Golf retaining them as customers and keeping them as golfers for a longer period of time.”

But following on from this they have developed something fantastic to ease the beginner’s transition from novice player through to fully fledged players. It’s called Fairways Club and offers a model that should be rolled out nationally to ease the beginner’s path into golf.

“Fairways is a club” explains Jon. “Its aim is to advise and guide on development after completing the beginner scheme. It’s £20 to join with benefits of over £150. These include 50% off range costs, four free one hour coaching clinics, a 7iron to practice with, half price green fee vouchers and importantly opportunities to play out on the golf course to introduce the beginner with players of the same standard guided by coaches and volunteers”.

These Fairways golf days have been held in welcoming clubs around Surrey and South London in the late weekend afternoons when the courses are quiet and fewer club members are around to intimidate the beginners. It provides a link between the first lessons and being golfers ready to play on the course and become club members. During the golf days volunteers help advise on shotmaking, club selection and course management. The fun, friendly environment encourages beginners to establish a network of people to play golf with in the future. Players are encouraged to join an golf club Academy with a view to becoming members and introductions can be made. Fairways golf holidays have also been arranged in Portugal and Spain.

Fairways joins together people who are just starting out in golf and supports them into the golf club environment. It’s been very successful in retaining beginners and turning them into golfers. It’s an idea whose time has come.