East Midlands: Cartoon capers to entice young golfers

Cartoon capers are being used by a golf club to entice more young people into the sport.

One of the country’s leading comic strip artists has put his talents to work to create a cartoon aimed at catching the attention of youngsters.

Barrie Appleby illustrates the Beano and other comics and has teamed up with Newton Green in Suffolk.

Appleby’s home overlooks the course and he said: “As we are near neighbours it was a pleasure to be involved.”

Newton Green has gained a reputation for its progressive recruitment ideas and Appleby produced a design for the course, which has been adopted on to a leaflet and will be circulated around pupils in a dozen local primary schools.
‘The generous gesture means we can capture the attention of young people’ As part of the initiative, club professional Tim Cooper has been hosting golf sessions in the schools. These will culminate in an inter-schools competition at the club.

Club chairman Peter Phillpot said: “We have one of the most successful junior sections in East Anglia and do not want to be caught out by the nationwide decline in interest from young people.

“We are being proactive by investing resources. The generous gesture from Barrie Appleby to assist our cause means we can blaze a trail and try to ensure we capture the attention of young people.

“We need to continue helping develop the sport locally and ensure Newton Green is a benchmark club for young people.”

In recent times, Newton Green has had youngsters qualifying for national squad training and has a dozen juniors representing Suffolk at various levels.

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