Revealing golf’s ‘best kept secret’

Next time you step through the doors of your club, ask one of your friends what they know about the Golf Foundation.

The chances are, you’ll be greeted with a blank look and a shrug of the shoulders.

“We’ve used the phrase in the past – ‘the Golf Foundation is golf’s best kept secret’,” admits chief executive Brendon Pyle.

But look beneath the surface and you’ll find the charity, established with the help of threetime Open champion Sir Henry Cotton in 1952, has been playing a pivotal role in trying to grow the game.

Getting the message out about the impact of the charity is part of Pyle’s mission.

“We want to try and smash that and make sure that everyone knows what we are doing,” he adds.

Last year, they provided more than half a million children with an introduction to the sport, with the aim of getting 50,000 of those into coaching and playing membership.

They work with the home unions, the R&A, Sport England, the European Tour and the Ryder Cup, along with 11 Premier League football clubs to ensure golf is for all.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the foundation’s projects…

Golf roots centres

These are at the heart of the Golf Foundation’s vision – 400 clubs that, as of March this year, had delivered 1,150 funded projects to more than 3,000 schools. They provide a free club to participants, subsidised lessons and a welcoming atmosphere.

“We know, through research, that 50 per cent of adult weekly golfers started as juniors. So if we get it right now, they are more likely to stay in the sport or come back to it,” says Pyle.

“A team of development officers will work with the club and PGA coach to get them going into schools.

“We set targets – so we expect for our funding that, for every £250, they will reach at least 100 kids in schools, get 50 back to the golf club, 25 into coaching and 15 into regular play.

“We’ve just seen growth in outreach and kids going through the gates of a golf club, into regular play, throughout the last four years – and particularly with girls as well. We’re seeing a four per cent increase in girls membership within our programmes.

“In Wales, for example, there was a seven per cent increase. We support girls in a number of ways. We have specific funds for girls through our Golf Reach centres.”

In total, 140,000 young people every year are given a taster session in their school or community group by a Golf Roots coach. 44,752 visited a local club, 25,202 entered a structured coaching programme and 17,237 are now playing regularly.

Girls’ golf rocks

Jointly run with England Golf, PGA professionals and young ambassadors drawn from county squads, Girls Golf Rocks aims to show golf is a fun and sociable game.

Fifteen counties now take part, with Dorset and Cheshire notable success stories.

“What’s really special is you are getting high retention levels – that’s the key. 80 per cent of girls who have a taster carry on in the clubs.,” says Pyle.

“Social media is a key part of it. The reason it’s so successful is that we train the county girls as ambassadors. They are young and cool and they inspire the younger girls. That’s the secret behind it.”

GolfSixes

Everyone saw the success of the European Tour’s inaugural GolfSixes event at Centurion.

The Golf Foundation are piloting a GolfSixes Academy at 40 clubs around England, using the European Tour’s branding under licence.

“The clubs are in clusters of four and five, who are going to be setting up GolfSixes leagues and playing a format like Texas Scramble over six holes,” says Pyle.

“It will be teams of six, squads of 12, and kids will have squad shirts like you would with football teams. They are playing in pairs and you can make substitutions.

“What’s interesting is we are targeting the beginner golfer, or intermediate, who might not get to play for their club because that tends to be the better golfers.

“Our prediction is that by playing for your club, you are more likely to get engaged with the sport.”

Junior golf passport

Tri-Golf and StreetGolf start the journey, but tens of thousands of children then had their Junior Golf Passport stamped as they made their way into club golf. The Passport is a structured learning programme, which aims to transform beginners into regular players.

By March, 613 golf clubs and 815 PGA coaches were registered in the scheme.

“They learn all the technical skills but also the life skills as part of that – honesty, respect, shaking hands, saying well played to your opponent,” Pyle declares.

“It’s also about learning fundamental movement skills – developing athletes – so they are doing balance and co-ordination skills that will help their golf and in other sports.

The passport focuses on connecting to the golf club, so the kids and parents will have a tour of the club straight away. They’ll hopefully meet some of the officials at the club so it doesn’t feel such an alien environment. We progress them through to getting their first playing handicap.”

What’s next?

Pyle says: “We do have an issue at the moment that there aren’t enough kids transferring into membership – but are staying in academies run by pros. We are working with England Golf to understand that and the reasons why young people prefer that.

“It’s also looking at what the Golf Foundation does and the pathways in unearthing talent – inner-city talent and being there to support that all the way through.

“Can we unearth a Williams sisters and support them all the way through to achieve their potential?”

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