Golf Development

NEW Family Classic Competition

The Fairways to Heaven FAMILY CLASSIC is a new competition aimed at juniors and their family members.

This inaugural event is to be held at Aberdare Golf Club on Monday 2nd August 2004.

Entries are invited from Ladies, Gentlemen and Junior Golfers.

It is a paired Texas Scramble with teams to comprise of one Adult and One Junior (pair must be related with junior under 18 years old on 1st January 2004)

Entry fee is £35 per team of two, and includes a Sunday welcome reception, Monday tournament, lunch and prizes.

Contact Golf Development Wales or Aberdare Golf Club for details.

Closing date for entries is Monday 12th July 2004.

Junior Organisers Diary

In January of this year a new resource was delivered to clubs for use by their Junior Organisers.

Intended as an aide to these vital volunteers, it incorporates ideas on:-

· Coaching · Playing · Funding · Child Welfare

It also has a list of fixtures and relevant contacts.

Should clubs require an additional copy, then please contact us on (01633) 423798 to arrange it.

The Golf Development Wales team is grateful to the authors of the “Guide to Clubs on Junior Golf in Wales” upon which much of the diary’s content has been based.

ANGLESEY GOLF UNION

UNDEB GOLFF MÔN

IRISH FERRIES & SPORTS MATCH

A presentation between Sports Match Cymru, Irish Ferries & the Anglesey Golfing Union took place at Holyhead Golf Club, Thursday afternoon 20^th November 2003.

Following on from a very successful initiative by the Ynys Môn Sports Development Unit for coaching potential sporting champions this summer (promoted by Leisure & Arts Portfolio holder councillor Derlwyn Hughes), Irish Ferries Ports continued its tradition of supporting young sports girls & boys on Anglesey by sponsoring the A.G.U. junior section to the sum of £500.

County junior organiser Mr Randall Richards matched this amount, £ for £, through the Sports Council for Wales SportsMatch scheme and sought the advice of Golf Development Wales officer, Louise Davis. Consequently, the A.G.U. junior section has now increased its coaching funds by £1,000.00.

The photograph (above) shows Mr Ian Fenwick, Manager Irish Ferries Ports, handing over the cheque to Mr Philip Warburton, A.G.U. President.

35 boys & girls aspiring to achieve handicaps & to start playing competitive golf will receive six weeks of one hour tuition sessions at the Penrhyn golf course & driving range, Llanddaniel with A.G.U. county coach P.G.A. professional Steve Elliott of Holyhead G.C. During the school holidays, competitions have been arranged & will form part of the long-term plan culminating in an annual Tri-Golf / Wee Wonders competition.

A fruitful meeting between Golf Development Wales, A.G.U. & Anglesey County Council has also taken place to discuss future plans to develop junior golf on the Island.

Sportsmatch Cymru

As a consequence of the successful Towergate sponsorship of the WGU Club of the Year Awards, the Sportsmatch scheme gave £ for £ support for the grass-roots development initiatives of Golf Development Wales.

This has enabled the team to set-up specific regional development schemes with Pembrokeshire County Council and, hopefully, Gwynedd and Anglesey County Councils.

The Pembrokeshire scheme is now up and running with Julian Noot acting as coaching co-ordinator. The over-seeing group that has been set-up has formed a strategy that sees 4 secondary schools being targeted in various areas of the County. These schools are given free group coaching for beginners (especially girls) and the clubs local to the schools are offering continuation opportunities for the children. The primary schools that feed the secondary schools are also using Tri-Golf via the Community Chest scheme – giving a full spectrum of golfing activity for large areas of the County.

It is hoped to expand the same format into the other areas of the County over the next two years, and into the Gwynedd area, finance permitting.

Another scheme to benefit from the funding of Sportsmatch Cymru is based in the Llanelli area.

The Urdd is the Welsh Language Youth movement formed in 1922 as an organisation for young people to help keep the Welsh language alive and healthy. It now has over 50,000 members between the ages of 8 to 25.

On the back of a sponsorship package from the Principality Building Society for the Urdd’s rugby tournament at Stradey Park, a £ for £ Sportsmatch award has been made to help develop golf in 10 primary schools in the Llanelli area – led by the Urdd’s sports development officer for the region, Aled Parry.

Child Protection update

Don’t’ be afraid of this topic – it’s mainly about commonsense.

However, to help people with any issues a new dedicated officer for Child Welfare and Protection in golf has been appointed. Vicky Bailey is to be based at the NSPCC Child Protection in Sport offices in Leicester and can be contacted on (0116) 234 7278 or via (029) 20838085.

The website www.sportprotects.org.uk is definitely worth a visit and contains plenty of useful advice and information.

One of the most frequently asked questions on Child Welfare concern the transportation of children. A quick guide to good practice in this area can be found within the Junior Organiser Diaries sent to each clubs Junior Organiser. Should you still have any questions in this or any other regard of child welfare please contact Vicky via the details above.

Golf Development Wales has formed a relationship with a leading manufacturer of junior clubs.

The clubs are manufactured to the exact standards of adult clubs but are correctly balanced and weighted to fit junior hands.

Team LongDog say that they are the fastest growing range of kids clubs in Europ

e and the company also sponsor Welsh tour professional Jamie Donaldson.

The deal allows the development officers to have a bank of clubs for use in development schemes.

It also allows Starter Centres in Wales to purchase clubs at a significant discount (50%).

If you would like to know more, then please either contact us, or Laurie Flynn at LongDog directly:-

The Golf Foundation Merit Award Scheme ha

s been revamped and replaced with The Junior Golf Passport.

The PGA are beginning to launch a new Coaching scheme and therefore the existing Junior Golf Leader's award is currently being revamped.

We will update you with the dates for the next set of Junior Golf Leader courses as soon as is possible.

"Fit In" is a new campaign promoted by the Sports Council for Wales aimed at attracting more women and girls into sport.

Golf has been allocated the whole month of July in order to promote itself as a suitable activity for women and girls. Quadrant PR will be releasing a series of articles for publication in lifestyle magazines and papers publicising the benefits of female golf.

Some good schemes that are being delivered in July to coincide with the "Fit In" campaign, include