Blair kids introduced to golf

Mar 25 2011 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

BLAIRGOWRIE Golf Club and 10 qualified coaches are introducing children from the local community to golf in the countdown to the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

The Big County club is the latest to sign-up to the national junior golf programme, clubgolf, a lasting legacy to mark the 2014 Ryder Cup, and a partnership between the Scottish Golf Union, the Scottish Ladies' Golfing Association, the Professional Golfers' Association, the Golf Foundation and sportscotland.

Blairgowrie’s clubgolf coordinator Phil McKenna and nine other club volunteers attended clubgolf’s two-day Level 1 volunteer training with the PGA.

“It was very easy finding the volunteers and everyone volunteered first-time,” said McKenna, who will draw on his organisational expertise and motivation from extensive experience in karate as a coach, three times Scottish Champion and 2007 Scottish team captain.

“There is a great deal of enthusiasm at Blairgowrie to develop the junior section, bring a lot more young kids into the game and hopefully find some stars of the future.”

Blairgowrie has a healthy junior section but is low on girl members.

McKenna and team are seizing upon the opportunity created by the Active Schools network which has taken clubgolf’s introductory game into all the local primary schools.

“Growing up in Blairgowrie, golf was one of those sports which was out of reach for me,” said McKenna. “It was only later in life, when I was in my twenties, that I got involved and got very passionate about it. Now I'm hooked.

“The driving force for us coaches is to give kids that otherwise may never have had the opportunity, a chance to play golf and hopefully we will find a young star of the future.

“We only have a handful of girl members and that's something we would like to change because there are a lot of potentially good girl golfers out there and Blairgowrie is a great facility.”

Together with Caroline Lawrie, Perth and Kinross council’s Active Schools Co-ordinator for the Blairgowrie cluster, the coaches are targeting three local schools this month to generate interest and offer coaching after the April holidays.

Between them Rattray, Newhill and St Stephen's Primary Schools have 105 children in the Primary 5 age group, clubgolf’s main target audience, and the club has set a goal of attracting 20% of them to coaching classes.

“It's great to have another club offering clubgolf coaching, ensuring there is a pathway from the schools so that children can take up the game,” said Caroline, who has been working with Alyth Golf Club in recent years to progress children onto its clubgolf programme.

“It's a good opportunity for children to try a new sport that they might not have access to until now.

“By all working together we will get more children involved, get them more active and at the same time build up club memberships.”