A girls’ golf club in Stowmarket, funded by
Sport England, has won a prestigious Golf Foundation award for best
local initiative.
Girls Allowed is a club run by young female
volunteers who encourage younger girls to learn the basics of the
game in a safe and friendly environment, with an emphasis on the
fun and social aspects of the sport.
The club is based at Stowmarket Golf Club,
whose PGA head professional, Duncan Burl dreamt up the idea and
provides the coaching. The girls, however, are in charge and, with
funding from both Sport England’s Sport Unlimited and Small Grants
programmes, take the game into schools before inviting girls back
to the Girls Allowed club to play. During the last year, 20 new
girls who were introduced to the sport began to play golf
regularly.
“Having young leaders to mentor girls who
previously had not thought of golf as an option has been really
successful,” said coach Duncan Burl. “The girls are absolutely
delighted to win this award and I’m delighted for them.”
Brendan Pyle, National Development Manager for
the Golf Foundation said the Girls Allowed project was a great
example of what the Golf Foundation was looking to achieve through
volunteers. The charity is dedicated to bringing more young people
into the game and benefits 700,000 children every year. “Girls
Allowed shows how the imagination of a professional and enthusiasm
of young volunteers can be a highly productive mix to encourage
girls into golf,” he said.
Four members of the club – Danni, Eleanor,
Holly and Antonia – received their award from former Ryder Cup
captain Bernhard Gallacher during the BMW PGA Championship at
Wentworth last month. They also walked the fairway with Lee
Westwood and helped BBC commentator Ken Brown and Ladies European
Tour Starts Rebecca Hudson and Felicity Johnson take part in a
Tri-Golf Challenge.
Girls Allowed is funded through Stowmarket’s
Skylarks Family Golf Project which recently received £4,300 of
Sport England Small Grants funding to deliver coaching in school
and at the golf course for beginners. Free coaching sessions for
parents were also available to encourage the whole family to play
together. It is also supported by Sport Unlimited, the Sport
England programme that gives children the chance to complete
10-week taster sessions in sports they may not have tried
before.
You can find out more about Sport Unlimited on
the
Sport Unlimited page of our website
Find out
more about Sport England's Small Grants Programme and how to apply
on our funding pages
Find
out more about the Golf Foundation on their website