Golf club coaches modelling agency staff
23rd January, 2012 by Alistair Dunsmuir
A Northumberland golf club is providing coaching to all the women who work for a professional modelling agency, after the woman who runs both the agency and a golf network combined her two passions to offer free golf lessons to all her models.
Laura McDonald, director at I Am Models and I Am Golf, recently agreed a deal with Close House Hotel and Golf Club, and with clothing firm Glenmuir, in a bid to get more women to play the game and improve her employee’s knowledge of it. Most of her staff had never played golf before, although some do work at golf clubs as part of corporate ventures involving the agency.
“We asked all the models their thoughts on taking up the sport and taking part in lessons and the feedback was very positive,” said Laura. “They sometimes do work on corporate golf days so having girls employed who play the sport, have golf knowledge and are pretty is a perfect package.
“The feedback has been brilliant; the girls are loving the training and the sport in general, I’m thrilled with the feedback as I wasn’t sure how many of them would actually like it and complete the full training.
“Our overall goal is to break the barriers and introduce more and more girls to golf, and to change people’s attitude to the sport, proving that it’s for women.
“Hopefully we will be able to appeal to younger players.”
The models are provided with six weeks of free training at Close House, while Glenmuir, which sponsors the agency, has provided the clothing.
Jodie Minett, a 26-year-old model with the agency, said: “I only signed with I Am Models a couple of months ago and when I heard about the golf venture it just sounded like something I wanted to get involved in.
“I’ve already started my training with professionals at Close House and it’s great.
“I think golf is very stereotypically an older person’s game and probably more so a man’s game than a woman’s. Hopefully we will be able to show people it’s not just a game for older people and men.”
Fellow model, 18-year-old Amber Dyer, added: “Some people think golf is an old man’s sport but it can be for women and if you start early you can become really good at it.
“It’s also such good exercise and it gets you out in the fresh air. I think we need to get more girls into it.”
I Am Models claims to be the first socially integrated agency, offering individually tailored and managed Facebook pages for models. I Am Golf is an online golf network which runs par three birdie challenges across northern England for corporate days and golf events.
