Profile: clubgolf’s manager Jackie Davidson
8th January, 2012 by Colin Victor
Golf is set to see its profile in Scotland rise still higher when the Ryder Cup comes to Gleneagles in 2014, but its influence will spread wider than the fans of the sport and the local businesses that will see a significant boost from the £100m expected to be pumped into the economy of the area.
The Scottish government has followed the model set by the Welsh Assembly to invest significant sums in the future of golf as part of the event’s legacy. clubgolf, an initiative to promote golf to children in Scotland, was rolled out in 2005 across Scotland after successful pilots in 2003 and 2004.
This development programme is delivered in primary schools, where nine year olds are introduced to golf, initially at school itself.
Delivered by teaching staff, trained and supported by sportscotland’s Active Schools Network, the programme has now been adopted by all 32 local authorities north of the border, covering 73 per cent of primary schools in 2011.
clubgolf manager Jackie Davidson explained: “The programme is funded by the Scottish government through sportscotland to the tune of £500,000 until 2018, and has introduced 37,790 children to the sport in 2011. Since 2003, 220,000 children have benefited from the programme.”
Once youngsters are introduced to the sport, local clubs are encouraged to take them on and offer stages one to three of golf coaching in the club environment.
“Coaching is provided by qualified volunteer coaches and PGA professionals,” explained Jackie. “This is an essential network and enables the professional to have a hand in the membership development, so it is beneficial all round.”
Uptake into clubs has been impressive: in 2010 there were 12,000 children who had taken up clubgolf coaching at 300 clubs and facilities and 3,000 of them werre girls
“Venues can include golf centres which offer driving ranges and practice areas as well as clubs,” commented Jackie. “Many of the children who are involved in the stages have become club members and are progressing through coaching.”
clubgolf has also helped clubs secure funding which has enabled them to develop new practice areas and covered driving bays.
“Golf clubs have been very supportive and given a lot of thought to creating suitable facilities, whether it is on the driving range or by dedicating an area of land for young people to practice,” said Jackie.
The project has dual aims – to encourage participation but also to develop talented players, and it is already starting to produce success in tournaments.
“Clara Young from north Berwick has represented Great Britain and Ireland in under-16 tournaments, many of our clubgolfers have progressed through the programme to the Scottish Golf Academy, and a number of competitors in the Highland Spring-supported Junior Masters also came from the programme,” commented Jackie.
Given the low levels of girls who continue to take part in sport into their teenage years, the ‘Girls in Golf’ initiative is particularly pertinent.
“The aim is to attract and retain girls in golf – 49 per cent of the children entering the clubgolf programme are girls and lots stay involved,” said Jackie.
An important factor is girls-only coaching groups, along with the support and encouragement offered by the project to get girls to come into and stay in the sport. Again it is already reaping benefits.
Kemnay Golf Club has established a popular girls’ and ladies’ tournament, and at Stranraer Golf Club, where there is a girls-only coaching group, five of the girls have gone onto compete against seniors, winning one competition with a score of 66 – eight shots under the ladies’ standard scratch score.
At Kelso Golf Club, girls from the programme took part in the county championships, beating lower handicapped adults and reaching the semi-finals.
“There is a 16 per cent transfer of boys and girls from the initial clubgolf programme in primary school to playing at clubs, one of the highest transition rates for girls in any sport, so it is clearly attractive to them,” commented Jackie.
Another new initiative is the Disability Golf Club Model, which has been rolled out on a regional basis, and also involves special schools with 134 pupils having taken up the sport.
“In the central region, Brucefields Family Golf Centre is introducing children with mixed disability levels, from cerebral palsy to learning difficulties to golf. They take part in festivals and events and attended the Johnnie Walker championships where they had the opportunity to take part in clinics as well as watching the tournament,” Jackie explained.
Progress is also being made in other regions – an autism initiative is taking place at the Hermitage in Edinburgh, which offers suitable beginner-level facilities.
Assessment of the impact of clubgolf shows that the Ryder Cup legacy is already firmly in place. Of the 311 clubs involved, 198 returned an audit which showed that 3,000 new junior members have been gained from the initiative.
As stated, funding of £500,000 a year, which had already been earmarked until 2014 and was recently extended to 2018, is essential, but clubgolf has also worked hard to gain support from the private sector.
“We have formed partnerships with RBS, Highland Spring, Gleneagles and the Johnnie Walker Championships, some of which provides value in kind, with opportunities to promote the Ryder Cup and clubgolf, or support and reward volunteers,” reported Jackie. “Highland Spring has backed the Junior Masters, and the RBS and Gleneagles funding helps to support the programme. This includes helping the coaching workforce, and assisting clubs to develop the internal structures needed for a larger junior membership.”
While volunteer coaches are highly valued, the involvement of the PGA professional is also key, and gives them an important responsibility for growing the membership of the club, Jackie reckoned.
“It’s good for the club and good for them,” she said.
Gearing clubs up to welcome and support more young people is achieved with the help of a clubgolf co-ordinator, usually a club member who works with the committee, clubgolf’s team of regional managers and Scottish Golf, which has developed a ‘toolkit’ for clubs.
“We offer examples of how clubs can organise their membership structure to suit youngsters,” explained Jackie. “This includes making the subscription system easier and possibly phasing it over a number of years.”
But clubs also need to be more flexible to get children engaged in golf, she suggested. “Let them come in their jeans, hoodies and trainers – young people will soon want to have all the right gear! We also need to promote the fact that the equipment is not that expensive – a set of clubs can be cheaper than a new pair of football boots.”
This engagement also means ensuring that the club has something to offer all year round so that potential members do not drift away during the winter.
“Clubs can set aside a room in the clubhouse and create a ‘youth club’ environment, which may be a lifeline in rural areas where there are few other facilities for young people, and may even be a way of generating extra income,” Jackie pointed out. “In bad weather, golf tournaments on the Wii or quizzes can be useful, as can involving youngsters in the running of their sport.”
Getting parents on board presents other opportunities: “Get them to have a coffee and use the clubhouse while they wait for their child. Remember that starting off the programme in primary schools means that many of the children will come from non-golfing families, and this is an ideal chance to get them involved.”
Jackie describes herself as a ‘recreational’ golfer, but has a track record of delivering sporting programmes to the community. From an early involvement in coaching and organisation of a triathlon, she became CEO of Scottish Cycling before moving to golf.
“This is a big, exciting programme, and it is so good to see juniors getting involved in golf and hopefully becoming lifelong golf club members. It’s also a fantastic opportunity to develop partnerships to help grow and strengthen the sport – we have had amazing support, from RBS, Gleneagles, Highland Spring and from the PGA. We’re starting to see some success now and I am keen to build on that.”
Developing the junior game in Scotland
Launched – and funded – by the Scottish Executive in 2003 under a partnership between the Scottish Golf Union, Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association, the Professional Golfers’ Association, the Golf Foundation and sportscotland, as a result of Scotland’s successful bid to host the 2014 Ryder Cup, the programme’s aim was to introduce every nine-year-old child in Scotland to golf. It has been supported by Scotland’s leading golfers, including Alastair Forsyth, Colin Montgomerie, Paul Lawrie, Kathryn Imrie, Catriona Matthew and Clare Queen. It has also been praised by the European Tour.
In 2005 clubgolf was rolled out nationwide and today it has been adopted by all 32 ofScotland’s unitary local authorities, covering 73 per cent of the nation’s primary schools. The country’s first minister, Alex Salmond, said last year: “clubgolf is giving primary school youngsters the chance to pick up some clubs, gain some confidence and then go on to be coached. We are introducing record numbers of young people to the game. Who knows, some of those young sportsmen and women could go on to become this country’s golf stars of the future.”