Golf in Derbyshire bloomed in 2018

The Derbyshire Golf Development Group has revealed it had a very successful 2018, in which it introduced 2,806 new people to the game.

The group delivered projects across the whole county to take golf into the community, and of the people introduced to golf, 43 per cent were female and 57 per cent male, with over 30 per cent under the age of 25.

The 2,806 figure is more than 400 people more than the group aimed to get involved, and more than one in ten have joined a golf club as a result with one in four of the 2,806 people saying they are now interested in taking out full membership of a local golf club.

The projects, which were funded by £27,000 of funding from the Sport England Small Grants fund, has seen PGA professional coaches raise the profile of the game and take golf into the community, schools and workplace to attract new people into golf.

These introductory sessions were then followed up with sustainable five or six week coaching programmes to help people learn how to play golf.

Projects were delivered at facilities such as Peak Practice Driving Range, Buxton High Peak GC, Cavendish GC, Tapton Park GC, Barlborough Links, South Chesterfield GC and Morley Hayes Golf Complex.

The coaches involved said how much they had enjoyed the projects and could really see what a positive impact they have had in helping to introduce new people to the game.

Former Ladies European Tour player Fame Tate explained:“The statistics really prove how initiatives like this are such a powerful tool in not only initially engaging individuals in the game but sustaining their interest. For 100 per cent of the participants to say after their taster sessions that they would be interested in playing more golf speaks volumes.

“Golf clubs throughout the country are facing membership issues in terms of recruitment and retention. The projects show that there are the individuals out there wanting to take up some form of membership, whether that be starter membership or full membership. Sixty-three per cent of our participants said that they would like starter membership so that poses the question – are these membership packages available within the locality?

“Pathways of progression need to be put in place to take these individuals from the initial coaching stages all the way through to further coaching, with the view of club membership and ultimately life long participants of the game.

“It has been an absolute pleasure to work on the projects and we have received some fantastic feedback. To see not only how much everyone has enjoyed the sessions but the other benefits the sessions bring such as socialisation is wonderful to see.

“It is much more than just golf coaching.”

Nigel Furniss, development officer for the Derbyshire Golf Development Group, added: “It has been fantastic project to be involved in, the coaches involved have delivered a magnificent job in taking the game out into the community to attract new people to golf. We couldn’t have had the success without their enthusiasm and innovative approach to raising the profile of the game.

“We can’t thank Sport England enough for recognising the potential in our vision to grow the game and providing such substantial financial support.

“We are also really grateful to all the facilities that allowed the follow coaching to be delivered, making the projects so successful.

“With golf clubs currently facing the challenge of recruiting and retaining members, the Derbyshire Golf Development Group has recognised the potential of engaging community golf coaches to take the sport into the community to the benefit of the sport and also the golf clubs in the county.

“The success of these projects introducing 2,806 new people to golf against our target of 2,400 speaks for itself and should be recognised as a tried and tested process to growing the game.

“We have hopefully excited these new participants to want to continue in the game and hopefully join a club, but more importantly become a lifelong participant in a sport which brings so many health and social benefits.”

Feedback from the participants highlighted the following:

98% said the coaching was very good or exceeded their expectations.

27% had undertaken further coaching.

67% have subsequently used a driving range.

43% have subsequently played golf on a golf course.

98% said they would be interested in further coaching.

100% said they would be interested in playing more golf.

35% said they would like to join a golf club.

45% saying may be they will join a golf club.

63% said they would like starter membership.

25% said they would like full membership.

11% have already joined a golf club.