Six Premier League clubs will promote golf

Six Premier League football clubs have agreed to work with local golf clubs and schools in order to provide more golfing opportunities for children in their local communities.

The six, Everton, Aston Villa, Sunderland, Southampton, West Bromwich Albion and Hull, will each, from next month, deploy a dedicated co-ordinator to use the attraction of the football club to get youngsters aged 14-plus to try StreetGolf, the urban, ‘play-anywhere’ version of the sport.

The six clubs, along with Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Derby County and QPR, will forge links with their local golf clubs and their county golf partnerships (CGPs), which will ensure that any youngsters interested in playing the game can receive coaching from a PGA professional.

The news is a result of golf being added to the community programme, Premier League 4 Sport (PL4Sport), for the first time this year, meaning it is one of 12 sports that Premier League clubs promote to youngsters as part of a scheme to boost their local communities.

Brendon Pyle, development manager for the junior golf charity the Golf Foundation, said: “This is great news for golf because the power of football means we will be able to reach many more young people.  And, because most football clubs are based in town and city areas, we’ll be able to reach a totally new audience.

“StreetGolf is the ideal way to introduce them to golf. It’s a different, edgy and versatile game which you can play anywhere. When we introduced it to the PL4Sport co-ordinators they loved it, it really changed their perception of how golf can be delivered.”

A pilot scheme run by the Golf Foundation and Bolton Wanderers FC attracted more than twice as many young people as predicted.

Brendon added: “We feel confident that through Premier League 4 Sport we will be able to reach more young people and demonstrate the positive life skills that the sport promotes.”