This might be the greatest game ever

Alistair Dunsmuir
By Alistair Dunsmuir July 18, 2017 15:09

Former Open champion Louis Oosthuizen has been using a giant dartboard to teach youngsters how to play golf ahead of the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

Oosthuizen has been at the Golf Foundation’s National StreetGolf Championship Final on Formby Hall’s par three course.

Street Golf Finals held at Formby Hall Golf Club

The Premier League and Sport England also supported the event, as teenagers from diverse backgrounds and traditionally non-golfing communities wore their favourite teams’ football kits as they enjoyed a team Texas scramble.

The added attraction was, of course, firing golf shots and footballs at a huge dartboard, as well as learning football ‘freestyle’ tricks with Paul Wood and hitting a football crossbar with golf shots.

“This was a wonderful occasion for young people from all over the country who had qualified as new golfers, many recently experiencing a real golf course for the very first time in this team event,” said a spokesman for the Golf Foundation, which is the national charity that helps young people from different backgrounds to enjoy golf.

“The visit of Louis Oosthuizen made this a day the boys and girls should always remember. Louis posed for personal pictures, talked with the youngsters and encouraged them before they all went on to Royal Birkdale.

“For the StreetGolf final, young fans normally cheering on their favourite strikers have become great strikers of a golf ball this summer as new young players from community golf programmes across 11 Premier League and Championship football clubs teed it up in a unique golf event which draws on the ‘power of football’.”

The finalists had taken part in local StreetGolf festivals and short course events at local golf clubs before qualifying for the Formby Hall event.

Louis Oosthuizen joined in with the dartboard challenge before presenting the prizes.

Golf Foundation chief executive Brendon Pyle said: “The aim of this national project has been to connect all the benefits of playing golf, including learning life skills associated with the game, with the wider audience in major footballing communities, using the ‘power of football’ thanks to the Premier League. We aim to provide all the youngsters involved with a pathway into golf clubs and potential membership.

“The day was made really special by the presence of Louis Oosthuizen. He is one of the good guys in every sense, a true gentlemen and he has made many friends among the young players. A great part of our work concerns offering the ‘Skills for Life’ benefits of the sport such as respect, resilience, fair play and sportsmanship. Louis is the perfect example of the values we believe in passionately as a charity.”

Teams present were from the following football club projects: Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Crystal Palace, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, Stoke City, Team Wales (Bryn Meadows), and teams from Formby High School and two teams from Suffolk.

Formby High School were the winners of the final, with Team Wales winning the silver medal and Blackburn Rovers securing the bronze in third.

Oosthuizen and fellow UPS ambassador Lee Westwood are also supporting the ‘Bags 4 Birdies’ campaign at the Open. For every birdie that Louis and Lee make, UPS will donate a set of golf clubs to a deserving youngster to help them make their way in the game. Last year the pair secured 103 birdies.

The Golf Foundation is donating 12 golf sets on behalf of UPS and at the end of the final, Louis presented sets of clubs to two young people who showed the best attitude and respect for the sport and their peers on the day (termed as ‘Skills for Life’). These youngsters were Lily, from team Middlesbrough, and Josh from Aston Villa.

 

Alistair Dunsmuir
By Alistair Dunsmuir July 18, 2017 15:09
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3 Comments

  1. Tim July 25, 18:32

    The 10 foot version is currently plastered all over Facebook as a sponsored link priced at $12,500 for that price you could invest in something alot more engaging and rewardng for golf starters such as a entry level golf simulator for rainy days

    Reply to this comment
  2. matthew July 20, 10:53

    We AirPixa Ltd did a promo video for KickDarts UK https://youtu.be/dyp-mdZeH2w Philip Jepson is the contact KickDarts if anyone is interested in getting one 🙂

    Reply to this comment
  3. Pieter July 19, 07:52

    I wonder why we do not have more grassroots golf development in South Africa ? Golf offers such amazing scope for employment…..

    Reply to this comment
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