An action plan to get more young people playing golf and joining clubs has been launched in Durham.
The four-year plan has been drawn up by the men’s union, women’s county association and England Golf to offer more opportunities to youngsters.
Christine Mair, chair of the Durham Golf Development Group, said: “We’ve got some great successes including club events and coaching, county competitions, the Northern Junior Golf Tour, the Order of Merit and Girls Golf Rocks. We’re also thrilled that 11 young people from Co Durham are currently studying at university in the US on golf scholarships.
“We know there’s plenty of interest in golf, but we want to get more young people involved. This plan will help us to show that golf is a great game and that golf clubs are a good place to be, where they can enjoy themselves with their friends.”
The aims of the new plan include getting clubs to sign a junior pledge to develop the game, to have a junior action plan in place by 2022 and to offer short courses or forward tees. It also wants to encourage clubs to put players forward for county coaching and to have 30 clubs playing in the Durham County League by 2022.
Durham is one of five counties working with England Golf on special projects to get more juniors involved in the sport. The others are Cheshire, Lincolnshire, Shropshire and Herefordshire, and Somerset.
