Future of golf

Arcot Hall hosted a key golf forum to discuss the way forward for junior golf in Northumberland.

England Golf regional manager Jason Budd, Golf Foundation regional manager Ian Harvey, Northumbria Junior Golf League chairman and secretary Marcus Chisholm and Northumberland Academy coach Marcus Webb were the keynote speakers.

Most of the county’s clubs had representative at the forum where Budd and Harvey outlined the help and support available including junior organiser training.

Chisholm also highlighted the worrying decline in the number of clubs fielding teams in the NJGL – from 24 down to 18 – while North Northumberland now has no junior league and the NJGA has also experienced a drop in competitive numbers.

Chisholm said: “Club managers, professionals, parents and junior organisers need to pull together to halt this decline as failure now will be devastating in the future.”

Key factors discussed included restrictions on when youngsters can play and the need to provide competitive golf that is fast, fun and relatively cheap, including six and nine hole events.