Deer Park hosts Junior Masters
August 2010
Deer Park Golf & Country Club hosted a special Junior Masters coaching event for some of the club’s thriving Junior Section who already receive coaching from Deer Park professional Sandy Strachan and his assistant John Murray.
The event, held the day before the actual Deer Park Masters began saw youngsters, who are from all over West Lothian and are aged nine and ten years old, enjoy three holes of coaching on the Championship Course.
John and Sandy have completed extra training to attain clubgolf Stage 3 coaching status. They are also well placed to advise young people who come up through the ranks showing real promise about the realities of a career in golf.
After the special training session there was a prize giving by Muir Group Chairman John Muir, an enthusiastic supporter of golf who has seen the Deer Park Masters go from strength to strength over the last six years.
He said: “Golf professionals add so much to the enjoyment of the game of golf. On their day they can be as good as any of the big names we hear about playing in the European and US Tours. We want to ensure that young people in Scotland are enjoying golf and being able to access it whatever their social background. We also want to expand their horizons to encourage them to join a golf club.”
The Deer Park Masters was first conceived by Deer Park’s long standing Golf Manager Stuart Cruickshank who identified the need for an event where the golf professionals of Scotland could compete against one another, win cash prizes and play in a pro-am team format. Competition for places at the two day event is fierce with an eventual fifty pro’s from clubs all over Scotland taking part, having come through the qualifying round.
The event also enables amateur golfers to gain valuable insight into the game they love by playing with the pro’s. A record 100 teams from the world of business are taking part this year - sponsored by IndBuild and supported by Rippin Steel Fabricators - a huge achievement by the Deer Park Sales & Marketing team and Muir Leisure.
Said Sandy Strachan, the Deer Park club professional:
“The Deer Park Masters is a Tartan Tour ranking event and a real highlight in the golfing calendar for all the professionals who take part. The recession has had a detrimental effect on many golf clubs in Scotland and indeed all over the country and so events like this where professionals can compete to win substantial cash prizes are very welcome indeed.”
“As our Junior section has taken off lately, we have attracted so many more youngsters to become members and enjoy regular clubgolf coaching at the weekends. We thought it would be a good idea to host this special session which we have nicknamed the Junior Deer Park Masters. Many of these youngsters will become our future adult members and as a golf club, we have to invest in the future. Who knows there may well be several professionals amongst them and maybe even a future Deer Park Masters winner!”
Mandy Martin, the clubgolf representative for West Lothian said: “ This year over fifteen hundred primary five pupils in West Lothian have been introduced to golf through the clubgolf programme. This has been enhanced by extended work in the schools, by Sandy Strachan and John Murray, PGA Pros at Deer Park, who have worked closely with West Lothian Active Schools to deliver taster sessions in many of the local schools. This is a great opportunity for the young players at Deer Park to see some of Scotland’s top Pros in action and inspire some of them to become Pros themselves in the future. ”
Professional Craig Lee is going for his fourth victory in the Masters this year although the many other pro’s who play the Masters every year and have notched up victories will have other ideas! Golf stars Andrew Coltart and Gary Orr all started their careers in Scotland on the Tartan Tour playing events such as the Deer Park Masters and Scotland’s Open Champion Paul Lawrie won at Deer Park in 1990m in the Under 25’s competition.
The IndBuild Deer Park Masters 2010, also supported by Rippin Steel Fabricators, teed off on Tuesday 3rd August. For further details call Deer Park on 01506 446699 or check out the website at www.deer-park.co.uk
