Entries open for clubgolf Junior Club of the Year Award 2009

May 2010

The Scottish Golf Union (SGU) in partnership with clubgolf, Scotland’s national junior golf programme, are delighted to announce that entries are open for the annual clubgolf Junior Club of the Year Award.

Open to every club in Scotland the prestigious award, won in 2009 and 2008 respectively by Ranfurly Castle and Alford Golf Clubs, will recognise clubs that have demonstrated excellence in promoting junior golf during 2009.

This year’s winning club will be awarded £1,000 by the SGU, to be invested in its junior programme. It will also be invited to put forward a team of three adult members to play in a European Tour pro-am, playing alongside a leading professional golfer. The five runners up clubs will each receive £300 from the SGU to help develop their junior programmes.

“The clubgolf Junior Club of the Year Award is another great opportunity for the hundreds of clubs in Scotland that are creating a positive and inclusive culture for juniors to gain recognition,” said clubgolf Project Manager, Torquil McInroy, who will be part of the judging panel.

“As a result of the high benchmark set over the last two years’ awards we are particularly keen to see nominations from clubs that have made the growth of the junior game a top priority.

“We will be looking closely at clubs’ efforts to create structured junior coaching programmes, and will give consideration to their efforts in the following areas: how they promote the use of their course and improve provision of facilities for juniors; how they create a welcoming environment for juniors; and how they are developing relations with local community groups.”

How to apply:

To find out more click here.

Entries close on Friday 11 June 2010. The judging panel will visit each of the six shortlisted clubs between Monday 28th June and Friday 9th July, when each finalist will have the opportunity to showcase their efforts to develop junior golf.

The winning club will be announced at The Old Course, St Andrews on Wednesday 14th July, the final practice day for The Open Championship. All finalists will be invited to send two adults, and children, to The Open on this day.

Please note the following two prerequisites to submitting your club’s nomination:

• Your club must have a Child and Adult Protection Policy in place and a current nominated Child Protection Officer who has completed satisfactory disclosure checks as required by the SGU Child Protection service.
• Your club must offer equal opportunities to girls and boys in coaching programmes, team matches and other activities provided for your Junior members.

What the winners said:

“This is a marvellous achievement for the club and puts us firmly on the map as a centre for junior coaching in Renfrewshire. It is recognition for all the hard work that the volunteers and members have put in to developing the juniors. We will reinvest further and recruit more Level 1 coaches and take on some new initiatives.”

Michael McCabe then Junior Convenor, Ranfurly Castle GC (2008 winner – awarded in 2009)

“Winning this award has made a huge difference and allows us to deliver a better quality of coaching. Combining this award with Awards for All and clubgolf funding we have developed a practice area, which has a practice putting area, a target green and a hard standing driving range with ten mats to help us with the junior coaching. The prestige of being Junior Club of the Year for the whole of Scotland is quite something”.

Colin Hood, Coach Co-ordinator, Alford GC (2007 winner – awarded in 2008)