The amazing Archie Tollin celebrates his 80th with his clubgolf proteges at Harburn
GC
Age
no barrier for 80 year old Archie
Age
is proving no barrier to the teaching abilities of Archie Tollin,
officially clubgolf’s oldest volunteer coach, who turned
80 last month.
Described
by Harburn Golf Club’s clubgolf organiser and volunteer
coach, Margaret Ritchie as being “as fit as a flee”,
the sprightly Mr Tollin is one of a band of some 1000 coaches
who teach the national junior golf strategy to local primary
children. He has been coaching at the West Lothian club
for the past three years.
“Being
active certainly keeps you young,” said Archie, also
a keen hill walker who has summitted all of Scotland’s
284 Munros and climbed countless Corbetts.
“I
wouldn’t boast about my own golf; it’s not
as good as it used to be. I used to play off five but
my handicap is gradually going up and it’s 16 now. I
play twice a week and play on the Seniors team.”
Before
the launch of the national junior golf strategy, clubgolf,
Archie had never coached any sports. But at the time
the club became involved with the strategy , Margaret Ritchie
was seeking members to become trained as volunteer coaches
and Archie, then 78, was one of the first to offer his help.
“We
do the coaching on Fridays and Sundays and there’s a
group of us so we are not on all the time,” said Archie
who celebrated his 80th at the Club with his golfing protégés. “A
lot of the members think that coaching is too big a commitment but
I really enjoy it and it’s very satisfying to see the
kids coming on and improving. Age is not a barrier to
being able to coach.”
The
clubgolf volunteer coaching team at Harburn Golf Club currently
teach 16 children from Parkhead, Woodmuir, East Calder and
St Marys Primary Schools in Stage 1 of the clubgolf programme
and Archie is a firm favourite with them.
Added
Mrs Ritchie: “Archie has been with us coaching since
the beginning of clubgolf. You certainly wouldn’t
think he was 80. He’s an enthusiastic coach and
gets on well with the kids.”
