It may be more than a year until Europe take on the USA for The 2010 Ryder Cup at The Celtic Manor Resort but The Ryder Cup European Development Trust is already hard at work together with national PGAs and governing bodies encouraging people to play and enjoy golf.
The Trust was set up when the PGAs of Europe became partners in Ryder Cup Europe as a way to channel part of the profits from Ryder Cup Europe into European golf development.
One of the funded initiatives takes place on The European Tour as was seen at the Moravia Silesia Open presented by ALO Diamonds. The Trust is funding golf development activities at European Tour events this season to give spectators a taste of the game using inflatable golf nets, as well as providing free ten minute lessons from local PGA professionals. The aim is to help existing golfers enjoy their game more and to entice others to ‘give golf a go’ in a fun, unintimidating environment.
The activities also give the national PGAs and governing bodies an opportunity to showcase themselves in their own country and demonstrate to the public the importance of high level coaching to the development and enjoyment of their golf. More than 500 free golf lessons are given at each participating event.
The facility is provided and operated by Provision Golf, a company set up in 2004 by Nick Clemens and Konrad Brochocki, both PGA professionals in the UK. Clemens was rated as one of the Britain’s top 12 golf coaches by Today’s Golfer magazine. Visitors of all ages and abilities can sample what is on offer, and they are also given a video analysis which also gets sent to them via email.
The RCEDT has already funded these activities and free lessons at the Estoril Open de Portugal, the Open de España, the BMW Italian Open, the Open de France ALSTOM, the SAS Masters and the Moravia Silesia Open presented by ALO Diamonds on The European Tour this season. The same initiatives will be at the KLM Open, the Mercedes-Benz Championship and the Austrian Golf Open in the coming weeks.
Ian Randell, Chief Executive of the PGAs of Europe, said: “The knowledge of the PGA professionals is a vital ingredient in all golf development programmes across the world. We are delighted to partner with national governing bodies and The European Tour for this development project.”
PGAs of Europe www.pgae.com