Ryder Cup hero and newly-elected President of the Golf Foundation Colin Montgomerie plus three of The European Tour’s most gifted players gave up their time during the Golf LIVE event at London Golf Club (20-22 May); the Foundation being given a ‘Golf Roots’ area by the organisers. The golf stars played Tri-Golf games with many of the children present and talked to them about what it takes to be a top golfer.
Tri-Golf is an essential part of the Golf Foundation’s Golf Roots programme which is helping the charity to make golf more accessible to children from all backgrounds. Tri-Golf uses colourful equipment and targets that can be enjoyed by children aged 5-11. It can be played in team games that help promote ‘Skills for Life’ like co-operation, perseverance, concentration and respect for other players.
Colin Montgomerie, England’s Nick Dougherty, Pablo Larrazabal of Spain and Rhys Davies of Wales all exhibited these attributes as they took part in a quick-fire Tri-Golf challenge, pitting their scores against those of the youngsters.
Montgomerie employed all his experience on Saturday to score a massive 153 points in 30 seconds with his Tri-Golf club, including two bulls-eyes from 20 feet. These aces made the difference despite strong challenges from the chasing trio who all beat the ‘tour standard’ of 50 points.
Colin Montgomerie said later: “I thought the Tri-Golf was great fun, really enjoyed it and some of the children were just as accurate as the Tour players! Tri-Golf is a really good way to help brand new players have a first go at golf. The clubs are great and even the youngest players can make a good swing.”
Mike Round, Chief Executive of the Golf Foundation, said: “We were really delighted that Colin, our new President, and Nick, Pablo and Rhys were all able to join in with the youngsters. All are friends to our cause and we wish them a great season. To have Colin visit the Golf Roots stand three times was fantastic. Just think how inspiring these player visits will have been to all the children present.”
Mike added: “We want to give a big thank-you to the organisers of Golf LIVE for giving us this great opportunity to spread the Golf Roots message and also to the London Golf Club for being so helpful over the three days. Finally, we were really grateful to the efforts of Nikki De Boo and her team from our event partners Factory Eleven Golf for their tireless enthusiasm every day.
The Golf Foundation Golf Roots area was part of a playing section of the event created by members of the England Golf Partnership to introduce golf to new players and to encourage improving players as they made use of hitting nets and the nearby putting green.
Golf Foundation www.golf-foundation.org
Golf LIVE www.golfliveevent.com