Alastair Spink, founder and head coach of love.golf, the award-winning social group golf experience supported by Syngenta, has been awarded a Master of Science in Sports Coaching from the University of Birmingham. Spink has spent the past four years studying the experiences of women and girls at golf clubs in the UK, highlighting the prevalence of traditional gender and cultural beliefs that still exist within the clubs’ day-to-day practices.
He explained: “It seemed natural for me to look beyond women’s current perceptions of golf and sport in general to discover whether these views originated from their experiences as young girls.”
“My research, alongside the market studies developed by Syngenta, highlight that many hurdles are still encountered by females, but we now have some considerable insights into how best the golf industry as a whole can address these issues and realise the benefits of encouraging more women into golf.”
Alastair’s MSc is a continuation of his previous research into what makes a successful golf coaching programme for women, with the importance of creating the appropriate coaching environment and the focus on group learning, forming the basis of the love.golf programme.
This academic milestone marks the next step for love.golf, as it further develops a range of programmes to impart the educational knowledge, skills and tools required by coaches to provide the ideal opportunity to retain and attract more women and girls to play golf regularly.
love.golf is supported by Syngenta, the leading supplier of innovative turf management solutions for golf courses, and is part of the company’s ‘Unlocking Golf’s True Potential’ campaign, investing in the long-term business sustainability of the golf industry www.unlockinggolfstruepotential.co.uk