adidas Golf has become the Official Footwear Supplier to the Golf Foundation, the nationally recognised charity which helps growing numbers of young people to ‘Start, Learn and Stay’ in the sport.
The Golf Foundation’s HSBC Golf Roots programme introduces 500,000 youngsters a year to the game in schools, communities and golf clubs, creating a player pathway into regular club golf and encouraging young people to benefit from the ‘Skills for Life’ that golf can offer its participants.
adidas Golf has kitted out the Golf Foundation’s eight Regional Development Officers (RDOs) and its support staff as they continue to take HSBC Golf Roots all over the country.
The charity team will be ‘Geared For More’, wearing the high-performance adidas adiPower Boost 2 and the ultra-comfortable adicross golf shoes in all of its activities in the field, while adidas Golf is also showing its support in providing prizes for young people at key Golf Foundation events in the time ahead.
The eight RDOs are a driving force behind the delivery of golf to young people. They are part of 1,000 HSBC Golf Roots projects each year, working closely with club PGA Professionals, volunteers and teachers, and supporting national projects such as England Golf’s ‘Get into golf’ initiative, which is encouraging many youngsters and their families into the game.
Figures for the last year show that HSBC Golf Roots activity led to 38,000 extra youngsters going through the gates of a club in England and 14,000 continuing to play regularly. The charity has ambitious but achievable targets going forwards. These include, by 2018, encouraging 50,000 youngsters through the gates of a golf club each year, ultimately creating 15,000 new regular players and 5,000 affiliated junior members.
Martin Crowder, National Development Manager of the Golf Foundation, said: “Everyone at the Golf Foundation is thrilled that adidas Golf has chosen to back the whole team in this way. In our discussions with adidas they have been highly supportive of our purpose of encouraging youngsters from all backgrounds and circumstances to first try golf and then take their game further at club level under expert supervision from PGA coaches.
“It is fantastic to have the name of adidas Golf behind this charity as we seek to make a growing impact on junior participation numbers. This support is also important because our Regional Development Officers operate in the public eye and their work is demanding. They need the highest standard of golf footwear to do their job well and we also need our staff to look really smart and be seen as a unified team when carrying out their work.”
adidas www.adidasgolf.com
Golf Foundation www.golf-foundation.org