England Golf has released a new video called ‘It’s All Golf’ to promote its facility affiliation programme in driving inclusivity and participation within the sport.
It’s All Golf encompasses England Golf’s mission to broaden golf’s appeal as an accessible, inclusive, and enjoyable sport, allowing more individuals to benefit socially, mentally, and physically from the game by experiencing the fun and exciting opportunities at facilities.
Watch the It’s All Golf video, by clicking here.
This is led by the governing body’s facility affiliation programme, in which England Golf is teaming up with facilities across the country to enable access to all forms of the game. This includes driving ranges, short courses, par-3 courses, pitch and putt courses, simulator venues and adventure golf venues.
Research shows that golf is played by approximately 8.5 million people every year in England, with half of that number playing solely at facilities such as those available via the facility affiliation programme. Through the launch of the It’s All Golf video, viewers can find their nearest available golf facilities via the Find & Play feature.
Furthermore, via England Golf’s iPlay platform on the official MyEG app, anyone, including those new to the game, a growing enthusiast or infrequent player, can engage with an interactive and fun scoring system, where they can log scores from any affiliated clubs, short courses or mini golf courses, and view their average score, whilst playing with family or friends.
Matt Draper, Club, County & Membership Director at England Golf, said: “The goal of the facility affiliation programme is to help bring the whole golfing community together for the benefit of the sport. We want to introduce more and more people to the game of golf, to help ensure a sustainable and long-term future for the game.
“We know there are more people from different backgrounds, age groups, and genders coming to play golf and being introduced to the sport through hitting balls on driving ranges, playing simulator golf and even through the surge in popularity of adventure golf. We want to promote this side of the game as fun and accessible, and provide a place in which everyone is welcome to come and give it a go.
“We know there is a huge pool of people interested in the sport and if we can encourage them to keep playing golf, whether that’s continuing to enjoy the fun experiences these types of facilities provide, or taking the step up to playing on a golf course and getting golf club membership, the better our sport is going to be. But to do that, we need to work together.”
Ian Bonser, owner of 3 Hammers Golf Complex in Wolverhampton, said: “Having the opportunity to work with a national governing body has obvious benefits to a facility like 3 Hammers. It enables us to have the best policies in place regarding safeguarding, which allows us to pass on confidence to parents who are bringing their children here that they’re coming to a professional and well-run environment.
“It’s All Golf feeds into England Golf’s overarching Respect in Golf movement, to inspire, promote and create greater understanding and embracement of equality, diversity and inclusion within the sport. The movement is designed to bring people into golf from all ages, genders, abilities and backgrounds.”