Girls Golf Rocks is back for 2018 – with great plans to involve even more girls and spread the recruitment project further across the country.
This year it’s running in 21 counties with Berkshire, Northumberland, Oxfordshire, Surrey, Sussex and Warwickshire joining the campaign.
Girls Golf Rocks will also be backed by Facebook advertising to help spread the message that golf is fun, friendly and great for girls.
Last year over 860 girls attended Girls Golf Rocks taster sessions and 730 enjoyed it so much they went on to take a coaching course with PGA professionals. The newcomers are supported by girls from county squads who act as ambassadors.
This year, Girls Golf Rocks will also be going ‘On Tour’ in eight counties. They’ll be running golf days with fun competitions to encourage new players to get out on the course and enjoy themselves with friends.
The Tour was successfully trialled in Essex this summer and will also run in 2018 in Buckinghamshire, Cheshire, Dorset, Durham, Gloucestershire, Norfolk and Nottinghamshire.
The other counties involved in Girls Golf Rocks in 2018 are Bedfordshire, Cumbria, Kent, Leicestershire, Staffordshire, Wiltshire and Yorkshire.
Girls Golf Rocks is a joint project from England Golf and the Golf Foundation and aims to increase the number of girl players from an average of just two per club.
The sessions are open to all girls, regardless of whether or not they have an impairment, to try golf in a fun and supportive environment.
Recent Girls Golf Rocks highlights include:
- Golf legend Dame Laura Davies and Ladies European Tour player Annabel Dimmock dropped in at a training session for Surrey ambassadors and posed for photographs (image copyright Leaderboard Photography).
- Northumberland ambassadors were featured on TV after BBC Look North filmed them at a training session at Close House.
- Two teams of Girls Golf Rocks ambassadors – from Essex and Bedfordshire – played in the pro-am of the Bridgestone Challenge at Luton Hoo. Sophie Wheeler, 15, from Essex won the long drive competition with a shot of 232 yards!
- Ambassadors from all over the country were hosted by England Golf and the Golf Foundation for a golf day at Gainsborough Golf Club, supported by PING.
- Staffordshire girls were bewitched with a Hallowe’en fancy dress theme to a par three event at 3 Hammers Golf Complex.
- Norfolk ambassador Jasmine Campbell has been inspired by the PGA professionals involved in Girls Golf Rocks and has passed her Level One coaching qualification. She hopes to make a career in coaching.
Martin Crowder, National Development Manager for the Golf Foundation, said: “Girls Golf Rocks has shown young girls who had never tried golf before that here is a fun, sociable sport they can play with friends, enjoying its health and fitness benefits at welcoming golf clubs.
“Our county ambassadors have been great role models and will continue to play a crucial role as Girls Golf Rocks expands to many more golf clubs in 2018, giving new girls a highly positive experience of the game.”
Lauren Spray, England Golf Women and Girls’ Manager, added: “We’ve got to say a really big thank you to all the people who have been involved in supporting Girls Golf Rocks.
“The initiative wouldn’t be as effective without the full support of the County Associations, volunteers, professionals, ambassadors and staff from the England Golf and the Golf Foundation.
“Collectively we are working as teams to provide girls with the opportunity to experience golf and challenge perception, so if you haven’t already got involved then why not come and join us and learn to play golf in a way that ROCKS!”
England Golf www.englandgolf.com