The manager of a golf club in Suffolk which offers free sessions for people with dementia says his inspiration comes from seeing his parents live with the illness.
Tony Pennock, General Manager at Seckford Golf Club, near Woodbridge, founded ‘Fore’ Get Me Not Golf last year after his mother was diagnosed with dementia 13 years ago and now his father has the disease. “It’s the most devastating thing for anybody to ever see your parents go through that – or anybody else come to that,” he said.
After getting involved with Ipswich Town FC’s dementia club, he set up free golf sessions for people living with dementia. For people who have played the game before, “put a club in their hand and it transforms them”, he said.
He added: “The whole togetherness that it brings is quite incredible. One gentleman, who could walk to a small degree but had to be pushed around in a wheelchair, hit a ball towards the hole and almost went chasing after it with his carer saying: “He’s forgot he can’t walk!” One of our volunteers actually broke down in tears because she thought the programme was the best thing she’d ever attended.”
Long term club member Diana Lewis, whose husband Trevor also joined the sessions, said: “They enjoy all the banter again and getting back to a sport they really enjoy, but at a level they can do it at today.”
Lyall Robertson is another one of the players who has taken up the dementia golf day sessions at the members-owned club. He grew up in Carnoustie and has been playing since he was seven or eight years old “with mixed results”. “But it’s all good fun, so long as you don’t take it too seriously,” he said.
Seckford Golf Club was named Club of the Year 2023 by England Golf for its inclusivity programmes.
