Golf Foundation Chief Executive, Mike Round, has been greatly encouraged by the response from golf clubs to the charity’s 2005 annual appeal. In the first third of the year – traditionally the Foundation’s quietest fund-raising period – 129 clubs donated just over £16,000. In the whole of 2004, the money donated to the Golf Foundation by golf clubs totalled just under £61,000
There are different ways in which clubs can raise money for the Golf Foundation’s work. Competitions, charity challenges or the innovative idea of adding just £1 onto subscription rates can all boost the coffers of junior golf all over Britain.
Mike Round said the fundraising appeal was vital to continue the momentum of introducing new players to the game and he thanked all those clubs for seeing ‘the bigger picture‘ and first helping towards the future of British junior golf in order to then reap the benefits on a local level.
Mike commented: “It is right and proper that clubs should raise funds for their own junior sections, but it is important that they also see the bigger picture and understand that they are an important part of the sport, not isolated facilities.”
He added: “In recent years the Golf Foundation has proved that by contributing to ‘the bigger picture‘, clubs can enjoy tangible benefits. For example, we‘ve used funds donated by clubs to produce Tri-Golf and the Junior Golf Passport – two national initiatives that have then been used at a local level to support junior programmes and increase the number of junior members.”
As at the end of April, the ‘Top 10‘ fund-raising golf clubs in 2005 were:
1. Woburn G&CC
2. Walton Heath GC
3. West Cornwall GC
4. Chesterfield GC
5. Wheatley GC
6. Ilkley GC
7. Brickendon Grange GC
8. Littlestone GC
9. Gog Magog GC
10. Swinley Forest GC
These ten clubs, together with Pollock GC, have all donated more than £250 and, therefore, have already qualified for the Club Car prize draw, in which the winning golf club receives a market-leading Club Car Precedent worth around £4,000. The South East was leading the league table of fund-raising regions – largely due to the clubs that have adopted the ‘£1 per member‘ scheme – but the North and South West are close behind.
Golf Foundation www.golf-foundation.org