Nick Dougherty, the male Youth Ambassador for the Golf Foundation. is backing the Golf Foundation’s ambitious drive to take golf to 500,000 children who would not usually have played the sport, by officially supporting the latest initiative in their development programme of grass roots golf – The Junior Golf Passport.
The Junior Golf Passport, officially launched at the Open Championship, is a structured learning programme which can be delivered almost anywhere, is designed to help young people learn about playing golf, whilst having fun at the same time.
The programme covers the five core elements of the game:
Putting
Short Game
Long Game
Playing
Golfers Code (Rules and Etiquette)
For each element there are a series of targets that get progressively more challenging. On completion of all levels a player will receive a gold certificate and a special bag tag. It is intended that the completion of the Junior Golf Passport will act as a spring-board to future success and help youngsters make the all-important transition into junior membership at a golf club.
The Junior Golf Passport has been developed after wide ranging consultation with a number of PGA professionals who are working with large numbers of children throughout Great Britain and Ireland. Unlike other coaching programmes its design is ‘learner centred’ in that it provides the PGA professional coach with a structure that will allow children to develop skills at their own pace.
The Junior Golf Passport also differs from other such schemes in that its main drive is to ‘grow the game’ by getting more young people into the sport. The programme seeks to make direct links with schools and involve teachers and trained volunteer leaders and coaches in its delivery, under the guidance of the PGA professional.
Stuart Armstrong, development manager of the Golf Foundation said, “We are delighted to have Nick on board to help us promote the programme, Nick is one of the most exciting young players on the Tour.”
For more information on the Junior Golf Passport please visit the Golf Foundation website at www.golf-foundation.org