The Golf Foundation thanked The European Tour and four highly generous professional players for providing a Golf Roots experience to remember for local youngsters at Wentworth.
During the BMW PGA Championship, The European Tour provided space for a Golf Roots junior centre in Wentworth Club’s tented village. For the whole week, youngsters were able to enjoy Tri-Golf, the game for 5-11’s which is helping the Golf Foundation bring golf to more than 9,000 schools.
BBC commentator and former European Tour player Ken Brown, Ladies’ European Tour players Kirsty Taylor and Jo Mundy, and PGA professional Steve Parry, a qualifier for the BMW PGA Championship, all joined in a Tri-Golf challenge to showcase Golf Roots, the programme which makes the game more accessible for children from all backgrounds.
Ken, Kirsty and Jo are all Golf Roots Ambassadors and have been strong supporters of the initiative. Steve Parry is a great advertisement for his profession because he combines high-level competition (he qualified for the championship by winning the 2010 North Region Order of Merit) while also supporting the Golf Foundation at his North West Golf Academy based at Hart Common Golf Club in Westhoughton.
The quartet all took part in the Golf Roots’ quick-fire shoot-out with Steve Parry winning the day and being presented with a Golf Roots medal for the achievement!
Mike Round, Chief Executive of the Golf Foundation, said: “We would like to give a big thank-you to the professionals and offer particular thanks to The European Tour. The European Tour is a great supporter of all our work and it makes a massive difference for us to be able to showcase Golf Roots during tour championships, helping us to spread the message that golf can be for everyone. Some of these youngsters will have enjoyed their first hits with any golf clubs and then watched Lee Westwood and Luke Donald battle for the World Number One ranking. That is an exciting start to anyone’s golf career.”
The BMW PGA Championship led to a busy and successful week for the leading golf charity. New President Colin Montgomerie presented the Golf Foundation President’s Awards last Wednesday. A day previously, The R&A arranged for R&A ‘Working for Golf Ambassador’ Padraig Harrington to give a clinic to local Golf Roots youngsters at nearby Sunningdale Golf Club.
The Golf Foundation has a proven track record in increasing the level of golf in schools and plays a major role in linking these schools to golf clubs and driving ranges to increase junior participation rates in support of the national golf partnerships of England, Scotland and Wales.
Golf Roots has some heavyweight support from The R&A, The European Tour, the Ryder Cup, the PGA, the BGIA, England Golf and Sport England. A further amount of money has been made available from the Ryder Cup Trust.
* For more information on Golf Roots go to www.golf-foundation.org
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