GOLF ACTIVITY
- What is golf?
- Golf's structure
- Where can I play golf?
- Coaching & Officiating in Golf
- Golf Development Schemes
- Adapting the game for disabled golfers
WHAT IS GOLF?
Golf is primarily
an outdoor sport, although there are variations of the game that
can be played indoors through adapted equipment. Although golf is
seen as predominantly an individual sport, there are competitions
and games that encompass a team philosophy including foursomes,
greensomes and texas scramble golf.
Whether you play
as an individual, with a group of friends, within a club, the aim
of golf is generic. Each golf club or course will have 9 or 18
holes whereby you have to hit a golf ball, with a variety of clubs
around a course in the least number of shots. Golf can be seen as
complex, however the game is relatively simple and fun to participate
in.
Golf is the third most popular sport in
England, behind swimming and football, and its global appeal is
second to none. On both sides of the Atlantic, and around the
world, golf is a game that can be played from school through all of
your life, and the difference in abilities are catered for by a
handicapping system that allows competition between all players
(whether you are a beginner or a regular elite
player).
Probably the most recognizable
professional tours are the European and US, and the sport probably
boasts the most talked about sportsperson in Tiger
Woods.
THE STRUCTURE OF GOLF
ENGLAND GOLF PARTNERSHIP
The England Golf Partnership is the
overriding organisation that provides guidance to the National
Governing Bodies of golf. These are easily spilt into the following
organisations:
All of these organisations sit at a
national level, and beneath all of them there are regional
committees however the more pertinent organisations are those at
county level that develop, administer, provide and maintain golf
within their area. They are as follows:
1)
Surrey County Golf Union www.surreygolf.org
2)
Surrey Ladies County Golf Association www.slcga.org
3)
Surrey Professional Golfers Association (through PGA South East
Region)
The function of each organisation within
the county is to provide competitions and opportunities for people
to experience the game, in order for them to progress from a
beginner through to the elite. Although each organisation looks to
get people into membership, provide coaching for their better
players, they have also joined forces to push golf development in
the county. This is under the umbrella of:
SURREY GOLF PARTNERSHIP
Although this partnership group
currently hasnt got a website, we hope that this facility will keep
you up to date about the progression of the group and what
initiatives and developments you can get involved in, whether you
want to play, volunteer, develop or coach. The overall aims of the
group are:
" To introduce more people
to the game golf regardless of age, gender or
background
" To develop greater links between
schools, colleges, local authorities and golf clubs
" To increase sustained participation in
golf
" To increase club
membership
" To improve standards of play,
etiquette and rules
" To promote Surrey golf and its
facilities to a wider audience
WHERE CAN I PLAY GOLF?
SCHOOLS
There are adapted variations of the game
that can be used in the curriculum, and the equipment and the
resources have recently been revamped to link directly to the Key
Stages. Tri-Golf (Primary) and Golf Xtreme
(Secondary) have been developed to enable schoolteachers, local
authorities, sports centres, driving ranges and clubs the
opportunity to engage children through the medium of golf. For more
details please visit www.golf-foundation.org
and follow the Tri-Golf and Golf Xtreme
icons.
MINI & CRAZY GOLF COURSES
These courses are short putting holes
that can be found at seaside resorts and theme parks where players
have to putt their way around the course. Sometimes the player has
to overcome fun obstacles in order to get the ball into the
hole.
DRIVING RANGES/PAR 3 COURSES/PITCH &
PUTT FACILITIES
There are many non-affiliated facilities
that provide people with a great introduction to the game of golf,
such as Tri Golf Practice Centre. They usually run both adult and
junior programmes that allows you to participate, and have a go at
the game, in a relaxed and enjoyable environment. To find your
closest driving range please visit www.englishgolfunion.org/golfcentral
.
GOLF CLUBS
There are 112 affiliated clubs in Surrey
that provide people with many
opportunities to get into the game. The majority of clubs focus
their efforts on the playing, membership, coaching and competitive
side, however there are a number that cater for the social aspect
of sport as well. These facilities historically have been seen as
elitist, however more and more clubs are now catering for their
communities and would welcome new members, whether you are young or
old, female or male etc.
Please click on the following links for
information on golf clubs in Surrey:
www.surreygolf.org (Under Links this will provide you
with all the affiliated clubs in Surrey, including name, address,
lead contact, telephone number, email address and
website).
All of the above facilities cater for
recreational, casual and competitive golf. Although the Driving
Ranges, etc, provide raw beginners with a fantastic starting point
in the game, your local golf club will be running similar
initiatives and programmes to provide coaching, membership and
competitive opportunities.
COACHING &
OFFICIATING COURSES
Click here for more
information
GOLF DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES
There are many schemes that golf clubs
and facilities can get involved with, that is of benefit to both
golfers and non-golfers. They include the following:
NATIONAL SKILLS CHALLENGE
The "Get int Golf" national Skills
Challenge has been developed for young golfers and is desgined to
be challenginf at all levels, but above all it is intended to be
FUN. The Challenge covers 5 golfing disciplnes: putting,
chipping, pitching, bunker play and full swing; each discipline has
2 Challenge activities, making 10 in total. For more
information please visit www.getintogolf.org/skills
FREE GOLF COACHING GRANT
JUNIOR CLUB COACHING GRANT
This is an annual £150 given to
golf clubs to further subsidise their junior member coaching
at the golf club. We ask the golf clubs to match this sum of money
to form a total pot of £300, which is aimed at providing
their junior section with more coaching funded by EGU/ELGA. For
more information please visit www.englishgolfunion.org/juniorgolf.
TRI-GOLF
In November 2000, the Golf Foundation
launched a mini version of golf specifically for use by young
children in primary and junior schools. This involved developing
youngster-friendly equipment that has proved to be popular with
children, affordable for schools, and easy for teachers, volunteers
and PGA Professionals to use. Each Tri-Golf pack includes chippers
with over-sized club heads, putters, a variety of over-sized foam
balls and other items needed to run the fun games and activities.
For more information please visit www.golf-foundation.org.
GOLF EXTREME
Golf Xtreme is the golf game and
programme for secondary schools that is related to the golf you see
Tiger Woods play but is actually a completely new game for young
teenagers. Golf Xtreme combines some of the best parts of the
traditional sport hitting balls a long way at interesting targets
with scoring systems you can create yourself, team games which
include everyone and keep you fit, and, important safety
considerations for both teachers and pupils. Its all designed with
the 11 to 15 year old in mind the boy and girl whos outgrown
Tri-Golf. For more information please visit www.golf-foundation.org.
JUNIOR GOLF
PASSPORT
The Golf Foundation has produced
the Junior Golf Passport,now
recognised as the National Learning Programme. The
Junior Golf Passportis a scheme
that teaches you everything you need to know about playing the
game, but the good news is, it's based on fun. Once you've
found a PGA Professional who's operating the scheme, he or she will
introduce you to all sorts of games, activities and drills that
make learning about golf exciting and interesting. For more
information please visit www.golf-foundation.org.
COMMUNITY
LINKS
In order to increase junior
participation in golf, since January 2007, the Golf Foundation has
created a new development programme called Community
Linksto replace the Starter Centre Initiative.
Community Links helps clubs and facilities actively engage with the
community through work with individual schools, school sport
partnerships, young people's organisations and local
authorities. It also provides a young person with an
introduction to a club or golf facility and the opportunity to
progress through the national learning programme, the Junior Golf
Passport. For more information please visit www.golf-foundation.org.
ADAPTING THE GAME
FOR DISABLED GOLFERS
Golf can be adapted/developed for
disabled people, and there are a number of organisations that offer
advice and support for these individuals. One such organisation is
for blind people, for more information please visit www.blindgolf.co.uk.
Page Last Updated: Tuesday 7 August
2007
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