CORNWALL GOLF PARTNERSHIP NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2014 Welcome to the September newsletter from the Cornwall Golf Partnership. CORNWALL DEVELOPMENT OFFICERS NEWS England Golf has launched a new and ambitious strategic plan from 2014 2017. The plan looks at a number of key themes, including increasing the number of people who play golf regularly, to increase the number of members at clubs and improving the image of golf. There has been some good feedback about the new Golf Mark scheme and five golf clubs in Cornwall so far have signed up to working towards the new accreditation. The Cornwall Special Olympics Golf project has started and over forty disabled participants have been given the opportunity of five weeks of coaching at St Austell Golf Club and Hayle Golf Centre. Golf was part of Be Active Truro week, organised by the Cornwall Sports Partnership on Lemon Quay, in Truro during August. Over 300 people tried golf during the project and there was considerable interest in follow on sessions at local clubs. Simon Wood Cornwall Golf Development Officer Upcoming Events Tuesday 16 th September Fresher s Fair Truro College Wednesday 17 th September Fresher s Fair Duchy College, Stoke Climsland Wednesday 24 th September Fresher s Fair Camborne College Sunday 21 st September 2014 Cornwall Golf Mark Champs Mullion Golf Club Sat 4 th and Sun 5 th October 2014 Level 1 course China Fleet Golf Club Tuesday 7 th October 2014 Talent ID workshop Duchy College, Callington Wednesday 30 th January 2015 Devon and Cornwall Golf Development Conference Boringdon Park Golf Club
ENGLAND GOLF LAUNCH STRATEGIC PLAN England Golf has developed a new and ambitious strategic plan to tackle golf s challenges and create a bright future for the sport. Golf is the fifth largest participation sport in England, but faces some serious challenges. The number of golf club members has been declining since 2004 and this has put a financial strain on many golf clubs all over the country. This strategy sets out ways to raise our game to address these challenges by working in partnership with golf clubs, driving ranges and short courses. New Golf Mark Scheme There has been some fantastic feedback on the new Golf Mark scheme from the 8 Cornish golf clubs that attended the Golf Mark training workshop with England Golf s Jamie Woodford in July. Golf Mark was re-launched in June to ensure it meets golf clubs requirements and there is an increased focus on club development, business, club operations and marketing. Golf Mark is a national accreditation scheme that recognises junior and beginner friendly golf facilities. England Golf s ambition for 2017 is to; Increase the number of people who play golf at least once a week from 750,000 in 2014 to 910,000 in March 2017. Reverse the decline in membership, which has been occurring annually since 2005 and stabilise club membership at the current level of 675,000 members. Strengthen the talent development pathway from club to national level, leading to international success for English players. Improve communication, governance and partnerships at all levels within England Golf. More information about England Golf s strategic plan can be found online at - http://www.englandgolf.org/page.aspx?sitesectionid=353& There has been 10 clubs in Cornwall that have arranged a Golf Mark meeting and any golf club that is affiliated to England Golf can be awarded with Golf Mark. Once a Golf Club becomes accredited with Golf Mark, they will also be recognised by Sport England as a Club Mark facility. Club Mark is a cross-sport accreditation for sports clubs and is a national standard for quality sports clubs recognised across the country for introducing new adults and juniors into sport. If any golf club in Cornwall would like to book a Golf Mark meeting or for more information please contact Simon.
OVER 300 PEOPLE TRY GOLF DURING BE ACTIVE TRURO The Cornwall Golf Partnership took part in the Be Active Truro week in August and over 300 people tried golf on Lemon Quay in Truro City Centre. Be Active Truro was organised by the Cornwall Sports Partnership to get more local people active and into sport. This was the fourth year that Be Active Truro has taken place and there were over a dozen sports and activities on offer for people to try during the week. Golf was available for people to try on two of the days and PGA Professional Lee Mitchell helped with the project and offered free lessons with the Partnership s inflatable golf net. 40 Disabled Participant take part in Cornwall Special Olympics Golf project Over 40 disabled participants have taken part in 5 weeks of group coaching at Hayle Golf and St Austell Golf Club. The Blantyre Centre in St Austell had five sessions with St Austell Golf Club s PGA Professional Russell Binney. There were also sessions held at Hayle Golf for the John Daniel Centre in Penzance and the Murdoch and Trevithick Centre in Reduth with PGA Professionals Wayne Graham and Matthew Tucknott. All the participants were given information about follow coaching at golf clubs all over Cornwall. There are a number of golf clubs in Cornwall that attended local public venue events over the summer to promote their clubs and these events are a perfect opportunity to increase awareness of your club and to recruit new members from the local community. The feedback from the participants was really positive and there will be more sessions planned for more disability groups all over Cornwall throughout the winter.
TALENT IDENTIFICATION WORKSHOP The Devon and Cornwall CDP Programme continues with a Talent Identification Workshop on Tuesday 7 th October from 9am 2pm at Duchy College, Stoke Climsland in Callington. This workshop explores the definition, understanding and research associated with talent in sport and discusses the key concepts and challenges of talent identification (TiD). Mullion Golf Club grow the game at Culdrose Family Day Mullion Golf Club attended a Family Fun Day at RNAS Culdrose to introduce more people into golf. Mullion PGA Professional Chris Ramsden was on hand to offer lessons to anyone who attended the day and taught over 100 people on the day in the inflatable golf net. There will be a two hour theory session on what talent is and how to identify it and a two hour practical session with golf students from Duchy College and Exeter University. The seminar is being delivered by Sport Coach UK s Coaching Advisor Andrew Bradshaw and the PGA s West Region Coach Development Manager Justyn Branton. The workshop is free for anyone who attends and includes lunch and refreshments throughout the day. Each PGA Professional who attends this workshop will receive 25 CPD points. There was a lot of interest in follow on coaching at the club for both adults and juniors from the event. Chris and Head Professional Ian Harris have had a busy year growing the game at Mullion, which included coaching at local secondary and primary schools, as well as Boy Scout and Girl Guide groups during the summer.
CORNWALL BOYS U12 s BEAT CORNWALL GIRLS U14 s The Cornwall Boys Under 12 s beat the Cornwall Girls Under 14 s in a very exciting match at Truro Golf Club. The format was an individual stableford competition, with the best 8 scores out of the 11 juniors to count per team. The girls team had won the previous two contests and looked like making it three in a row with a slender lead after 8 scores had been returned. The match turned in the boys favour in matches 9 and 10, when Truro juniors Jake Singleton and George Law both returned great scores of 42 points (both were the Boys team top scorers) and won the trophy for the first time for the Cornwall Boys Under 12 team. Weston compete in Wee Wonders Final at St Andrew s St Mellion junior Harry Weston qualified for Wee Wonders Grand Final at St Andrew s on Saturday 23 rd and Sunday 24 th August. Harry qualified to play in the Wee Wonders Final by winning the South West qualifying event in the 7 8 year age group at Farrington Golf Club in Somerset. The Final took place on the Par 29 Balgove course, with the format of the competition being 3 x 9 hole medal rounds added together for an 3 round aggregate total. The top scores for the girls team were by West Cornwall s Emily Jenkin with 40 points and Emily Wilson with 39 points respectively. The final results were the Cornwall Boys team winning by 15 shots with 288 points to the Girls score of 273 points. All of the juniors that played in the match are part of the Cornwall Junior Coaching programme and there was some fantastic golf played by both teams. There were 30 juniors in Harry s age group coming from all over the UK through the qualifying process at regional venues. Over the three rounds Harry shot three very consistent consecutive rounds of 35, which left him 6 shots off winning in his age group. Harry finished his first competitive season 7th in the country for his age. As a result of his impressive finish, Harry will be invited to play in the European Championships in March.
NEW COLLEGE PROGRAMME STARTS IN SEPTEMBER A new Sportivate project designed to get more students into golf starts in September at Cornwall College, Duchy College and Truro College. The aim of the Sportivate project is to get more 16 25 year olds involved and participate regularly in golf Cornwall Golf Mark Championships The Cornwall Golf Mark Championships was held for the first time in 2012, with China Fleet Golf Club winning at St Austell Golf Club, and last year the event was won by Mullion Golf Club at Killiow Golf Club. Interested students will be able to book onto 6 weeks of group coaching at a local golf club after the fresher s taster events at each college later this month. Last year s winners Mullion Golf Club The coaching programme will include playing on the golf course using the Tee it up concept, which gives participants the chance to play on the golf course starting next to the 150 yard markers on each hole. CONTACT THE PARTNERSHIP You can contact the Cornwall Golf Partnership s County Development Officer Simon Wood Phone 07971 624313 E Mail cornwallcdo@hotmail.co.uk www.cornwallgolfpartnership.co.uk Cornwall_golf Cornwall_golf There are currently 13 Golf Mark golf clubs in Cornwall and each of these clubs is invited to compete in the Cornwall Golf Mark Competition on Sunday 21 st September at Mullion Golf Club. Each Golf Mark club can enter 1 team of 4 players and the team will consist of 1 player from each section (1 male member, 1 female member, 1 senior male member aged 60+ and 1 junior member). The event will be a stableford competition with 2 scores to count out of the 4 teams members on each hole and played off ¾ handicap. The total combined handicap of the team must not exceed 72. The closing date for entries into this competition is on Sunday 14 th September.