Press Release
Joy and June gain Volunteer
of the Year awards
Two women golfers, Joy Hunter of Yorkshire and June Poffley of Wiltshire, have been recognised in the first England Golf Partnership Volunteer of the Year Awards.
Joy, a member at York Golf Club, received her award for services to golf while June, from North Wilts Golf Club, was a winner in the club development category.
Joy holds key roles in both national and county golf. She was the 2003 chairman of the English Ladies’ (now Women’s) Golf Association and currently chairs the English LGU scratch score committee. She is also Yorkshire’s scratch score assessor. She is responsible for the massive project to review the scratch scores of England’s 2,100 courses, using the USGA course rating system.
Over 200 volunteers are involved in this and 1,240 courses have been re-rated since 2002. Joy is a former Yorkshire champion who has been closely involved in training, both nationally and for her county. She is just starting her 12th and final year as Yorkshire’s county trainer and has developed and encouraged a team which has won the northern and English county championships eight times.
“We have a good structure but the most important aspect in the early stages was encouraging the players to be positive and believe in themselves,” she said.
Joy said of her award: “I was amazed! There are lots and lots and lots of people who do lots of work. I don’t think about what I do – I just get on and do it, but I have loved it. I have been very fortunate.”
June Poffley is dedicated to encouraging youngsters, especially girls, to take up golf and is the junior organiser at North Wilts Golf Club. Her nomination for the award from the Wiltshire County Golf Partnership stated: “June sets the standard for a club junior organiser.”
Her initiatives include visiting local schools to introduce pupils to the game through Tri-Golf and to train school staff. A Tri-Golf course is being built on the club’s practice ground and will host school festivals.
June is the driving force behind the club’s Junior Weeks when local youngsters are offered free coaching and playing opportunities. At the end of the week the family of each youngster will also be invited to come to the club to try golf. Any girls attending will be given a voucher for four coaching sessions as part of a drive to encourage more to take up the sport.
June was instrumental in North Wilts becoming the first club in the county to achieve the Junior GolfMark and in upgrading this to GolfMark, the national award for junior and beginner-friendly clubs.
Now, she’s turning her attention to attracting more women into golf. She remarked: “This is a lovely award but the success of the junior section is down to lots of people doing their bit. It’s made me think about all the volunteers in the golf club and how we value them and how we thank them.”
June and Joy were among five winners at the Volunteer of the Year awards. Full details: www.golfvolunteers.org
Lyndsey Hewison
Press & PR Officer
www.englishwomensgolf.org
of the Year awards
Two women golfers, Joy Hunter of Yorkshire and June Poffley of Wiltshire, have been recognised in the first England Golf Partnership Volunteer of the Year Awards.
Joy, a member at York Golf Club, received her award for services to golf while June, from North Wilts Golf Club, was a winner in the club development category.
Joy holds key roles in both national and county golf. She was the 2003 chairman of the English Ladies’ (now Women’s) Golf Association and currently chairs the English LGU scratch score committee. She is also Yorkshire’s scratch score assessor. She is responsible for the massive project to review the scratch scores of England’s 2,100 courses, using the USGA course rating system.
Over 200 volunteers are involved in this and 1,240 courses have been re-rated since 2002. Joy is a former Yorkshire champion who has been closely involved in training, both nationally and for her county. She is just starting her 12th and final year as Yorkshire’s county trainer and has developed and encouraged a team which has won the northern and English county championships eight times.
“We have a good structure but the most important aspect in the early stages was encouraging the players to be positive and believe in themselves,” she said.
Joy said of her award: “I was amazed! There are lots and lots and lots of people who do lots of work. I don’t think about what I do – I just get on and do it, but I have loved it. I have been very fortunate.”
June Poffley is dedicated to encouraging youngsters, especially girls, to take up golf and is the junior organiser at North Wilts Golf Club. Her nomination for the award from the Wiltshire County Golf Partnership stated: “June sets the standard for a club junior organiser.”
Her initiatives include visiting local schools to introduce pupils to the game through Tri-Golf and to train school staff. A Tri-Golf course is being built on the club’s practice ground and will host school festivals.
June is the driving force behind the club’s Junior Weeks when local youngsters are offered free coaching and playing opportunities. At the end of the week the family of each youngster will also be invited to come to the club to try golf. Any girls attending will be given a voucher for four coaching sessions as part of a drive to encourage more to take up the sport.
June was instrumental in North Wilts becoming the first club in the county to achieve the Junior GolfMark and in upgrading this to GolfMark, the national award for junior and beginner-friendly clubs.
Now, she’s turning her attention to attracting more women into golf. She remarked: “This is a lovely award but the success of the junior section is down to lots of people doing their bit. It’s made me think about all the volunteers in the golf club and how we value them and how we thank them.”
June and Joy were among five winners at the Volunteer of the Year awards. Full details: www.golfvolunteers.org
Lyndsey Hewison
Press & PR Officer
www.englishwomensgolf.org
Labels: Amateur Ladies
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