Thornton Golf Club captain John Anderson coaching Glenrothes P5 children at the clubgolf festival (image by Rob Eyton-Jones)

Clubgolf Festival attracts 140 children to Glenrothes

Thornton Golf Club is the latest club to add its weight to the national junior golf programme, clubgolf which is sweeping across Scotland in a bid to introduce every Primary 5 child to the game.
A lasting legacy to Scotland’s successful bid to host the 2014 Ryder Cup, clubgolf is a partnership between the Scottish Golf Union, the Scottish Ladies' Golfing Association, the Professional Golfers' Association, the Golf Foundation and sportscotland.
“We have had a junior section, both for boys and girls, for a considerable time but in the last two years it has dwindled quite substantially,” said Thornton’s captain, John Anderson.
“I attended an SGU seminar last year where I learned about clubgolf and I was impressed by what I heard.
“We were already thinking of ways to get involved in junior coaching and this seemed to be the right route for us to go; it’s prompted us into action.”
Last year 1,644 Fife children experienced the game at school through clubgolf’s introductory game, firstclubgolf. As part of a drive to increase those numbers in 2010, Active Schools organised a clubgolf festival in Glenrothes last week which attracted over 140 children from 14 of the town’s 20 primary schools.
“We organised the festival to support the big push we are making in primary schools,” said Active Schools Co-ordinator, Pauline Jones.
“We have already been training school teachers to deliver the game in schools and we have given these teachers bags of firstclubgolf equipment so they can put golf sessions into PE or after- school clubs.
“We have also trained 30 sports coaching students from Adam Smith College to teach firstclubgolf to assist us with offering practice sessions in the Glenrothes area. We need more trained volunteers to deliver clubgolf and it works well for the students because they gain experience working with children and they develop a broader knowledge base.
“The feedback from the schools is very positive and a lot of them plan to continue teaching clubgolf.
Local clubs are coming forward to offer the next stage of the programme so if the children are keen they will have somewhere to progress to.
Newly signed-up Thornton joins nearby Balbirnie Golf Club and Cluny Golf in offering clubgolf coaching.
Last weekend Mr Anderson and three other club volunteers attended clubgolf’s two day Level 1 training. Next month they will learn if they have passed the course and are qualified to coach youngsters.
"In addition to our golf course we have a large practice ground where we can coach juniors," said Mr Anderson, who coached the children at last week's festival.
“Hopefully we will all be licensed to coach in three weeks and in the meantime we are planning the next steps and also thinking of setting up an open session for juniors to come along and register their interest.
“We are keen to start junior coaching with the local primary school children and as soon as daylight allows we will start our coaching.”
To find out more about clubgolf junior coaching at the three clubs please contact:
Thornton GC
Telephone: 01592 771111
Balbirnie Park GC
Telephone: 01592 752006
Cluny Clays
Telephone: 01592 720374

Rob Eyton-Jones
clubgolf Media Manager
Official clubgolf website: http://www.clubgolfscotland.com/