Young Wrexham golfers win team award

A group of young golfers from Wrexham have won a national award for their teamwork, in a celebration of the UK’s largest ever school and community golf project.

The youngsters between the ages of nine and eleven picked up the award at the Golf Foundations’s first ever National Golf Roots Festival held in Loughborough.

Golf is the second fastest growing sport in UK schools and the Golf Roots scheme is aimed at reaching youngsters in urban areas who would not normally get the chance to play the game – showing that Tri-Golf and Golf Xtreme can be played anywhere.

Wrexham won the ‘Skills for Life’ award for the team that best demonstrated the skills for life attributes during the competition.

Golf Development Wales officer Zoe Thacker, who was with the Wrexham team, said, “It was a great reward for the attitude shown by the team.

“Golf is a sport which can give you great skills to take through life – such as honesty, respect, perseverance and concentration, so it was really good that the Wrexham team were recognised for these qualities.

“Tri-Golf and Golf Xtreme have been great for getting children from all areas involved in learning the basics of golf.

“Wrexham won their way through Tri-Golf competitions in Wales and everyone involved enjoyed the day – winning an award was the icing on the cake.”

The Golf Roots project has reached more than 700,000 children across the UK, with teams from all over Britain taking part in the finals day of competition, with 15 quickfire games putting their skills to the test.

Gareth Jenkins, Golf Foundation Regional Development Officer, co-ordinated and ran the event. He said: “The high-energy games showed how children can be enthused by golf.

“Everything here and with Golf Roots generally is about fun and opportunity to play while also learning golf’s fundamentals. The children here took their shots in relays under the pressure of the clock, worked as a team and produced a score – no referees needed!

“This is golf at its most basic but Golf Roots offers a pathway to take their golf further. Champion golfers here could be champions on the fairways in the years to come, and many of these boys and girls would never have considered golf without Golf Roots.”

An important feature of the day was the work of young volunteers. Working closely with England Golf and Golf Development Wales, the Golf Foundation made it a top priority in every Golf Roots region for local organisers to encourage young volunteers to mentor children as they start in golf.

The three bodies have identified the importance of encouraging more volunteers into golf to help the junior game at club level and create bridges from school to clubs, so at Loughborough University two young volunteers from each of the 16 regions were present to mentor the youngsters taking part.