American Golf teams up with Golf Foundation

American Golf is launching a series of events in aid of the Golf Foundation's work this year

Louis Oosthuizen
Louis Oosthuizen is one of many professional golfers who have joined in with Golf Foundation to promote golf to young communities.

Europe’s largest golf retailer, American Golf, has just committed to a series of new events this year, with the Golf Foundation the sole beneficiary

As part of an ongoing commitment, amid more than a little concern that insufficient numbers of youngsters are coming into golf to safeguard the future of the game, Europe’s largest golf retailer, American Golf, has just announced plans for a series of events in 2015, with all the profits going towards the work of the Golf Foundation.

“We’re real admirers of the work that the Golf Foundation does,” said Daniel Gathercole, Head of Marketing at American Golf. “The game has been an important part of my life since I was 7 years old, so, like a lot of the staff here, I want as many children as possible to experience the same sense of enjoyment that I did teeing off on my local course.”

One of the major elements of this new initiative will be the American Golf Junior Championship, with last year’s American Golf Club Junior Championship at De Vere Mottram Hall in Cheshire serving as a fitting forerunner. Some 100 youngsters took part there, with Paul Marshall of Sale Golf Club taking the honours on 42 points. Many of the parents who accompanied their children hailed it as the best junior event of the summer, and full details of this year’s new event will be announced in due course

Paul Marshall

Paul Marshall scored 42 points to win the American Golf Club Junior Championship last year

Sarah Tennyson, the Golf Foundation’s, Marketing Manager is also excited about where the partnership might lead. “We have been impressed to learn about the initiatives that American Golf is launching this year and are delighted that they have chosen to support us,” she enthused. “We are sure that working in partnership, we will identify many new mutually beneficial opportunities in the year to come.”

The Golf Foundation is a charity committed to giving children and young people the opportunity to experience golf and the benefits it has to offer, firmly believing that our great game can give youngsters ‘Skills for Life’ that extend way beyond the fairways. The Foundation believes that, with its strong emphasis on standards of behaviour, the game of golf is an ideal medium through which youngsters can learn about honesty, respect, co-operation, perseverance, concentration and self-motivation, which will serve them well not only on the course as they grow up, but also in the wider world.

American Golf is working at the centre of the game to develop new initiatives and build relationships to enable more people than ever to have access to golf. As well as supporting the Golf Foundation and launching its own Junior Championship later this year, American Golf will also continue to work with golf Services’ charity, On Course Foundation.

Jeremy Ellwood
Contributing Editor

Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly. He is an expert on the Rules of Golf having qualified through an R&A course to become a golf referee. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 91 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified when it comes to assessing and comparing our premier golf courses. He has now played 1,000 golf courses worldwide in 35 countries, from the humblest of nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to the very grandest of international golf resorts. He reached the 1,000 mark on his 60th birthday in October 2023 on Vale do Lobo's Ocean course. Put him on a links course anywhere and he will be blissfully content.

Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf


Jeremy is currently playing...

Driver: Ping G425 LST 10.5˚ (draw setting), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 55 S shaft

3 wood: Ping G425 Max 15˚ (set to flat +1), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 65 S shaft

Hybrid: Ping G425 17˚, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 80 S shaft

Irons 3-PW: Ping i525, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 50˚ and 54˚, 12˚ bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Putter: Ping Fetch 2021 model, 33in shaft (set flat 2)

Ball: Varies but mostly now TaylorMade Tour Response