Youngsters hole out to boost grass roots golf

The Golf Foundation is introducing several hundred children a day to the game at the centre as guests of The R&A, playing Tri-Golf challenges with local schools and youngsters from all over the UK. The England Golf Putting Challenge , sponsored by premium golf brand Titleist, has been particularly popular. Donating £1 per go, long queues of boys, girls, mums and dads have formed to sign up and try to hole three consecutive 12ft putts. Everyone who performs this considerable feat earns a place in the daily draw to win Scotty Cameron Studio Select or Red X putters. Individual holed putts earn Titleist golf balls and caps.

Golf Foundation Regional Development Officer Gareth Jenkins said: We have all been hugely impressed with the high standard of putting from so many youngsters. Many of the children hole putt after putt to prove that youth knows no fear at all! We would like to thank all the families for their donations, which will go towards our national initiatives that see around 700,000 youngsters a year introduced to the game at schools, golf clubs and driving ranges.

The Putting Challenge celebrates a decade of fun this year, having first been staged at Royal Birkdale in 1998. The Foundation team believes that as much as £4,000 could be raised by the end of play on Sunday. The Golf Foundation is a charity that supports the national partnerships of England, Scotland and Wales to make golf more accessible to children from all backgrounds and abilities.

Golf Foundation initiatives which have seen strong development in the last year include School Links , which is rapidly developing golf in both primary and secondary schools, and Community Links , where the Foundation assists golf facilities with their outreach programmes. Other recent successes include the Junior Golf Passport, the structured learning programme for youngsters which locks the school and community initiatives together and the new Golf Roots project for 2008, taking golf into 16 inner cities to create sustainable golf projects for children from many different backgrounds.

To learn more about the Golf Foundation, call 01992 449830 or see www.golf-foundation.org.