Spring 2012 Report
After completing 18 months as County Development Officer I am very pleased to announce the developments in our Counties. Our initiatives have seen a significant increase in participation. We started in February 2010 with six GolfMark clubs this has increased to currently fourten Clubs with GolfMark accreditation, these paricipating facilities have been able to use the development tools and funding which is available to target new members and retain existing customers. We also have a further twelve Clubs which are now working actively towards GolfMark with many of these in the final stages of application.
Driving ranges offer a great feed for Golf Clubs, and we now have two driving ranges working towards RangeMark (GolfMark for stand alone facilities).
The Couples Golf initiative brought many new players to the game with many of these either now enjoying golf membership or receiving further coaching.
Our aim this season is to focus on adult retention which will see the introduction of further funded iniatives to help attract new players to the game. The launch of our Give Golf A go project in May 2011 has helped to recruit many new players to our clubs. Our 2012 initiative focused on a Recruitment Grant which was offered to all affiliated Golf Clubs across both Counties, 28 Clubs have taken up this opportunity to receive funding to host an Open Day and follow up taster sessions which will hopefully promote an increase in our membership.
Our disability projects have been a huge success with regular coaching sessions being implemented accross both counties. Our strong links with local press has allowed the Partnership to strengthen its awareness with our newsletters and new website proving to be increasingly popular.
Shropshire & Herefordshire have always been well recognised for producing Elite golfers and with the support of the County Partnership and the excellent coaching structures in place I feel we are well positioned to continue such player development. Our County Academy programme brought extra golf tuition to over 100 youngsters. We will be recruiting in April at our third assessment day to run our third year of this programme. The Peewee tour managed by the County Union has also proved to be a great success offering juniors an opportunity to compete in a series of competitions across both Counties.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the many volunteers who give up their time to help support me in my role and if you would like to give something back to golf please contact me.
Please feel free to contact me if you require any advice on matters concerning developing membership, tuition, golf club or facility.
Kind regards,
Mark
County Development Officer
PGA Advanced Golf Professional
marktaylor.pga@gmail.com
