News / Ex champion opens junior golf range
SHETLAND Golf Club celebrated a real scoop on Wednesday when former British Open champion Paul Lawrie OBE visited the isles to launch the club’s new junior coaching facilities.
Lawrie, a keen supporter of structured junior golf coaching, agreed to come to Shetland after playing with local club members at a competition open to professionals and amateurs last year.
On Wednesday, in front of a large crowd of young and not so young golf enthusiasts, he cut the ribbon to officially open the new £5,000 development, with a junior driving range, practice nets, mats and three greens for pitching and putting.
The investment follows a major recruitment drive, which has seen the number of junior club members soar from 26 to 80 over the last two years.
The 1999 British Open champion held everyone’s attention as he went through a series of practice shot as part of his coaching clinic (Photo by Malcolm Younger of Millgaet Media)
“I am delighted to be opening this facility at Shetland Golf Club. It is fantastic to see projects like this in the islands and I am sure this will be a huge success. Everybody involved should feel very proud of what they have achieved,” he said.
“It is my first time in Shetland, so I am looking forward to getting out playing five holes with the kids later this afternoon.”
He added that football was traditionally the main sport in Scotland, but much effort was going into encouraging young people to play golf. “I think there is quite a lot of football here, but they are trying to build up the golf numbers,” he said.
Shetland Golf Club captain Erik Burgess said the new facility, built with the help of a grant from sportscotland, will make a huge difference to what the club can offer juniors in coaching.
“We can now split them up into four or five groups. Some can go to the driving range, others to the driving nets or the pitch and putt green. By breaking the group down into smaller numbers we get to spend more time with them and can dedicate more time to individual kids,” he said.
Shetland Golf Club is one of 322 clubs in Scotland offering ‘clubgolf’ coaching, Scotland’s legacy for staging the 2014 Ryder Cup.
Alan Harcus, junior convener at the club, added: “This facility is just what Shetland Golf Club needs as our junior membership has increased fourfold in the last couple of years.
“Having a purpose built practice area will help develop golf in the club without restricting other members’ use of the course,” he said.
“The enthusiasm of the kids is very good and their development because of this has been excellent.
“Several of the junior members have now reached a standard where they are also able to compete in the gents competitions. This is testament to their commitment and hard work throughout the last few years.”
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