Golf4Girls4Life continues to flourish
HAVING been piloted in 2016, the Golf4Girls4Life (G4G4L) Programme, created by the Confederation of Golf in Ireland (CGI) and the Irish Ladies Golf Union (ILGU), is now in its second official year.
In 2017, the programme saw over 170 volunteers and 34 PGA Professionals from 85 clubs educated on the importance of having practices and structures in place for girls. The programme has been derived through feedback from young girls themselves and for CGI Development Manager, Anne Brett, this is the key component of the framework;
“When we set about designing G4G4L our main goal was to get as many girls playing as possible. Rather than us, as adults, assuming what the girls wanted we decided to ask them what they liked and what they wanted from golf through focus groups. These focus groups have helped shape G4G4L into a programme that is focused on fun, inclusion and empowering each girl to be the best that she can be. We often hear that every junior’s dream is to play on tour, to play for Ireland, to be a scratch golfer but actually when we spoke to the girls the majority of them just wanted to be in an environment that allowed them to have fun with their friends and this is the message that we are trying to convey through this programme.”
Through feedback from those clubs involved in the programme in 2017, over 50% introduced the G4G4L Player Progression Guide, while 55% introduced more social events and off – course activities for their girls. Furthermore 100% of the workshop attendees stated that their learnings would be beneficial to them and their girls.