Over 4,000 ladies took up golf last year

A 2011 England Golf grant led to more than 4,000 women and girls in England taking up golf last year. Nearly 550 of them are now members of golf clubs.

The ‘Women and Girls’ Grant’, funded by the former English Women’s Golf Association (now part of England Golf, which runs amateur golf in England) and distributed by the England Golf Partnership to 30 English county golf partnerships (CGPs) and two county associations, saw an increase in participation by more than 1,000 compared to 2010.

The money, which funds clubs’ provision of opportunities for women and girls to get into golf and to continue playing, led to 4,017 people taking up golf in 2011, of whom 67 per cent were girls and 33 per cent women.

On average, 126 participants were involved in each county through this scheme and, nationally, 549 participants took up club membership and 1,348 attended further coaching sessions.
This is on top of the work each CGP provided for women and girls through their other programmes.

Commenting on the 2011 grant scheme, Richard Flint, England Golf development manager, said: “Providing opportunities for women and girls is essential to help grow the game in England and, through the work of the CGPs, England Golf can provide a coordinated approach to delivering.”

The scheme is continuing in 2012.