Local council offers all under-16s free golf

A Merseyside council, which earlier this year said it would invest heavily in golf, has said it is offering free golf for the next 12 months to anyone under the age of 16.

Sefton Council runs two golf clubs –  Bootle Golf Club or Southport Golf Links – and before lockdown announced it would invest more than half a million pounds in its golf offerings, including building two driving ranges, because it believes it will achieve a return on investment of double this in a decade.

Now it is offering under-16s free junior golf memberships, which gives them a year’s no-cost play at its Bootle and Southport courses.

Southport Golf Links

The memberships are worth £80 each.

‘Under-16s need to register at the Bootle Golf Club or Southport Golf Links shops,’ said a council spokesman. ‘They need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian and must provide proof of age.

‘Their free membership means that for the next 12 months they can then book a tee time and play as normal and it will cost them nothing.’

Cllr Ian Moncur, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, said: “Worth £80 each, these memberships providing under-16s with free golf at our Bootle and Southport courses, are excellent value.

Ian Moncur

“Golf is a sport that requires regular practise and training and the ability to play for free at any time might help one of our local young people emerge as the next Tommy Fleetwood.”

Sefton Council has a ‘2030 Vision’, and this includes encouraging new people young and old to participate in golf.