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PRESS RELEASE
Issued:
14th November, 2011
COUNTY
GOLF PARTNERSHIPS INTRODUCE HIGHEST RECORDED NUMBER OF NEW PARTICIPANTS
For
Immediate Publication
Over
the summer months, County Golf Partnerships (CGPs) throughout England have
been working hard to provide a range of taster sessions and structured
coaching opportunities enabling 36,083 participants to ‘Get into Golf’, the
highest number of participants within a six-month period since the start of
the Whole Sport Plan in 2009.
The
England Golf Partnership (EGP) has developed the CGP network to support grass
roots golf and through the Whole Sport Plan for Golf funded by Sport England,
provide a significant level of investment to the partnerships.
All
32 CGPs in England have been running structured programmes and activities
with particular focus on participants aged 16 years plus, of which 19,938
have been involved within the last six months. With all CGPs working closely
with PGA professionals, the best available structured coaching ensures new
and existing players can enjoy their golf experience.
Teaming
up with their golf clubs, the CGPs have targeted specific market groups,
using a wide range of promotional methods and working with other sports and
County Sports Partnerships.
For
example, the Surrey CGP has been particularly successful with its ‘GolfMIX’ programme, which has utilised Twitter to help
promote its inclusive activities, resulting in 3,307 adults attending
sessions of which 722 have attended further coaching and 225 have joined a
golf club to date.
The
Norfolk CGP has continued to run its rolling ‘Get Back Into’ project
supported by the County Sports Partnership, offering eight-week structured
sessions for adults. Combined with community promotional work and taster
sessions, this programme provides the ideal follow-on for adults looking to
take up the sport.
Across
the CGPs, some 9,791 people aged 16 years plus have been involved in regular
participation as a direct result of this work since April 2011 and this
figure is expected to increase. Encouragingly, 926 new memberships have been
reported by CGPs over the last six months, providing a financial return to
golf clubs of £637,134 (based on an average annual membership fee of
£688.05).
Richard
Flint, EGU/EWGA Golf Development Manager, said: “CGPs are fundamental to
grass roots development and are highly significant in helping the EGP in its
objective to ‘Grow the Game’. County Development Officers are a fantastic
resource for county golf, developing relationships with facilities which in turn
are providing some fantastic results.
“CGPs
are delivering some innovative, structured programmes which are not only
bringing new people into the game but are also retaining existing players to
help keep the sport healthy at all levels.”
The
EGP has emphasised the importance of growing 16 plus participation, which has
resulted in a 94% increase in overall participation in CGP activities
compared with the equivalent period in 2010 and a 274% increase in 16 plus
activity levels. Since April 2009, CGPs have introduced 65,478 participants
to the game of golf of which 33,598 have been aged 16 years plus.
The
CGP Impact Report April 2011 to September 2011 detailing examples of
recruitment and retention activities can be downloaded from the EGU website, www.englishgolfunion.org/cgps
For
further information please contact:
Ben
Evans, EGP Communications Officer
Email:
benevansgolf@yahoo.co.uk
Tel:
01747 820384
Lynne
Fraser, EGU Marketing and PR Manager
Email:
lfraser@englishgolfunion.org
Tel:
01526 354500
Lyndsey
Hewison, English Women’s Golf Association Press Officer
Email:
lyndsey.hewison@ntlworld.com
Tel:
01603 507416
EGU/EWGA
Golf Development Team
Email:
development@englishgolfunion.org
Tel:
01526 354500
EDITORS
NOTES
The
England Golf Partnership is a partnership between the English Golf Union, the
English Women's Golf Association and the PGA with the support of the Golf
Foundation and Sport England.
'The
Whole Sport Plan for golf' is an initiative supported by Sport England that
identifies how The England Golf Partnership will achieve its vision of being
'The Leading Golf Nation in the World by 2020' from grass roots right through
to the elite level.
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