Alford builds on junior club
of the year status

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September 2009

Alford Golf Club, winner of the inaugural Dunfermline Building Society Junior Club of the Year Award last year, has wasted no time in ploughing its winnings back into a thriving junior section.
 
The awards - part of a three year sponsorship agreement between the Scottish Golf Union and Dunfermline Building Society which began in January 2007 - are designed to reward clubs for their efforts in promoting junior golf and encouraging more juniors into the game.

Alford used its £1000 award to install a Junior Champions board and, combined with other sponsorship and fundraising money, to upgrade its junior practice facilities.

"The award has made a big difference," said Alford's coach co-ordinator Colin Hood. "Having a juniors board, which sits alongside the Captains and Champions boards, makes it immediately obvious that the junior section is alive and thriving and an important part of our club.

"We make every effort to make the juniors feel at home and we've backdated the board to make sure they are fully represented."

Alford became Junior Club of the Year by making golf inclusive for children in the local community and building its junior membership.

One of the first clubs to come on board with the national junior programme, clubgolf - a partnership between the Scottish Golf Union, the Scottish Ladies' Golfing Association, the Professional Golfers' Association, the Golf Foundation and sportscotland, launched after Scotland’s successful bid to host the 2014 Ryder Cup - it has a healthy junior coaching programme with over 60 children registered.

Fifteen volunteer coaches, three of them qualified at Level 2, give the coaching on Monday nights and Saturdays (prime tee time every Saturday, between 4 and 5.30pm, is for juniors only).

In its 14 year old, Ryan Gordon, the club has the first golfer to progress through every step of the clubgolf pathway from Stage 1 to SGU Grampian Academy. Following in his footsteps is younger brother, Ray (12), who has reached Stage 4 of the club's clubgolf programme.

Alford has an ongoing commitment to improving its junior practice facilities and programmes and is adept at fundraising.

"This summer we held a sportsman's dinner in conjunction with the local football team which raised £7500 for our junior section," said Colin.

"Combining the Dunfermline Building Society Award with Awards for All and clubgolf funding, we have developed a practice area. We now have a practice putting area and a target green, and a hard standing driving range with ten mats to help us with the junior coaching.

"The funding has made a huge difference and allows us to deliver a better quality of coaching. Before our juniors had to make a 40 mile round trip to Inchmarlo to practise putting but now we have a putting green we can do that at home.

"Our juniors still go to Inchmarlo to practise full swing and Andy Locke, the Pro there, has supported us ever since we started. He looks at all the kids, helps us with coaching, and we have a coaches' development day at the start of the season to make sure we are all up to speed."

It's 18 months since Alford fought off 50 Scottish clubs to become Junior Club of the Year. Yet the club is still reaping the benefit and basking in the limelight of being the Awards' first winner.

"The prestige of being junior club of the year for the whole of Scotland is quite something," said Colin who, along with two fellow coaches, won the clubgolf Pro Am at Spey Valley last month.

"When you mention the name Alford to golfers, people recognise us and remember we won Club of the Year, ask us how we do our coaching and ask us how they can improve their own junior coaching."