Junior programme flourishing
at Shiskine

June 2010

Juniors on Arran are taking up golf in higher numbers than ever following Shiskine Golf Club’s action to create structured clubgolf junior coaching and build a new clubhouse.

Assisted by a sportscotland grant, the club opened its new clubhouse this spring. Incorporating a dedicated junior room has helped raise junior membership to 36, and all of them take part in clubgolf coaching.

“We are absolutely thrilled with the numbers of juniors coming to coaching,” said the club’s clubgolf coordinator, Gordon Stewart.

“They are all showing real enthusiasm. Now we have junior competitions and some of the juniors have handicaps and can just go out and play on their own, which is what we really wanted.

“We've been pretty focused on junior coaching for the last 18 months. Ann Lang from clubgolf came down to meet us and she was very helpful, pointed us in the right direction and set a few things up for us. It probably wouldn't have happened without her. “

A year ago seven club members qualified as clubgolf Level 1 volunteer coaches. For those children signing up for clubgolf coaching, junior membership fees were pegged at £10 for those of primary age and £20 for those at senior school.

Children are split into four coaching categories according to ability. To help coaching them the volunteers have a wealth of good facilities at their disposal - ranging from the club, the island’s golf range and the local village hall, an ideal wet weather alternative for the youngest children. The island’s pro, Dougie Bell, is also involved and coaches the top group, the ones Gordon hopes will go on to represent the club in competitions.

Whilst the programme is still in its infancy the club is delighted with the response so far. “Bearing in mind that our local primary school has around 33 pupils, and we have drawn from Primary 5, 6 and 7, we have had an excellent uptake of around 85 percent from that,” said Gordon.

“We have had a real cross-section of children, many from families who already play golf but some who are totally new to the game. On Sunday we had our annual junior competition and the good thing was that a lot of parents came and either helped out or watched and supported. It shows they are taking an interest in golf as well.”

For the first time last year, the club had enough junior players with handicaps to enter July’s Kelso Cup junior event. Two of the four strong team injured themselves this year in other sports but the growing depth of talent at Shiskine means that other juniors are able to take their places.

“Last year was the first time we had managed to raise a team for the event, which is a direct result of the work we are doing on the clubgolf programme,” said Gordon.

“Unfortunately two of the guys who would have played are injured. But because we now have a half dozen juniors with handicaps, we are able to dig a little deeper this year and still put a team in.”