Essex students learn new skills with golf
Essex students with learning difficulties have been gaining new skills by ‘getting into golf’. They’ve been learning to play the game and also developing their teamwork, communication and co-ordination skills.
The project, which started with one group of 18 teenagers at the Colchester Institute’s Clacton campus, has proved so successful that two other groups have just begun ‘get into golf’ sessions, including one in Colchester. A satellite club has also been set up to offer weekly sessions for those who want to go on playing the game.
Golf professional Tom Hide and his colleagues at the Coastal Golf Academy have been coaching the first group at Millers Barn and Frinton Golf Clubs. He said:
“It’s been so rewarding to bring people into the sport and to see them enjoy it.”
The sessions consisted of fun-based golf skills games with students taking to the driving range and putting green, negotiating their way out of the bunker and then taking to the course for practice. After five weeks of coaching at Millers Barn the students visited Frinton for lunch and a competition on the course.
Now, Tom is running the satellite club and working with a second group while fellow PGA professionals at Playgolf Colchester are teaching another group from the Colchester campus.
Active College Maker Sue Wells organised the project with the Essex Golf Partnership, which works to grow the game in the county, the Coastal Golf Academy and with Sportivate funding from Active Essex. She said:
“It was brilliant to see the students get a chance to try something new in golf. Their tutors have been able to transfer the students’ enthusiasm to the classroom, for example by referring to score card in maths and encouraging them to write about what they’ve been doing in English.”
The students are all part of the Pathway group tutored by Karl Delaine and he commented:
“It was wonderful to see the group participating in a sport that they wouldn’t ordinarily have the opportunity to try. Each learner developed a range of different skills and accomplished much over the six week course. They are greatly looking forward to the new sessions and hopefully the group will be able to build on their newly acquired skills.”
The Essex Golf Partnership brings together the men’s, women’s and professionals’ county organisations to grow the game in Essex. County Golf Partnerships are part of the England Golf Partnership’s ‘Whole Sport Plan’ for golf and an integral part of its vision to ‘Grow the Game’. The England Golf Partnership (EGP) is a partnership between the amateur governing body, England Golf, and the PGA, supported by the Golf Foundation and Sport England National Lottery funding.
For further information contact Helen Tarttelin, County Development Officer for the Essex Golf Partnership, Email helen@essexgolfpartnership.com or call 07971 097976. Their website is www.essexgolfpartnership.com
