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The R&A to help bring golf to 70,000 children in China

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The R&A has thrown its full support behind China’s only officially sanctioned junior golf development scheme, the HSBC China Junior Golf Programme, bringing its expertise and £100,000 of funding to help extend golf’s reach in China.

The programme was launched last May, and in its first year attracted over 1,200 junior golfers to attend its seven tournaments and two summer camps. This year, however, the scope of the programme will expand massively, with the game being brought into 40 schools in the cities of Beijing, Hefei and Yunnan. By the end of 2008 the programme will also enter schools in Shanghai, with a total of over 70,000 boys and girls being introduced to golf this year.

The sheer number of children being reached is one of the key things that attracted The R&A’s support. “Helping develop the game of golf in China is one of our key priorities,” said Duncan Weir, Director of Golf Development for The R&A. “We’re delighted to be a partner in a programme such as this. It’s something that will help us reach tens of thousands of potential new golfers, many of whom might not otherwise get the chance to try the game.”

Programme content is varied: in schools, children will receive a basic introduction to the game and the chance to try it out within PE lessons, but for those that wish to take it further, or those who already have, the programme also incorporates a series of tournaments held across China. These include the 54-hole HSBC China Junior Open and the HSBC National Junior Golf Championship, a tournament consisting of six regional qualifiers followed by a national final.

There is also a national ranking system for junior golfers – which, like the programme itself, is run day-to-day by the CGA and IMG – that helps to track players’ performance throughout the year, and summer camps at which players will receive intensive coaching for up to 11 hours a day on everything from chipping and putting to course strategy and the Rules of Golf. Many of the promising players will, in addition, be invited to a winter training camp where they will undergo an intensive three-week training programme covering both physical and mental aspects of the game.

Source: R&A