Junior Development Newsletter
In 2002 the Executive agreed as a priority activity to develop and implement a Junior Coaching Strategy in conjunction with each of the member clubs. To take this forward a small working group was established and each member club was invited to attend a series of workshops to discuss the topic and to ensure the strategy met with both the Club's and their young golfers coaching and development requirements.
The key action areas that emerged from these workshops were as follows:
Communications:
To establish good communications links and improve the quality of information exchange with each member club and the Executive, member clubs were grouped on a geographical basis and a responsible individual was appointed to establish and develop strong communication links with each member club.
Enabling:
The SGU Junior Charter was agreed as the enabling framework to develop junior golf at club level and the Executive would actively encourage each club to seek to accept and adopt the principles of the Charter while recognizing that each Club should move at their own pace to achieve the award.
Funding:
The Executive when establishing the annual budgets approve appropriate funding to deliver the strategy.
Implementation:
Implementation of the coaching element of the strategy was designed to address 3 key areas:
- Teaching to Train
- Teaching to Play
- Teaching to Compete
This newsletter has been issued to inform all the member clubs of both the opportunities that the Junior Coaching Strategy offer to all young golfers within the Glasgow Golf Union and implementation progress to date.
In addition we have included some key indicators of activities and achievements so far. Most importantly however, having now established a strong foundation for Junior Development within Glasgow we seek your feedback and comments on how the 4 Key activities originally established in Communications, Enabling, Funding, Implementation, can be improved and developed for the future
Please email your view and comments to Andrew Smith Junior Coaching Convenor thesecretarvbgc@yahoo.co.uk or phone Day 01417728938, Evening 01415636859
- Under 14's Skills Test
- Under 15's Match play Inter Club Competition
- Scottish Golf Union Development Pathway Team Development.
The Glasgow Golf Union remains committed to assist and identify golfing talent at an early age and seeks to develop this talent in a constructive and proactive manner to benefit both the sport and those that participate in golf at club, local and national level.
Under 14s Skills Test:
Objective
To encourage junior golfers to practice and develop their short game skills.
Held annually with 2 boys from each club under 14 years of age at the 1st January each year.
The competition is run by Simon Payne Professional at Cowglen Golf Club and consists of tests in 11 basic skills in the following:
1m Putt & 2m Putt
Downhill and Uphill Putts
Chipping, Bunker, Pitch & Run, Wedge, 9 Iron, 5 Iron & Drive
Points are awarded for successful completion of each skill test and the boy with the highest number of points is an awarded a Glasgow Golf Union Voucher.
Congratulations to the 2009 Winners Neil McArthur, Bishopbriggs with 44 points; Gregor Falconer, Cathcart Castle (41 points); Gordon Yule, Bishopbriggs (38 points).
Some Key Success Indicators to date
- £25000+ Spend & committed to date
- 100 boys Coached since 2002
- Level 3 -- 24 boys coached to date
- 3 boys SGU level 4 and at Development squad
- 2008 Boys Team win their league "First time ever"
- Solid foundation laid for 2009 Boys team
- Glasgow now regularly represented on the SGU Junior Tour
Scottish Golf Union Development Pathway:
Glasgow Golf Union is actively supporting the 5-Step Development Pathway introduced by SGU in 2005. In 2009 Glasgow has 18 boys 14 and less than 16 years of age at Level 3 stage. With 3 boys having progressed to Level 4 representing the Scotland Development squad on a number of occasions. The Pathway consists of 5 specific milestones in Young Golfers development:
- Levels 1 & 2 delivered at Club level by Professional or volunteer coaches.
- Level 3 delivered by Glasgow Golf Union coach Simon Payne with orientation and templates provided by SGU.
- Level 4 delivered by national coach Adam Hunter to groups of young golfers through a talent identification procedure as a -progression from Level 3.
- Level 5 national level coaching with SGU
Glasgow nominations for Level 4:
- Blair Dalgleish (Ralston)
- Gary Foley (Ralston)
- Jack Brown (Cathcart)
- Lewis Walter (Cathkin Braes)
- Alan Waugh (Cowglen)
- Sean Bums (Cowglen)
- Neil McArthur Jnr ( Bishopbriggs)
Team Development:
Objective
To ensure the 16 to 18 year old group of lower handicap young golfers in the area are motivated to be team players and maximize their abilities and contribution to the Area Junior team. This development programme, delivered by Simon Payne consists of the following:
- Team Motivation sessions.
- Match play versus more experienced opposition
- Diet & Life-style advice.
- On-course sessions in match play situations.
15's Matchplay inter Club Competition:
Objective
To provide match play experience along with a platform to develop interpersonal etiquette & skills while providing the opportunity to play golf at other courses.
Held annually with 6 boys from each club 15 years of age or under at the 1st January each year.
An initial draw will be made of participating Clubs who will compete in a format consisting of 6 singles matches played from scratch. In the event of a tie there will be a sudden-death playoff between two previously nominated players to decide which Club goes forward to the next round. The final is then played at a neutral venue. The overall winning team is awarded a trophy presented by the Glasgow Golf Union annually. See website Calendar of Events for details of match dates and results.
Please note 2009 15s Competition Rules Amendment
- All Players should be 15 yrs of age or under at the 1st January each year
- The challenger should offer at least 3 alternative dates to their opponents and the opponents should take all reasonable steps to accept 1 of the dates offered
- The first named team is the challenger and any matches not played by the due date will be awarded to the second named team.
Please advise Andrew Smith Tel no 0141 772 8938 or email thesecretarybgc@yahoo.co.uk as soon as possible after match results are known
Key Diary Dates:
SGU 2009/2010 Academy Nominations July
SGU Talent ID Day 10th August
Glasgow Boys Stroke Play Competition - 3rd August
15s Match Play Dates- As published
GGU Coaching Talent ID Day - October 2009
Under 14s & Under 16s Coaching - November 2009
SGU Junior Tour Nominations -January 2010
Under 14s Skills Test- June /July 2010
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2009 Boys Team Match Results 3 played 3 wins to date
Boys' Match v Stirlingshire Won 6 and half to 1 and a half
Boys' Match v Renfrewshire Won 4 and half to 3 and a half
Boys' Match v Ayrshire Won 5 to 3
16th August v Lanarkshire (away) Hamilton
13th September v Dumbartonshire (away) Vale of Leven
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Check out the website www.glasgowgolfunion.com for all the Boys Match results
Cawder v Ralston
Cowglen v Cathcart Castle
Haggs Castle v Williamwood
