Visitors to Sun City Country Club in Western Australia may have noticed recently that Sunday mornings are abuzz with junior golfers participating in the MYGolf program. With 55 juniors now enrolled in the program, it is hard to miss the youngsters as they learn the game from June Community Coach Recognition Award recipient, Marcel Rive. Rive has been an accredited Community Golf Coach since February, 2011. His motivation for undertaking the course was to ensure he was then qualified to re-introduce a junior program at Sun City, something that had been missing from the club for many years. Using the MYGolf framework, Rive has built the program up to the point where each week 55 children (including his two daughters) have the chance to develop their golf skills. Rive has also been able to encourage several other club members to become accredited coaches to help him cater for the demand the program has created. Children in Sun City s program are now split into two groups during sessions children undergoing their MYGolf Silver level are coached by the club s professional Sean McKay, whereas the other group is instructed by Community Coaches. This setup at Sun City is a fantastic example of how Community Coaches can provide support to their Club Professional. By ensuring there are enough trained Community Coaches, Rive has also provided a pathway for the children where they receive the basic level skills from Community Coaches before being passed onto a PGA Professional for further instruction. Sun City Golf Club is extremely proud of their junior base and all MYGolf participants are now proud club members. Through Rive s hard work and dedication the club now has a number of juniors coming through who in time will not only form an integral part of the Junior Pennant team, but also be active club members for a long time to come. Rive s work has been recognised by Matt Espie, Golf WA s Game Development Co-ordinator, who nominated him for this award. Sun City Country Club was in need of someone to establish a junior program and since sitting his Level 1 Course in 2011, Marcel has been proactive in his promotion of the program he has set up, Espie said. With extensive redevelopments to Sun City over the last 18 months, the club is now ready to explode and Rive s effort to develop a strong junior program ensures that they have something in place to deal with the demand. It is such a growth area of Perth and the club will reap the benefits in future years, Espie said. Rive s work at Sun City Country Club has been invaluable in providing the kids the opportunity to experience golf and he has established a program that rivals their more prestigious contemporaries.
Author: Sarah Kennedy / Golf Australia