Located around 270km south of Perth in the heart of the Margaret River Wine Region, Margaret River Golf Club, like many other golf clubs, has experienced a declining membership in recent years with very few children being drawn to the club.
“Children’s programs have been conducted in the past and for whatever reason, they have soon ceased with very few conversions of children to junior members,” said Committee Member and active Community Golf Coach, Michael Skivinis.
The importance of having juniors at the Club was understood by newly appointment Committee Members and club volunteers late last year and so it was decided to commence a junior golf program again. Wanting to get it right this time, with proper structure, they decided to utilise the MyGolf program and SNAG equipment to form the basis of their junior program.
Leading the charge, Michael Skivinis, obtained his Community Golf Coach 1 accreditation and encouraged other members to obtain theirs before locking in their Term 4, 2014 MyGolf program.
“We now have 9 accredited Community Golf Coaches who can assist with delivering our junior program,” said Skivinis.
In order to provide the best possible experience for the juniors, especially those who were starting out at golf, Margaret River Golf Club incorporated the use of SNAG equipment into their Term 4 junior program that was run on Friday afternoons. The 8 week program generated quite a bit of interest and saw 30 juniors register. This led into Margaret River’s MyGolf program, which provided juniors with good instruction and skill development and the entry level equipment proved to be a good fit for those in the rookie stage of the program.
“MyGolf provided easy access to equipment suitable for children who are learning to play golf and the MyGolf equipment formed part of the membership registration for the children, which was fantastic,” said Skivinis.
“Of the 30 children who participated in the Term 4, 2014 junior program at Margaret River Golf Club 11 were converted to members and there are possibly 7 more juniors who look like they will join the junior program.”
Margaret River have been quite proactive in the junior landscape and have created a 4 hole golf competition for their juniors and those in the MyGolf junior program. The competition runs on Friday afternoons with a foursomes format so the children experience golf competition as well as have fun playing together.
“MyGolf is a crucial part of the children’s program at the Margaret River Golf Club as it allows a very easy transition for the children from the novice stage to a level that allows them to compete in the junior golf competitions,” said Skivinis.
Margaret River Golf Club envisages running their MyGolf junior program all year round (weather and availability of coaches/volunteers permitting) as they believe that the children need to have a permanent program so they can continually develop golfing skills.
“The influx of new junior members at the Margaret River Golf Club has been a greatly appreciated addition and a new fresh outlook for the future,” said Skivinis.
“I would encourage all golf clubs to undertake a MyGolf junior program.”
Congratulations Margaret River Golf Club and keep up the good work!
To find out how to become a MyGolf Centre of the Month, simply log into the MyGolf website and you will find an information sheet located under Coordinator resources.