A Winning Shot for the Open 2011 Legacy Development Project
A new PGAs (Professional Golf Associations) of Europe award, introduced to acknowledge the work of a project that has excelled in developing the game, was won by the The Open 2011 Legacy Development Project and presented at the Annual Awards Dinner at the Tivoli Marina Hotel, Vilamoura on Portugal's sun-kissed Algarve coast.
Along with the English Golf Union, a whole range of organisations including the English Women’s Golf Association, the PGA (of GB&I), The R&A, the Kent Golf Partnership, Kent Sport Leisure & Olympics, the Golf Foundation, England Golf, affiliated clubs, local coaches and voluntary organisations contributed to the wide-reaching scheme.
The key objectives were to increase beginner participation level, to lower the age demographic for Golf volunteering in England and to attach it all to a global sporting event.
The Open 2011 Legacy combined all strands of Golf development and the successful outcome was:
- 25 Young Golf Ambassadors, aged 16-23, recruited, trained and deployed at The Open
- 845 volunteer hours, provided by the Young Golf Ambassadors and stakeholder members
- 3104 participants involved in golf legacy activities, with further taster sessions planned throughout the year
- 10 national and local organisations, working in partnership
- 50 PGA professionals recruited and used in Golf legacy activities including one
global sporting event – The Open Championship at Sandwich.
