Junior golf festival for Cumbernauld kids

One hundred primary school children from Cumbernauld and Kilsyth are gearing themselves up for this Friday’s Cumbernauld Schools' Tri-Golf Festival at Tryst Leisure Centre.
The schools involved are Condorrat Primary School, St Michael's Primary School, Woodlands Primary School, Abronhill Primary School and Chapelgreen Primary School. All the children have experienced an introduction to golf at school as part of the clubgolf North Lanarkshire golf initiative.
“For the past two years we have been concentrating on grass root development to ensure that every local primary school in North Lanarkshire will have had an opportunity to experience golf,” said Festival organiser, Jim Moffat from North Lanarkshire Leisure.
“The local schools have received a block of six one hour lessons in school and to ensure there will be an outcome we have given teachers the opportunity to attend a coaching course. The schools were presented with a complete Tri-Golf kit to leave a legacy so they can continue to develop it in school or in afterschool clubs.
“The aim of the Festival is to take the kids out of the school environment and give them the opportunity to have some fun and celebrate their achievement.”
For the children at the Festival this could be just the start of their golf careers. Nearby Palacerigg Golf Club has signed up to the national junior golf development programme, clubgolf, and two of its members have been trained to deliver Stage 1 of the development pathway.
Emerging out of Scotland’s successful bid to host the Ryder Cup, clubgolf is a partnership between the Scottish Golf Union, the Scottish Ladies' Golfing Association, the Professional Golfers' Association, the Golf Foundation and sportscotland. The programme has been developed as a direct result of the Scottish Government’s commitment to introduce every nine-year-old child in Scotland to golf.
“Our junior membership has run down to the point where we only have seven, so the Festival is a great opportunity to invite them to our Come and Try day on the 6th April,” said the Club’s Junior Convenor and volunteer coach, Frank Anderson, who will attend the Festival to drum up support.
“I’ve met the local Active Schools Co-ordinators who are promoting the Come and Try day in local schools. I’ve got a two year plan of coaching sessions once a week at the club to encourage the kids.
“Anyone aged between 10 and 17 years old who wants to come and try the game will be more than welcome.”
The Cumbernauld Schools' Tri-Golf Festival will take place at Tryst Leisure Centre from 9.30am-11.40am.