R&A lends support to Kemnay kids'

World Challenge expedition

The R&A is supporting a group of Aberdeenshire school pupils taking part in a World Challenge expedition to Africa this summer - where they will teach golf to village children in Namibia - by buying them a bag of golf equipment.
The 15 Kemnay Academy students, aged from 15 to 17, will travel through Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia on the educational expedition from 16 June to 16 July. Included in their itinerary is learning survival techniques from bushmen in the Kalahari Desert, travelling through the Okavango Delta in dugout canoes and a trek through the Batoka Gorge.
The expedition will be an opportunity for the students to learn about other cultures but they are keen to teach local children something of Scottish culture. And they plan to teach them to play golf.
“As part of our project we’ll be interacting with the local children which is when we’ll do our golf coaching,” said Kintore 15 year old Jordyn Booth, a keen golfer and member of Kemnay Golf Club.
“These children will probably not have seen a golf club before so we are really looking forward to getting them started.”
This week The R&A, which already makes a significant contribution to developing golf in Africa, supported the expedition by giving the Aberdeenshire students a bag of SNAG golf equipment, which they will use to teach children and leave behind in Namibia.
This is the same equipment which is proving extremely popular with children across Scotland. The junior golf programme, clubgolf, is using it to introduce 38,000 children to golf in schools this summer.
Duncan Weir, The R&A Director of Golf Development, said, “The R&A has been doing a great deal of support work in Africa for over a decade and this is a good opportunity for us to do even more via these young Scots.”
Golf is in different stages of development in the three countries. Zambia has a rich history in the sport and its national Open has been won by many famous names. Namibia has 20 golf courses and its countryman, Trevor Dodds was a winner on the PGA Tour in 1997. In Botswana progress is not so advanced but The R&A is working to help improve the situation.
“In recent years we have been supporting events in these countries, have sent golf professionals there to teach and have donated greenkeeping machinery,” said Mr Weir.
“What these students are doing seems potentially another good initiative and I believe they can make a difference.
“What would be success for us would be to see these countries represented at our Junior Open at Lundin Golf Club immediately before The Open at St Andrews.”
The students meanwhile have been busy raising funds to pay for the expedition through a variety of events. By organising celidhs, sponsored abseils and a variety of jobs, they are just about there.
Jordyn is the only golfer in the group, yet an accomplished one. Her handicap is 16 and she is in the second year of clubgolf’s Stage 3 programme.
Audra Booth, clubgolf’s Regional Manager for Grampian, will be training the students to enable them to teach the game to the Namibian children and also show local school teachers how to deliver the game.
Added Jordyn: “We are extremely grateful to The R&A for buying us the SNAG equipment which will help us interact with the children and give them something new to learn. Hopefully they will all enjoy playing golf and keep practising once we have gone home.”

Pictured above are: Duncan Weir, R&A Director of Golf Development and Torquil McInroy, clubgolf Project Manager, with the firstclubgolf equipment, Jordyn Booth (15), Sarah Loggie (15) and Amy Mitchell (17) – all from Kintore - and Blackburn’s Keira Watson (15) at St Andrews.