SNOW PROBLEM FOR KIDS AT DUMFRIES-SHIRE GOLF CENTRE

Picture by courtesy of Dumfriesshire Golf Centre pro, Gareth Dick

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY CLUBGOLF
Girls-only coaching, mothers and daughters classes and year-round junior coaching, even through the cold spell, has helped Dumfriesshire Golf Centre double its membership over the last year – shouldn’t someone tell the Dumfries based club that we’re meant to be in a recession?
This winter the centre’s pro, Gareth Dick, has worked on keeping his junior coaching and development plans on the go through everything the weather could throw at him.
“We always aim to keep the junior coaching going all year round, except for the few extremely cold days when you can’t feel your fingers and it was impossible to play,” said Gareth, who has been attracting 35 children to his coaching each week this winter.
“The girls' group had a lesson recently and I had them out in the snow and they still enjoyed it, which shows that it doesn’t seem to matter how bad the weather is if you keep things fun for the kids that come along.”
The centre has worked at retaining and growing its junior coaching number through the recession. When it was taken over by local businessman Breck McLeod in the midst of financial downturn, Gareth was given the opportunity to help build the adult and junior memberships back up through coaching and introducing golf to juniors and adults in the Dumfries area.
His initiatives and innovations have helped with a rapid turnaround at the centre. He started a coaching group for mothers and their daughters in conjunction with the local Council, which at last count had 16 participants. He gave free introductory sessions in all ten local primary schools last autumn and is going to do the same again this spring. And, in an effort to encourage girls, he runs girls only coaching, a programme which is thriving and growing well into double figures.
“The thing about girls is that it quickly becomes a very sociable class,” enthuses Gareth. “They all look after each other, they enjoy each other's company and once you start off a class they basically tell all their friends and it grows by itself. Girls only coaching is a winner and something I would recommend to any other coaches interested in giving it a try.”
The centre’s junior programme coincides with the drive to give every Primary 5 child in Scotland the opportunity to play golf through the national junior clubgolf programme.
A lasting legacy to Scotland’s staging of the 2014 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.
Thousands of primary school children are being introduced to golf in local schools through clubgolf’s introductory game each year and Dumfriesshire Golf Centre has been quick to see the potential.
It boasts some of the best facilities in the south west - an 18 hole course, 18 bay range with grass practise and the biggest putting green in the region – but it hasn’t relied solely on its material assets.
The centre has a well thought out business plan and takes marketing seriously, advertising in the local paper every month. It keeps its memberships for adults at an affordable £260, and juniors at £60, and reinvests all profits back in to the clubhouse and course. While the owner continues to invest personally the medium term plan is that it will reach the critical mass in membership where it becomes self sustaining.
“The owner has been working hard at advertising and building the membership back up again,” said Gareth.
“The idea is to get to 400 members, then the place will pay for itself again. If we can attract just six or seven members a week then we should be able to do that, and things have been very encouraging recently
“We have gone from around 100 members to over 200 in a year so we are gradually getting there.”
Rob Eyton-Jones
clubgolf Media Manager
t: 07775 746981
e: rob@eyton-jones.co.uk
Official clubgolf website: www.clubgolfscotland.com