This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Kids golf course tees off
19/06/2006
The UK's first purpose-built children's course was officially opened today in Edinburgh.
The Hermitage Family Golf Course, supported by a £200,000 sportscotland lottery award, is part of 'clubgolf', the national junior golf strategy which is now rolling out its programmes across Scotland.
Already 129 clubs have signed up to deliver Stage 1 of the clubgolf strategy and more than 50 new facilities are being developed.
Sports Minister Patricia Ferguson said:
"Scotland is the home of golf and I hope that our budding Open Champions of the future enjoy the new course and take this great opportunity to experience the game."
"This new course will introduce Scotland's young people to the game in a fun and exciting way and alongside the clubgolf initiative it will give young people more opportunities to get physically active and ensure that game in Scotland has a bright future."
Julia Bracewell OBE, Chair of sportscotland, said:
"sportscotland is delighted to have supported the development of this fantastic children's golf facility with an award of 200,000 pounds from the Lottery funded Sports Facilities Programme.
"This course at Hermitage is one of the growing number of golf facilities to have established a formal partnership with the clubgolf programme, which aims to provide youngsters with a quality introduction to the game and encourage increased participation at a recreational or competitive level."
"I am convinced that there are many more potential Open Champions and Ryder Cup players out there in Scotland and through clubgolf and facilities like Hermitage, we will make it far easier for them to be discovered and developed."
Andrew Renton, Chairman of the Hermitage Educational Company Ltd, said:
"The path we have been down has not been easy but we are all proud of the facility we now have at The Hermitage. Our aim is to help the Executive's objective of introducing young people to lifelong activities.
"We hope others will be encouraged to adopt a similar approach to the provision of facilities for introducing golf to children and beginners, particularly in urban centres."
Andrew Coltart, the Former Ryder Cup team member and Hermitage's Patron, was at The Hermitage today to award prizes to competitors in the Pro-Am, and is giving the project his full support. He said:
"The course is fantastic and it has a tremendous lay out. The first six holes are relatively wide open, with minimal problems for the children to develop their game. Once they know what they are doing they can progress to a further six holes that are a bit more of test.
"Without a doubt, a child that starts to play golf here could go on to play at the highest levels. Children are our future ambassadors and we need to encourage them. The Hermitage is a fantastic place to do that and I would have loved to come to a place like this when I was a kid."
clubgolf is a partnership between the Scottish Golf Union, the Scottish Ladies' Golfing Association, the Professional Golfers' Association, the Golf Foundation and sportscotland.
The strategy has been developed as a direct result of the Executive's commitment to introduce every nine-year-old child in Scotland to the game by 2009.
City of Edinburgh Council, the R&A and HBoS are all supporters of The Hermitage Family Golf Course. Leading golf courses that have afforded the Hermitage use of their facilities to raise funds for the Charity which manages the project including, Dalmahoy, Craigielaw and Muirfield.