Senior representatives from the European golf sector came together at the GoGolf Europe Final Conference to discover and debate the results of the project. The conference also presented the opportunity to discuss the legacy of the project and how it can be used for the benefit of golf at all levels.
The event took place in Lausanne, Switzerland, to coincide with the AGM of the European Golf Association meaning a maximum number of representatives from the European golf industry were present, with most, if not all, European golf federations represented.
Richard Heath, General Secretary of the European Golf Association (EGA) began proceedings by introducing the GoGolf project and showing the GoGolf video which was made to showcase the project. Richard informed delegates of the nature of the Erasmus+ funded transnational project and the twin aims of increasing the evidence base for the health benefits of golf and driving increased participation.
Tony Bennett, Director of Education and Membership at the PGAs of Europe, then took the stage to update delegates on the GoGolf innovative coaching methodology. Tony stressed the tenets of the programme based on participant-led and self-directed learning. The learning outcomes and structure of the coaching programme were also presented. Tony informed delegates that he had received a good response from coaches delivering the programme and it can contribute to future developments in golf coaching.
Next to the stage was Dr Rehema White from the University of St Andrews, the project research partner. Rehema presented the headline research results, gave an overview of the GoGolf outputs produced by the University, and discussed recommendations for delegates to take away about how to develop an effective intervention for youth participation in their club or federation.
Richard Heath wrapped up the plenary session by discussing the EGA’s experience of managing an EU funded project and gave thanks to the project partners and supporting organisations from the golf sector including The R&A, European Tour and Ladies European Tour.
The remainder of the conference was taken up with workshop sessions where the sister project “Golf and Health” from the World Golf Foundation was briefly introduced by Dr Roger Hawkes before Erik Lundkvist From the University of St Andrews discussed further results from the project and led a discussion with delegates about designing and evaluating interventions for golf participation and lessons learnt from the GoGolf project.
About Gogolf
The GoGolf Europe project, led by the European Golf Association (EGA) and funded by the European Commission under Erasmus+, the EU programme for Education, Training, Youth and Sport for 2014-2020, was developed to:
- Increase the awareness of, and evidence base for, the health benefits of golf for European citizens.
- Increase participation in the sport of golf at a pan-European level.
In parallel with the running of a broadly-focussed literature review about the health benefits of golf, an innovative coaching methodology was designed and implemented to provide and test a new access pathway to golf for youth aged 15 to 18 years.
Within five collaborating member states, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Netherlands, and Portugal, over 600 youths were given the opportunity to learn and play golf for the first time through a series of 12 lessons, of two hours per week, provided by local golf coaches. The project ran for three years, from 1 January 2015, and officially ends on 31 December 2017.
