East London families master SNAG & Community Golf in one unforgettable day

When was the last time you saw a face painted child chipping in for a birdie?

How often do you see animal shows conducted next to golf lessons?

A  mobile HQ that would make Bill Gates jealous next to a honey farm?

The answer is Lee Valley Golf Centre.

All of us at Community Golf have been blown away by today’s event.  Families from all 4 corners of London came to East London and played… GOLF! It was an amazing example of community enjoying themselves. Mums, Dads, brothers and sisters practising their swings, grandparents caddying for their grand children whilst teachers and volunteers escorted families around a 9 hole course.

The Orchid Golf Academy powered by Xoolon proved to be a smash hit, so much so that membership grew by over 40% in 5 hours.  That’s a lot of families starting new at golf.

PGA Golf Professional Tony Howarth’s SNAG Workshops were oversubscribed to the extent that he had to rope in a few unsuspecting parents and volunteers to assist.

The Community Course designed & hosted by PGA Golfer Nigel Lawrence showcased all the sites the Nature Reserve had to offer (as well as a few pylons). The day also saw a course record fall when Drew Clark carded an amazing 8 under par.  The children from Tower Hamlet’s Play for Success team were first off the tee and shot amazingly low scores, especially when you consider their previous golf experience came on the Wii.  The last to play were 8 children from the local schools and nurseries who all stayed out on course even though others were packing up around them.

As well as answering a few questions the fun day did raise a few…

Where was Tri-Golf? Luckily families could fall back on starting new at golf to play golf for the first time. 

Why oh why is golf not played more in the inner cities? Well East London can boast it’s showing the rest of the country how it’s done.

The Community Golf Team would like to raise a huge cheer for all those who made this day possible.

Firstly the children and families who braved the weather to get stuck in, the wonderful staff& volunteers at Lee Valley Park, The International Golf Development team who donated their time and expertise to teach new golfers, Xoolon for providing our leader board and academy, the Play for Success Team for giving up their holidays so that Tower Hamlets children could enjoy the event and M&S for kitting the team out.

All that’s left to say is we aren’t going to stop here, we’ve only just tee’d off.  Why would we when there’s children who will brave the cold and travel miles on public transport to launch, chip, pitch and roll in an east London meadow with their family.

Cheers Everyone and we hope to see you very soon.

Leaderboard for Lee Valley Fun Day

13/04/2011

Name	Team	Group	Holes	Strokes	Score
Drew Clark	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	24	-8
sami beggache	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	27	-5
Nathan clarke	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	29	-3
Amaya Richards	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	32	0
Mohammed Nazeeb Ullah	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	32	0
louines beggache	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	35	3
courtney james	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	35	3
craig west	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	35	3
Elise Clark	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	36	4
Mubarak Ismail	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	37	5
Nadim Hossain	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	37	5
Ben walker	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	42	10
Ross West	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	42	10
Herbert Duke	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	42	10
nicholas cm	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	43	11
aqeel Garner	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	43	11
fay Hines	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	51	19
Joe Walker	Orchid Community Golf Club	Lee Valley 1	9	54	22