Close to a hundred girls between the ages of eight and 16-years old stand to benefit from the ground-breaking Standard Bank Golf Development Programme which is set to be rolled out from May 18.
Aimed at taking the game of golf directly to the girls to create interest and excitement for the game, and generate support for them within their communities, the Standard Bank Golf Development Programme has been designed to grow women’s golf on all levels and create opportunities for young females and women in South Africa to forge professional careers for themselves in the golf industry through playing ability, coaching and all aspects related to the business of golf.
“We are honoured and grateful to Standard Bank for their continued support to upskill and empower talented young girls in South Africa, from start to finish. It is our collective mission to empower and drive women and girls to reach new heights through sporting programmes like this! It is a first in South Africa and it is historical. The impact it will have on the lives of plus-minus 100 girls will be immense” said Jenny Havenga of Lifestyle Golf, founder and promoters of the Standard Bank Golf Development Programme.
The programme will be launched at Serengeti Golf Estates from May 18 – 19th and all golf coaching will be facilitated by professional coaches from the Women’s Professional Golf Association of South Africa (WPGA). The launch dates will serve as player identification fun days focussing on introducing the game to young females between the ages of 10 and 16. The purpose is to identify and recruit 30 girls with potential for participation in the 2021 Golf Development Programme. The day will consist of fun activities, modified golf games and golf instructional clinics conducted by WPGA coaches.
The 2021 Standard Bank Golf Development Programme will cover four levels of abilities and learning from the young beginner right through to top amateur and professional players and will initially be hosted in Gauteng and will grow, in the long term, into a wide-reaching grassroots national programme.
Level one will be coached by WPGA Professionals for an hour at Serengeti Golf Estates and this will take place over six weeks.
Level two is the intermediate stage which sees the transfer from the modified coaching methods and equipment to regular golf coaching with junior golf equipment. It consists of more formalised and structured coaching over six weeks in the form of weekly one-hour instructional clinics.
Level three is the advanced stage in the programme which will consist of selected players from ability assessments during level two. The coaching will be more individualised and focussed on smaller groups of four over 12 weeks, with 11 x 1-hour weekly lessons and a full nine-hole golf course experience at the end.
The Elite Player Mentorship Programme is level four, and it is designed to coach, mentor, and support two top amateur and two WPGA Professionals in the development of their playing careers over 12 weeks with two-hour individual sessions weekly – covering Golf Skills Enhancement, Mental, Physical and Emotional Development, Personal Brand Building and Marketing Skills Development, Managing Life on Tour and Goal Setting, and Personal Motivation, among other things.
Margie Whitehouse, chair of the Women’s Professional Golf Association (WPGA) added: “After the successful launch of the inaugural 2021 Standard Bank Pro-am Series, initiated by Lifestyle Golf in collaboration with the WPGA, we are delighted and most appreciative of Standard Bank’s continued sponsorship and support for the development of the women’s game in Southern Africa. Extending the reach from women to girl children is most exciting and we look forward to playing our part in unearthing and nurturing new talent whilst enriching lives.”
“As a financial institution, it is vital for us to enable growth particularly amongst young girls within the sports arena. It is important to equip young girls who have a vested interest in sports and to empower them in learning and growing within the sports. We are delighted to be the head sponsor of such an initiative and to be making a difference in the lives of young girls very early in their lives and careers“, said Schalk Kotze, Standard Bank Head of Affluent: Consumer and High Net Worth South Africa.
The various venues are yet to be confirmed but the excitement is building as the sun is beginning to shine on women’s development in golf.
For more information, contact Lifestyle Golf – Jenny Havenga or Gina Read.
