Northern Golf is putting its money where its youth is.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A decline in playing numbers among Tasmanian juniors has inspired the golf camp being held at Launceston Golf Club this week, which is being run by Melbourne PGA master coach Peter Knight.
“Over the years the numbers of juniors right around the state have been dwindling and so on,” Northern Golf president Don Cameron said.
“So two or three years ago Northern Golf decided we’d bring Peter over and run a camp for these young budding golfers and hopefully encourage more juniors to be able to play golf.”
Helping to promote the game... and help make the young people already in the game better - that’s my life’s work.
- Peter Knight
Monday and Tuesday saw about a dozen beginners learn their craft under Knight’s wing, while up-and-coming juniors will benefit from his expertise the remainder of the week.
“It costs us a lot of money,” Cameron said.
“But at the same time it’s forward thinking to get more young kids into golf - a game they can play for life.”
Knight has spent more than 30 years as a golf coach and has been invested in Tasmanian golf at least half that time.
The former Golf Australia national coach said high-quality players come and go in small-population areas –the key is to keep numbers coming through the system.
“Coming down here and helping to promote the game, get younger people involved and help make the young people already in the game better - that’s my life’s work anyway,” Knight said.
“Once they start to improve a little bit they enjoy the game more, they want to play more and then there’s health and all sorts of benefits that come with them playing more sport but golf specifically.”