Four EDGA golfers who appeared in The R&A’s Champions’ Celebration this week used their experience and skill in the game to encourage new young golfers and families visiting the Golf Foundation charity at The Open at St Andrews.
EDGA players are ‘golfers first’, who happen to have a disability, and this international quartet of Monique Kalkman of Holland, Juan Postigo Arce of Spain, Jennifer Sraga of Germany, and Kipp Popert of England took part in the four-hole Champions’ event alongside Tiger Woods, Tom Watson, Nick Faldo, Georgia Hall and other legends of the game on Monday.
Monique, Juan, Jennie and Kipp are all looking to put back into the game and were delighted to support our Golf Foundation team in the ‘SwingZone’ beside the Old Course, where the children’s charity is a guest of The R&A all week.
Kipp was interviewed by Sky and talked about how he got his start in golf, Monique took on the youngsters in the Foundation’s ‘5-shot Challenge’, Jennie fired rapid shots in the ‘against the clock’ game before encouraging a group of boys and girls to enjoy first hits at golf, while Juan played against a group of visiting Spanish boys in a fun ‘national championship’; all games played using Golfway equipment.
Jennie Sraga said: “I was very happy to help today and it’s nice to help inspire more children to try golf because it is such a fantastic game for everyone. It was great to help kids with their very first hits!”
Martin Crowder, Head of Development for the Golf Foundation, said: “Our visiting EDGA golfers have helped to light up our junior activity in The R&A SwingZone. The children loved the encouragement from these players. What really impressed us was their passion for promoting golf in a fun way and showing the youngsters that learning the skills and a love for the sport can be a perfect combination for all of us.”
The EDGA players (European Disabled Golf Association) enjoy playing in a schedule of international tournaments as the 34 national federations in EDGA’s membership look to grow the game, attracting new golfers with a disability from a start in the sport to reaching their potential on the player pathway.
* Learn more about EDGA at www.edgagolf.com