For the Australian Golf Foundation (AGF) scholars at Burrum District Golf Club in Howard in Queensland, their local nine-holer is much more than just a place for them to hone their golf skills.

It is a community, a safe place to build friendships, and learn important life lessons, many of which are being taught by local father and Burrum District club captain and community instructor Adrian Reynolds.

"I got out of the army medically in 2021 and moved to Howard, and there's not too much here," Reynolds said of his rural Queensland home.

"There was a footy club that sort of had a couple of teams, but if the kids want to play sport, they've got to go Hervey Bay or Maryborough.

"So in a demographic of either retiree grandparents looking after foster kids, foster kids or just low income demographic, 40 minutes' drive to play a sport that cost $300 a year is not going to happen."

This reality inspired Reynolds to get a junior golf program up and running, and then set up the AGF program at Burrum District.

"My biggest goal was to just get all the kids that were going to school with my daughters onto a golf course, and hopefully not painting the side of trains and breaking windows at the shopping centre and stuff," he said.

"I think we've got about 22 kids now at our club who come down."

Now with access to a thriving junior program, young golfers at Burrum District are not only honing their golf skills, Reynolds is also keen to make the local golf club a real community hub.

"My whole concept was golf is a hobby, but the skills, especially the sports psychology skills that I learned on the golf course, they're life skills," he said.

"When I was a soldier with PTSD, golf helped me learn how to calm myself and regain my focus, how to handle setbacks, how to keep walking and fighting even though you're losing.

"So those skills, they’re mental health skills that can be used anywhere. For teenagers, that's really important."

While Reynolds tries to take the juniors out of Howard and into the bigger towns of Hervey Bay and Maryborough when he can, he has also helped to broaden the horizons of the young golfers by bringing visitors to Burrum District.

"I arranged for Michelle Byrne, who had just been elected to council, to come and talk to the girls," he said.

"She spoke about ladies in business, women in business. Sort of giving the girls an insight into there's a bigger world than the 2000-person town you live in.

"And just because you go to a tiny high school in the middle of nowhere, it doesn't mean you can't be the Prime Minister."

While Reynolds has studied at the Titleist Performance Institute, has completed his Diploma of Golf Management at the PGA Institute, and is no slouch on the golf course, he knows his coaching abilities compared to a PGA Professional are limited.

With the closest PGA Professional at least 30 minutes' drive away, another recent visitor to Burrum District was extremely valuable for the AGF Scholars.

On a trip that took her around the Wide Bay District, Golf Australia Queensland Participation Officer, and PGA Professional, Virginia Irwin dropped into Burrum District and delivered an AGF clinic.

"The girls were super engaged and to the point where I got a text from Adrian, and he asked me what my talking points around that particular shot I was teaching the girls," Irwin said.

"He wanted to know so he could reference them in his lesson when he was delivering it and to reinforce the communication that I had with them essentially to help with his delivery.

"Obviously those girls don't really get an opportunity to get coaching from a PGA Professional so it was very rewarding to be able to give them that experience."

The AGF scholarship program is about more than just golf, and the role it plays in small communities like Howard, and thanks to community instructors like Adrian Reynolds, this sentiment is holding true.

ABOUT THE AGF SCHOLARSHIPS

The program enables girls aged 9–16 around Australia to begin or continue their golfing journeys under the watchful eyes of qualified PGA Professionals or community instructors.

Designed to foster a deep love of golf, the program nurtures strong bonds between the participants while developing invaluable life skills such as perseverance, etiquette, concentration and cooperation.

Scholarship graduates may also continue to develop their golf through enrolling in courses at the PGA Learning Hub, including the PGA Academy membership pathway program to pursue a career in golf.

For information about the scholarships, click HERE.