Four Melbourne clubs are working in a collaboration to enhance the already-profound impact of the Australian Golf Foundation’s Junior Girls Scholarship Program that could serve as a template for the future.

Keysborough, Kingston Heath and Spring Valley and Woodlands joined together to set up a four-week swing of scholarship program events for girls which concluded over the weekend at Woodlands in the Melbourne Sandbelt.

The initiative was driven by Linda Shannon, Women’s Captain at Keysborough, who has a background in junior tennis coaching, and based on a school holiday program run by Life Member Kaye Mahlook at Woodlands as well as the Hot Shots junior program run by Tennis Australia.

The theory was that not only could the girls have fun and social engagement, they would experience different courses and conditions over a longer period as well as meeting girls from other clubs.

“They absolutely loved it,” said Shannon. “And not only did they love it, so did their parents. Honestly, it’s just snowballed.”

They played mostly Ambrose format with an emphasis on fun, and alongside mentors from each club.

“We didn’t score; we only scored the putts,” said Shannon. “If you hit a dud shot, doesn’t matter, someone hits something brilliant. Their course management and their chipping on to the greens was great and their putting was brilliant.”

The success of the program has provided food for thought.

“We’d love to replicate this concept in the program,” said Shannon. “We know that we can cluster three or four clubs. We’ve piloted it, but wouldn’t it be great if all the clubs would try it.” 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.