Last week young golfers from across the Northern Territory converged on Darwin Golf Club for a three-day camp, building skills and engaging in on-course and off-course competition.

Comprising of a MyGolf Camp, and a first of its kind AGF Girls Scholarship Alumni camp, the first two days saw a total of 59 participants learning, growing and making new friends in the process.

Also held on the first two days was the Junior Emerging Talent program which saw 6 participants receive coaching from by Ji McBryde, the Generation 2032 Scholarship Coach, while the TeeMates Top End Series event was held on the final day of the Territory camp, with 36 9-hole players, and 12 18-hole players.

Golf Australia's General Manager for Golf Participation, David Gallichio said it was incredible to see kids from all over the Territory come together in Darwin for three days of golfing fun.

“Golf is booming across Australia, and it’s no different here in the NT,” he said. “To see so many kids from across the Territory attend the various activities that have been run here in Darwin over the past few days has been fantastic.

“There is nothing more important to our sport than having more kids playing, and we’ll be aiming to have even more attendees for our camps and events in the future.”

Golfers travelled huge distances in some cases to attend the camp, with participants from Gove, Alice Springs, Katherine, Darwin and the Top End Region.

Esther Rika, from Gove Country Golf Club, accompanied five girls to attend the AGF Junior Girl's Alumni camp, and said the week In Darwin was a huge thrill for them.

“Having it set up the way it was, with the JET kids doing their stuff, all the MyGolf camp kids doing their other stuff and then the AGF girls was awesome,” said Rika. “It was great to have that focus and that combined sort of event.

“We are moving in a really positive direction where this camp is becoming a development event, provides opportunities for the elite kids, and has a prestigious tournament attached to it.

Gove is a 13-hour drive from Darwin, and while Rika and a few girls flew down, some of the Gove girls and their parents packed up the car and hit the road. A clear demonstration of the passion to grow golf, especially for girls, in the Territory.

“It was very exciting to connect with the other clubs, because it's like that's going to be the rebirth of our NT junior state girls’ team, which folded in 2019,” said Rika.

“We are going to work very hard to get our NT kids into that elite golf space in the future which is going to be very exciting.

“My dream is that in 2-3 years’ time we’ll have a full NT girls’ representative team at the Nationals and Interstate Series, which will require a big collaborative effort.”

Also in attendance at the camp was Esther’s daughter, Katelyn Rika, who is a recent graduate from Oral Roberts University in the United States.

Katelyn engaged with the activities throughout the camp, and talked to the kids explaining her experience, giving them all inspiration for where golf can take them, even from small remote communities in the Territory.