Academy Saturdays are designed to encourage new juniors to take up golf from around the age of 7, to enjoy the game and make a new circle of friends they can play golf with for possibly the next 70 or 80 years.
The objective is for children who have reached the age of 11 or 12 to progress to the Junior section, as spaces allow. It is also recommended that children in their early teens who take up the game spend some time in Academy Saturdays to develop the basic techniques, and understand the rules, etiquette and safety before progressing to Junior medals.
The volunteers who run the Academy Saturdays have a basic PGA Level 1 coaching qualification, which offers a safe learning environment and the ability to teach basic starting skills, rules, safety and etiquette. It is recommended to seek additional professional coaching provided by the Club from time to time through the summer, or the professional and his team, to give your child the technical training to be better golfers and maintain their interest in learning to play the game. The professional can also assist with advice on the correct club selection for your child's age, height and ability.
Academy Saturdays run each Saturday from mid-April until the end of September each year, from 2:15 to 4:30pm on the practice area.
Each week we will assess the abilities of the children present and offer a range of coaching for beginners, such as pitching and putting, and to create fun games for the more experienced children to introduce them to strokeplay and matchplay golf, and eveyone's favourite the Texas Scramble.
We are happy for parents and guardians to leave their children with us for the duration of the coaching session (or stay and watch if you wish to support your child), and we expect you to stay until the beginning of the session, when dropping off your child to ensure everything is ok, and return by the end of the session to collect them, as we cannot allow children to leave the practice area unsupervised, even to the clubhouse.
If the weather or another unforeseen circumstance prevents an event to go ahead we will notify the professional as early as possible (tel : 01698 282324). Cancellations are generally due to inclement weather such as torrential rain or lightning, so the decision is often taken close to the start. If we have to stop due to weather during an event, we will take the children into the clubhouse and only release them from our care when a parent or guardian collects them.
The Academy Saturdays end with a championship competition in September to recognise the efforts all children have put in and the improvements they have made throughout the season.