From the outside looking in you would be forgiven for thinking that the traditional club in Fulwood, north Preston, would be set in its ways, and governed by the old-guard that have such a strong-hold on the nation’s golf clubs.
But PGC, the premier golf club in the area, is different. When looking around the place you can sense a real energy: a will to provide for the next generation, and not rest on aging laurels.
The vast amounts of cash injected into the club have not been in vain; everything that has been improved and altered has gone towards revolutionising and energising the golf there, rather than giving the regulars a nice place to have a pint.
The redevelopment has come from different places for different purposes. The English Golf Union has provided the club with an academy for children as young as 5 from the local area to develop their game , while British Aerospace, a key employer in Preston, have invested nearly £2m in the site, as well as providing mind-blowing experiences for the club’s members.
The chief benefactors of the investment are the youth members, who are actively encouraged by the majority of the membership to be as involved as possible, and have been given every opportunity to be a part of a club that is notoriously difficult to get into.
The infrastructure that has been put in place at PGC is something to admire, and it’s no surprise that in the last two years the Preston Juniors have made the National finals on two consecutive occasions, with 2007 being the first time ever they have made the cut.
The collaboration between PGC and the English Golf Union is vital in getting the kids into the club in the first place, with the EGU going into local schools and providing young children with the opportunity to play golf, not something that every child gets the right to do.
There seems to be the perfect mixture of funding and nurturing within the club, which has had such a huge impact on the junior team who have performed so impressively over the past couple of years. The professionals at the club play a huge part in the development, with Jamie Dowling and Nick Shepherd, an ex-Junior Captain himself, working with the kids from the moment they turn up at the club until the time comes to be passed on to the man behind the juniors’ success, Neil Calvert.
Calvert is the junior team organiser, and it is under his leadership that the key changes have come into fruition. The way membership fees are paid have been revolutionised, with new payment schemes being brought in to accommodate young people’s limited funds, all so that they can get a foot in the door of the exclusive club.
It is Calvert who is the main champion of the youth at the club, and it is he who actively encourages them to be around the place as much as possible.
“We’ve got some very talented kids here, and we want to keep them. It’s good for the club; we don’t want the place full of old dodderers.”
The thing that strikes you most about PGC is the sheer amount of incentives and activities they offer their members, particularly the juniors.
The junior locker-room is filled with entertainment for the lads to enjoy whether they’ve been playing golf or not. Upon Calvert’s arrival he installed a pool table, table tennis table, table football and a television all to be enjoyed by the players. Even if they are bored one day with nothing to do, they can get down to the club and find something, all in the name of keeping them interested in the game of golf, and keeping them at PGC.
Life Experiences
Probably the best thing the club have to offer, however, is the backing of top professional Adam Scott. Sitting at number 17 in the world, Scott has local links, and his uncle is a member at PGC. On the day the academy was opened Scott came down and gave a demo to all the people watching and has continued to be involved at the club ever since; a huge commendation. Since then he has started a tournament for the junior members, who are all desperate to compete in it. After the tournament, played over 2 days, he hands out hundreds of pounds worth of prizes to the six finalists, as well as paying for everything to do with the event, including the parents’ meals and post-event drinks. The winners, one of which being Calvert’s eldest son Chris, receive around £150 worth of prizes from Scott’s sponsors, such as Titleist golf balls, Burberry and Rolex as well as a beautiful glass trophy that they can keep. It is without doubt the best prize board at the club, and it doesn’t stop there. Scott has recently donated a valuable Wedgewood trophy to be awarded to the winners of the annual Gents versus Juniors match, who are, needless to say, the juniors.
This is not just a token gesture from Scott, a golfer who doesn’t have to do these things to get by, or for additional publicity. He genuinely wants to be a part of a very promising golf club, and has even invited the winners up to meet him, at his expense, while he competed at the Open at Hoylake in 2006.
If that wasn’t enough, the funding from British Aerospace, which has not only built a swanky new clubhouse and maintains the academy, pays for the members of the club to go on golfing trips to Saudi Arabia for 5 days every year. The scheme is in place to improve relations between Britain and Saudi Arabia, and also to help boost participation and ability in sport in the country. PGC has been cherry-picked as a representative of British Aerospace, and Britain, for these trips. Initially, the senior members were jetted off all expenses paid to Riyadh to enjoy the greens and masses of sand, but last year the juniors were given their chance to shine, as ever, by the club.
Despite being in the middle of a desert, Calvert, the ambassador on the trip, says that the experience, and the quality of the courses, was exceptional.
“They’re tremendous hosts, fantastic experience. The two courses were amazing; they must have pumped in millions and millions of litres of water. On the way there we saw camels walking around and all of a sudden there were these beautiful golf courses, almost like an oasis.”
The trip was a success, and next year another 5 members of the juniors will go out and experience golf in other climates, as well as the way of life in vastly different surroundings.
With all these opportunities presented to the youth, it is no surprise that they have enjoyed so much success in recent times, and it would be no surprise if they were to top the regional charts again next year and make an even bigger mark on the national game.
Sammy Lee 6/12/08
Preston Golf Club
Adam Scott Official Website
English Golf Union Official Website
The Oxfordshire Golf Club
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