We are delighted to share that Mark Beer, our Construction Manager in Appledore along with co-organiser, Robert Ware and the junior section of the Great Torrington Golf Club have been awarded ‘Junior Club of the Year’ by the Golf Foundation!

For the club, this recognition comes with significant honour as they surpassed approx. 2000 other golf courses to secure the award!

As part of its 70th anniversary, the Golf Foundation is holding a celebratory golf day at London Golf Club in Kent on Thursday 6th October 2022, hosted by former European Tour player and Sky Sports broadcaster Nick Dougherty.

On the day, four special awards will be presented to individuals and projects that have helped the Golf Foundation achieve its aims of making the introduction of golf to young people fun, inclusive and inspiring.

Mark, who has been voluntarily running the junior section for the last three years, commented: “Teaching and organising the juniors has been a great pleasure and I enjoy every minute of it. Golf is a great sport to get young children into and I’m a strong believer it teaches them not only to play the game but also teaches them manners and etiquette. It is a great honour to have won this award not only for me but for the Great Torrington Golf Club.

I started golf at the Great Torrington Golf Club aged just 10 years old when my father was running the junior section at the time. I gave up golf when I was 18 only to return to the sport at the age of 35. I have now been playing for 10 years!

Around five years ago our junior section lacked participation which sparked one member to promote golf locally. After successfully gaining more juniors, myself and Robert Ware were asked to take on the role of junior organiser with the aim to push the section to the next level. We both accepted which wasn’t a hard decision as we both have sons who are junior members themselves!

We now are proud to have over 60 junior members aged between 6 – 18 years old as well as take part in a local junior league (which we have won for the last 2 years) and hold regular golfing events for the juniors throughout the year.”

The Golf Foundation commented: “It is our pleasure to confirm Great Torrington as the Winner of our Junior Club of the Year award. This was due to the recognition of the fabulous work you have done to grow the junior section from eight members to over 60, not to mention the work you do with the club to engage young people through open days, school sessions and more. Congratulations from all of us at the Golf Foundation.”

 

About the Golf Foundation

Founded in 1952, the Golf Foundation is a registered charity that introduces children to golf, from all backgrounds. Helping young people to ‘Start and Stay’ in golf by making their introduction to the game fun, innovative, inspiring, inclusive and enriching, the Golf Foundation takes simplified versions of the game into schools and community groups, introducing children to golf clubs, teach playing and transferable life skills, and enabling youngsters to keep playing and enjoying the game for years to come.

About the Great Torrington Golf Club

Great Torrington Golf Club is set in glorious countryside in the heart of rural North Devon, just seven miles from the beach at Westward Ho!

Owned and managed by its members, the club extends a genuinely warm welcome to members and visitors alike.

Great Torrington Golf Club was founded in 1895, moving to its present site on Furzebeam Hill at Weare Trees in 1932. Its 9-hole heathland/parkland course is routed over a pleasantly sloping, triangularly shaped site that measures just 25 acres. The common land on which the course is set occupies the northern part of Torrington Commons, which in total extends to 365 acres.

Measuring just 4,458 yards from the back tees (for 18 holes), the course is not of championship length, but with well-drained fairways, tightly mown heathland turf and challenging green complexes, the design offers a fair and interesting test for golfers of all abilities.