Good things come to those who wait …

This has been the case for Mount Osmond Golf Club (MOGC) in Adelaide.

The club had been aware of the Australian Golf Foundation (AGF) Junior Girls Golf Scholarship program over the past two years but have not had enough girls playing.

Kudos to the club, that continued to run MyGolf and encourage girls to participate, slowly building in numbers. Now in 2023, ten girls are coming together on a weekly basis to play!

“Having the Scholarship program is just wonderful,” said Cathy Leong, Junior Girls Program Coordinator at the club.

“In the past, we have struggled to not only attract but, retain girls coming through our clinics.

“Boys naturally seem to keep playing but without continued support, girls drop off. We can now transition our girl golfers into this girls-only group and keep them playing.”

The club’s members, including Women’s Committee members as well as MOGC management, are fully supportive of the concept, running several initiatives within the Scholarship Program to ensure an enjoyable and engaging year. This includes:

Cathy increasing her committee role to coordinating the girls program.

Five members becoming mentors for two scholarship girls each. These mentors are their ‘golf buddies’ - encouraging their golfing development and inviting them for extra play and practice

Planning some non-golfing activities to ensure the girls remain engaged and have fun throughout the year, and encouraging attendance at the SA Girls Camp during the April holidays where they will be exposed to other scholarship holders and female PGA Professionals.

“It is all about bringing girls together, giving them a chance to make golf friends and enjoying golf,” Cathy said.

“Our first session was coincidentally on Valentine's Day, so each mentor gave each of the girls a little present including a red golf ball, heart shaped chocolates and red tees to help them ‘fall in love with golf’.”

Australian Golf Foundation is the national foundation for golf in Australia. The AGF supports Golf Australia’s vision to grow golf by investing in targeted initiatives to inspire all Australians to enjoy and play the game. Find a local scholarship program near you. Visit australiangolffoundation.org.au for further information.

Australian Golf Foundation is thrilled to partner with NEXTGEN Group as the principal partner of the AGF Scholarship Programme in 2022, with significant further support provided by Golf Australia, Golf Victoria, Victorian Golf Foundation, Golf Queensland, Golf South Australia, Golf Tasmania, Golf Western Australia, Western Australian Golf Foundation, Golf Northern Territory, Golf Management Australia, WPGA Tour of Australasia and PGA of Australia, as well as a number of additional generous private benefactors.

The scholarship program has come to fruition thanks to the foresight and generosity of Bonnie Boezeman AO, Director of the Australian Golf Foundation, who originally established the program at Killara Golf Club, NSW.