New Scottish junior golf initiative in tandem with US organisation hailed as 'game-changer'

A new partnership between the Stephen Gallacher Foundation and First Tee was announced at The Renaissance Club, where the $9 million Genesis Scottish Open is taking place this week on the East Lothian coast.

It will give more boys and girls across the whole Scotland the chance to learn to play golf through a unique programme of skills coaching and personal development activities aimed at developing children both on and off the golf course.

First Tee - Scotland will build on the work carried out by the Stephen Gallacher Foundation in the Lothians and Central Scotland over the past 15 years through the support of an organisation that was founded in the US back in 1997. The new initiative will be based at The Renaissance Club, with satellite coaching locations also being established around the country.

“I started a junior foundation in Scotland in 2012, and basically because I saw it as a void,” said Gallacher, who has just been appointed for a third stint as Europe’s Junior Ryder Cup captain in Ireland next year. “You couldn't join certain courses till you were ten years old, and by that time kids have moved on to different sports.

“I didn't want a kid to not have an opportunity or excuse for not trying golf. I wanted to get more kids playing golf. It wasn't to try and get the Rory McIlroys and Scottie Schefflers. It was more about kids playing golf, having a pathway, joining golf courses and just keeping the evolution of golf going in the home of golf.

“Now, in alignment with First Tee, we'll do a bit of classroom stuff, too. We'll roll out First Tee's template. We'll supply the golf courses and clubs and venues, and after that, we can pick them up and put them in the events and watch them flourish, hopefully.”

Paul Lawrie also runs a junior foundation in the north-east of Scotland while Scottish Golf, the governing body, is heavily involved in junior golf as well, particularly through a successful Golf Sixes programme.

“I don't think it's a missing link,” insisted Gallacher. “Paul has done brilliant up in Aberdeen as well. My primary reason for starting the foundation was just talking to Paul. For me, what this does is it means we can just expand.

“I've been sort of based in the Edinburgh and Lothians and sort of small bits and bobs in the Borders. Now we can expand and basically cover the whole of Scotland, and that's the big game-changer for me is going into untapped territories that we can offer.

“We can take them to golf. We can take them to places that I've sort of earmarked that will be perfect. My place at Kingsfield and places all over Scotland, and it's where we can bring all the kids to.

“So it's a proper expansion for me, and it's an honour to have that task of trying to get the participation levels in Scotland and become the First Tee Chapter Scotland.”

Greg McLaughlin, CEO of First Tee, has watched the initiative help youngsters “build character, confidence, and life skills that serve them far beyond the golf course” in the US and is confident the same thing can happen in Scotland.

It is hoped that a purpose-built First Tee - Scotland base can be built at The Renaissance Club. “We want everybody to get involved,” said Jerry Savardi, chairman of The Renaissance Club Charitable Foundation. “We are going to reach out to Scottish Golf and The R&A and we want everybody to get involved in this because this is a game-changer.”