On Tuesday 24th September 2013 we worked alongside Club Golf Scotland in the Community School of Auchterarder to help start the run up to the 40th Ryder Cup which is to be held at Gleneagles in September 2014.

The ‘year to go’ celebration, launch of the Ryder Cup Education Resource welcomed  The Ryder Cup captains: Tom Watson and Paul McGinley to the School site along with a host of golfing royalty and celebrity ambassadors including Richard Hills from Ryder Cup Europe, Ted Bishop – President of PGA America, James Nesbitt, Ruud Gullit, Jodie Kidd and Alan Hanson.

On their way to the Classrooms to visit the golf-themed lessons the celebrity party stopped by the Schools courtyard where a number of young pupils from the Primary school were competing in challenges using the GolfParc equipment.

Throughout the morning over 240 children between the ages of 6 and 11 took time away from the classroom to attend the Club Golf Scotland and GolfParc activity. The courtyard provided us with a perfect location to set up nearest the pin competitions with our GolfParc Championship Golf Holes and velcro targets.

Being located so close to some of the best Golf Courses around it was no surprise that many of the staff played golf and many, including the headteacher Stuart Clyde, couldn’t resist having a go at the games set up.

The afternoon session saw us working with the secondary school pupils on the schools all weather pitch, which was transformed into a golf facility with a 3 hole golf course, Driving Range and fun games area all using the GolfParc Golf equipment range.

The whole event was supported by a group of community Sports Leaders from the schools secondary school who received a quick training session from Club Golf Scotland Development officers and ourselves to allow them to support the games and activities that were set up by Club Golf in the school hall and the GolfParc activities that were to be used throughout the day.

About the whole day, Richard Hills, Ryder Cup Europe’s Director, added: “The Ryder Cup is about being part of something bigger than the game of golf alone. We were delighted to support these initiatives, which aims to build on the legacy of the Ryder Cup and introduce golf, through wider learning, to a whole generation of young people. It is a fantastic achievement.”