Wales Golf is looking for talented golfers with disabilities to take part in an inclusive High Performance Squad with a view to competing as a nation at international level.
Thanks in part to the new inclusive facilities at Parc Golf Club near Cardiff, co-funded through the legacy of hosting the G4D Open in Wales for the first time with a £500,000 fund set up by the Welsh Government and Sport Wales, Wales Golf is now planning a high performance scheme for golfers with disabilities.
While there are many individual Welsh disabled golfers competing on the international stage, this is an opportunity for players in all categories to compete as a team internationally.
“We are really excited to be putting together an inclusive pathway that fits our high performance vision,” explained Wales Golf Director of Pathways and High Performance, Gareth Jenkins.
“The first step is to identify the talent we have, so we are hosting three ‘Understanding our Players’ sessions, where we will capture data in the same way we do with all of our squads.
“Anybody can apply to attend, with different disabilities to cover. They do not have to be experienced golfers, there may be someone transferring from another sport they are no longer able to play – golf is a wonderful avenue for people to play sport and compete.
“At this stage, we want to encourage people who want to develop their game and compete, to get involved.“They will do everything we do with all our squads – winning skills, putting, short game, wedge play approach, strategy, tactics etc.
The experience might be adapted, of course, and we will collect all the data.
“Then, once we know who we have got and what category they can compete in, we are looking to build a regionalised pathway. For instance, we have a wonderful facility now at the Parc, but people might live too far away to come here regularly so we are looking at utilising the tech we have now at clubs all round Wales.
“For example, utilising our Toptracer facilities, we can even combine tech to have virtual competitions between people in different centres around Wales to help build a sense of team and performance”.
“That will be the basis for a small national squad of six to eight players, look at the best players we have in the various categories, and they can play and perform in key events.
“The new inclusive facilities at Parc Golf Club will allow indoor testing and development on all aspects of the game.It includes a state-of-the-art putting area with a variety of slopes, digital projection of learning aids and challenges, and analytical testing.
“The facilities at the Parc allow us to do an amazing amount of work. The main facility is an indoor putting area and to have this quality allows us to do so much work over the winter period.“We can do everything in there, which is just amazing, we also have the coaching lab so it is all pretty much self-contained. It allows us to do so much more than we have ever been able to do before.
”The new facilities at Parc Golf Club are available for hire for players of all abilities. More about the Wales Golf programmes for golfers with disabilities can be found here https://www.walesgolf.org/golfers-with-disabilities .
