Young local golfers ready to swing into action

A grant, awarded by The Highland Promise, part of Highland 2007, Scotland's Year of Highland Culture, under its remit to introduce children to new activities, is helping pupils at Thurso High School to hone their skills in golf.

Pupils are benefiting from the purchase of three indoor practice bays and nets, created and installed by Wick-based Hunters Promotions, run by John Hunter and his wife Christine, as well as new video analysis equipment to film youngsters in action with the aim of having their techniques analysed online by professional golfers.

Caithness primary schools and clubs have already taken the lead nationwide in introducing primary five children to golf through clubgolf, a key component of the national junior golf strategy. With Thurso High choosing to buy golf equipment for its 1,000-plus pupils, older children will now have the same opportunities to play the game as their primary counterparts.

Pictured along with pupils at the opening of the golf practice facility in Thurso High are (from left) PE teachers Stewart Ross and Gordon MacDonald; Moira McBeath, active schools co-ordinator; Shona MacDonald, of Highland 2007; Ian Adamson, principal teacher of PE; rector Dr Fiona Grant; John Hunter, of Hunters Promotions Ltd; Willie MacKay, clubgolf manager; and Evan Sutherland, PGA level-two coach.

Willie MacKay, clubgolf regional manager for Highland, said: "By choosing to invest in golf and the newest technology, Thurso High School has taken a tremendous step forward in introducing older children to the game. Through Thurso High School pioneering the remote link with the use of coaching technology, other areas of Scotland, in particular the island golfing communities of Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles, will be watching this development with great interest. The clubgolf initiative has progressed so rapidly in all four golf clubs in Caithness that three out of the four clubs have juniors as their club champions this year.”