A series of junior golf tours will begin next year at a prestigious school in Shropshire – the first time it has been held at a school.
Youngest player, 5 year old Harry Francis
Three annual European Junior Golf Tour events take place in April, June and September at Ellesmere College – in its 21-year history previously only in private clubs.
The decision to start a new series in college came through an association between Ellesmere College Golf Academy coach Rob Ashbrook, professional junior golf coach and Tour Founding Director Roger Shutt.
There was an opening competition at the college last month and Roger said it was a huge hit.
“We had nearly 50 people teeing off at Ellesmere College on September 12th and we had only good feedback,” he said.
“It was so easy to run, they opened all the doors for us, we had the pitch to ourselves and the players all had positive feedback on the pitch.
“It’s the beginning of a strong bond between Ellesmere College and the European Junior Golf Tour – in fact, one of my students I teach chose to be a student at Ellesmere College because he was so impressed with the Golf Academy that they are moving. ”from London just for this reason!
“It fired my creative imagination and I’m very excited to be integrating the event and the 2022 series into an annual relationship.”
The next event, due to take place at Easter, is expected to double with a morning and afternoon session.
The junior tour also offers a family day of fun with chipping, long drive and target challenges for players and families as well as an indoor golf simulator and family pair competitions, such as parents and children playing together.
The sessions are part of around 30 events that take place each year on the tour and attract players from all over Europe as well as from Thailand, Finland, the USA, Canada and Russia.
The tour series offers national and international junior golf tournaments for children aged five to 17 years. Many young players who take part in competitions have since become Tour Pros, ranking in the top 25 of the world rankings.
Stephen Mullock, Deputy Head External Relations at Ellesmere College, said: “We were thrilled when Rob and Roger said the college was a perfect location for one of the legs of the European Junior Golf Tour.
“The opening event was a huge success and we were very happy to welcome such talent and to see the professionalism of the participating junior golfers.
“We are delighted to be able to offer our state-of-the-art facilities to help golf stars of the future develop and improve, which we are committed to through the growing success of our golf academy.”
The series at Ellesmere College is the official qualification for the invitation world champions 2022 in Ireland and the European Junior Tour ‘Race2Spain’.
The overall winner of the series will also receive a scholarship to study at college alongside his golf education.