The Professional Game Giving Back…3 min read

This month’s issue of IGPN is a Ryder Cup special edition that focuses on what was a wonderful few days of fantastic competition in Hazeltine.

Sadly for Team Europe our US cousins pulled away strongly in the latter stages to earn their first win since 2008. Our heartfelt congratulations go to Davis Love III and Team USA, and our commiserations go to Darren and all involved in Team Europe.

Result aside, the event was truly a spectacular one – the size and scale of the show that the PGA of America put on was fantastic and it was a pleasure and a privilege to be involved.

It was also an honour to represent Ryder Cup Europe and the Confederation of Professional Golf at the Junior Ryder Cup matches just down the road at Interlachen Country Club at the beginning of the week.

As you’ll see in the below video, the matches are now an integral part of the Ryder Cup and really do act as a feeder for future Ryder and Solheim Cup stars. Again, whilst the outcome wasn’t necessarily in Europe’s favour, the event provides a unique experience to leading young players on both sides of the Atlantic.

Elsewhere in this issue you’ll see various other touch points that the Confederation of Professional Golf has with the Ryder Cup, including the Ryder Cup European Development Trust (RCEDT) and then some excellent interviews with, and insights from, the PGA Professionals that have worked with some of the Europe’s finest players.

We are very proud to manage the RCEDT and during this year’s matches we celebrated ’10 Years of Trust’ – 10 years since the Trust began distributing funding across the continent to organisations and individuals to help them develop grass roots golf. A real and direct example of how the professional game gives back to the rest of the sport.

Over 35 projects in 29 countries have been supported ranging from PGAs, Federations, individual clubs and coaches, education systems and programmes, to golf development initiatives, helping golf to spread and prosper around Europe.

Soon we will accumulate all of this collective knowledge, along with further research of successful programmes, in order to share good practice and information through a golf development hub and toolkit.

Lastly, and whilst not strictly connected with the Ryder Cup, it’s important we mention the recently launched Golf & Health Project that we have been involved with.

Together with researchers from various universities and institutions around the world, the World Golf Foundation and its constituent organisations, and leading academics, there is now solid and researched evidence to support what many of us had already thought about golf.

Golf is good for you – it’s as simple as that. Golfers can live 5 years longer, have reduced chances of getting over 40 chronic diseases, and can have increased confidence, self worth and

self esteem. A message that we can all, no matter who or where you are, can get behind and share to the wider world.

As always, feel free to get in touch with Editor, Aston Ward (aw@CPG.com), if you have feedback, ideas or would like to contribute to IGPN and A.S.K.

This article originally featured in International Golf Pro News. Visit the IGPN Page to find out more and subscribe for free.