News Digest - 22.02.08

An Essex club raises funds for Kenyan chlldren; the new EGU President takes office and club juniors are invited to enter the National Skills Challenge

Case becomes EGU President

Roy Case of Nottinghamshire has become the new President of the English Golf Union. He has long been a keen supporter of junior golf and was instrumental in launching the McGregor Trophy, now the English Boys Under-16 Championship.

?I am a player of limited ability so my contribution to the game has been to give support and encouragement to young golfers at the start of their golfing careers,? he explains. Those to have benefited from his help include Lee Westwood, Nick Dougherty, Justin Rose and Luke Donald.

?I?d like to see an improvement across the game in England,? he says. ?I?m not just thinking of those players that wear the England shirt but seeing a 28-handicapper getting down to 20 is just as important.?

Mr Case was an apprentice footballer at Nottingham Forest before becoming a surveyor in the mining industry. He then joined a retail store-fitting company, later becoming its managing director. He retired in 1993.

National Skills Challenge

The English Golf Union (EGU) and English Women?s Golf Association (EWGA) are inviting affiliated clubs to take up the 2008 National Skills Challenge for juniors.

Any affiliated golf club can join the Challenge and they will receive a variety of free resources including manuals, scorecards and posters. Golf clubs can take part in the three Challenge events, giving players an opportunity to qualify for the National Final at Woodhall Spa ? or they can simply use the Challenges as part of their coaching activities.

For further information see www.getintogolf.org/skills

Essex club helps Kenyan children

Stapleford Abbotts Golf Club is helping to fund a teenage member?s trip to Africa with national children?s charity, Kids Alive.

Sixteen-year-old Hannah Dennis and fellow pupils from Hall Mead School in Upminster will go to Kenya in July for two weeks. ?During our stay we will be teaching the children, as well as playing with and looking after them. Our team will also be helping with the renovation of a school,? explains Hannah.

The Ladies? section of Stapleford Abbotts Golf Club held a Hidden Nine Competition with £227 raised in entry fees going to the charity, with the club donating an additional £150.

Kids Alive cares for 5,000 children in homes, schools and care centres in more than a dozen countries. Anyone who would like to make a donation can send a cheque payable to Kids Alive UK to Stapleford Abbotts Golf Club, Horsemanside, Tysea Hill, Stapleford Abbotts, Essex, RM4 1JU.

Roderick Easdale

Contributing Writer Roderick is the author of the critically acclaimed comic golf novel, Summer At Tangents. Golf courses and travel are Roderick’s particular interests. He writes travel articles and general features for the magazine, travel supplement and website. He also compiles the magazine's crossword. He is a member of Trevose Golf & Country Club and has played golf in around two dozen countries. Cricket is his other main sporting love. He is also the author of five non-fiction books, four of which are still in print: The Novel Life of PG Wodehouse; The Don: Beyond Boundaries; Wally Hammond: Gentleman & Player and England’s Greatest Post-War All Rounder.