Jersey Ladies have been named England Golf Women and Girls' Trailblazers of the Year.
The national award recognises how the women - from three different local clubs - got together to tackle low membership and encourage more females into the sport.
Women from Les Mielles, Les Ormes and St Clements formed the ‘Jersey Women in Golf Working Group’ to increase visibility of the game.
The three Jersey clubs hosted taster sessions to encourage non-golfers and returning golfers to the game.
68 attended, with 23 new women joining golf teams.
The Jersey Ladies golfers picked up the award at a ceremony at the Midland Manchester Hotel.
Jersey Golf President Juanita Adlington says it was a complete surprise to win.
“I’m speechless, I didn’t think we would win this but it’s truly deserved for all the ladies and volunteers that work so hard to make it such a success.
They’re all from proprietary clubs who have trouble to course access, so having done this by themselves and picking up new members, their clubs are thriving, so this is a huge recognition. I think this will kickstart ladies golf in Jersey and put everything on the map.
It’s already helped and some people don’t realise golf is such a great sport so when you suddenly start doing a few things, people realise it’s amazing.
It means so much because we’ve all worked so hard together. We just put our hearts and souls into it and really wanted to look after these small clubs and for these to go by the by would be devastating, so this award is recognition for that.”
Overall, there has been a 9% uptake from women in the sport since 2023.
The clubs have also planned social evenings and events to make the new members feel included.
Melina Syred, ex-Ladies Captain at Les Ormes explains that they hope more women in Jersey will get into the sport.
“Our initiative was a collaborative approach in doing something unique and interesting and there’s a lot of room for scaling the whole initiative up.
It’s a really big day for ladies’ golf in Jersey in letting people know that smaller clubs are open for membership, and that golf is just a great sport for ladies to make friendships, socialise, and there's a lot more to it than just playing.”
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