Captain Woosie backs YMG


Dateline: 12 July 2005

Ian Woosnam has thrown his support behind YMG's ambitious programme to get more than 75,000 new youngsters playing golf by the end of 2007.

The Ryder Cup Captain and former world number one golfer (pictured right) has given his backing to the Young Masters Golf Junior Golf programme and is determined that his Ryder Cup captaincy will see his sport enjoy a lasting legacy of thousands of new girls and boys playing the game.

"The game offers so much..."
"I started golf when I was just seven years old and remember how much fun it was playing as a junior," says Ian. "The game offers so much in the way of excitement and opportunity for kids and the YMG programme is fantastic. YMG is already having a really positive impact on the game and I hope that my involvement can help to encourage even more new young players to take up this great game."

"YMG is having a really positive impact..."
He continued: "Importantly too, YMG is having a really positive impact for my fellow PGA Pros in clubs all over the country because its superb structured approach means they can spend more time coaching youngsters. The YMG Junior Golf Programme is now being coached by over 550 Pros throughout the UK and Ireland and that number is growing all the time, making it available to an ever growing number of youngsters who want to get into golf."

Ian Woosnam is passionate about junior golf and has taken a keen interest in the development of the Young Masters Golf programme ever since it was founded three years ago. The programme - which is aimed at 5 to 16 year olds - is the game's first-ever comprehensively structured educational syllabus, designed to not only introduce boys and girls to the sport, but also keep them interested and motivated long enough for the golf bug to really bite

Impressive start...
"YMG has already made an impressive start with over 25,000 youngsters working their way through the programme and with the momentum building all the time I'm confident that we will reach our target of introducing 75,000 youngsters to golf by the end of 2007," said Ian.

Ian Woosnam has won all over the world and his 44 titles include the US Masters in 1991 and two European Order of Merit titles. With eight Ryder Cup appearances to his name, he is now the European Ryder Cup Captain for the 2006 match between Europe and America.

Fantastic news
For their part, Young Masters Golf are naturally delighted that the Ryder Cup Captain is backing their efforts to bring more youngsters into golf, as YMG's Dave Gosling confirms:

"This is fantastic news. We are extremely proud and honoured to have a player of Ian's class supporting YMG in our quest to provide the ultimate environment to encourage more youngsters into the sport. And I know that by the time the Ryder Cup is played next year there will be thousands more new young golfers cheering the European Ryder Cup team home and hoping that they too will one day be able to follow in Ian's footsteps as a world class golfer."

For more information about Ian Woosnam, visit www.woosie.com.

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