Ask a Bruce Rock resident and Saturdays are, like many other towns in the region, a day for sport. Everything else stops, even in harvesting season.<\/p>\n
The Shire of Bruce Rock has a population of around 1,100 people, in a vast area that is approximately the same size as the European country of Luxembourg, but is fully catered for in sporting terms.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s well-sourced teams for football, netball, cricket, bowling, hockey, squash, tennis, the local pool has a swimming club and there\u2019s also a pony club and adult riding club.<\/p>\n
Indeed, there are even two golf clubs in the Shire with nearby Ardath, situated about 15kms away from the town of Bruce Rock, also boasting its own course.<\/p>\n
With locals mob-handed for sporting choice finding that \u2018hook\u2019 to get them to play golf was the nagging question for Secretary Nat Kilminster and the Executive Committee at Bruce Rock Golf Club.<\/p>\n Their response was to draft an action plan that focused on the most honest of questions \u2013 most significantly: \u2018Why did people feel like they couldn\u2019t take up the game?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAs all clubs the Bruce Rock Golf Club is always trying to think of new ways we can make our club a bigger and better place to service and welcome our local community,\u201d Kilminster said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe knew there were a lot of young people in our town that weren\u2019t playing golf due to many reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n The club identified six areas to target to make the game more accessible to its community.<\/p>\n The points ranged from people not feeling as though they had the skills, to new players believing they would not be welcomed to play or simply having never considered the sport.<\/p>\n A lack of equipment and childcare at weekends were other fundamental problems that were discovered.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of these reasons were ones we were determined we could help with and overcome,\u201d Kilminster said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis would result in higher membership numbers, a more diverse age bracket of playing members and hopefully get kids back to hanging around golf courses again.<\/p>\n \u201cI am a believer that if you spend enough time at a sporting club it\u2019s only a matter of time until you give it a try yourself!\u201d<\/p>\n That set the wheels in motion for the next stage of the plan which, after a brainstorming session on the 19th, included ringing clubs with high memberships to understand their blueprints for success.<\/p>\n The research resulted in the formation of the \u2018Golfing Greenhorns\u2019 \u2013 a group aimed at bringing together beginners (or \u2018golfing gumbies\u2019 as they have since grown to refer to themselves) to learn the game in a relaxed environment.<\/p>\n \u201cWe figured this would help them feel more confident at giving golf a go and demonstrate to the local and broader community that we are a welcoming club that loves new members of all abilities,\u201d Kilminster added.<\/p>\n Turning the idea into reality, however, required money and an application was made to the Western Australia Golf Foundation<\/a> proved the key moment in allowing Bruce Rock GC to turn its research into practice.<\/p>\n \u201cThe funding allowed us bring up a professional coach from Perth to teach our beginners the basics in an easy, fun, non-judgemental and low-stress environment where equipment was provided,\u201d Kilminster said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.golfwa.org.au\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Bruce-Rock-Greenhorns-putting.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.golfwa.org.au\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Bruce-Rock-Greenhorns-650.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n