Juniors get into habit of having their say at Abbey

Feb 19 2008 by Richard Williamson, Liverpool Daily Post

Members at Vale Royal Abbey Golf Club in Cheshire get together for theri first all-junior meeting Back row (left to right): Nick Bettley, Matthew Small, Liam Kettle, Richard Roper, John Dhatly and Tom Jackson. Front row: Ray Rogers, Chris Wood and David Quinlam _320

A CHESHIRE golf club is giving its junior members a bigger say.

Young players at Vale Royal Abbey have been given their own ‘voice’ after they held the club’s first all-junior meeting.

The exclusive club, at Whitegate, is allowing its budding golfers to form their own official meetings in addition to the Junior Committee, which comprises both junior and adult members.

The new forum provides the 50-strong junior section with the chance to express their opinions and share ideas on future improvements.

The inaugural meeting was well attended by the 13 to 17-year-olds, who discussed topics like roll ups, competitions, friendlies and league matches.

Vale Royal Abbey manager, Steve Dunlop, believes the formation of the junior-only meetings will see the section go from strength to strength.

He said: “The first meeting went extremely well and we are encouraging all our young members to come and get involved. The club hopes the direct involvement of junior members will see the section get even stronger.

“We believe we are one of the only clubs in the area, if not the region, that has set up dedicated official junior-only meetings. It allows the juniors to set their own agenda, chair the meeting themselves and talk about golfing issues they feel are most important to them. In this way it allows a greater expression of the section from all involved.”

The junior committee meets monthly and the junior-only meetings are planned to take place every three months.

The club has undergone major investment over the past few years, with approaching £250,000 spent on the course in the past 12 months.

The course is only open to members and their guests – with no unaccompanied visitors and no societies.

The Abbey was restored in 1998 and members have exclusive use of it.