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As the week of The 153rd Open started in earnest at Royal Portrush, the EDGA team was given the opportunity by Championship organisers The R&A to welcome local groups of people living with a disability or long term condition to sample the atmosphere of the iconic event and continue their recent golf activity.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
EDGA\u2019s Lee-Ann Clarke has been creating local community golf activations using the trusted \u2018D3\u2019 easy, fun and safe playing format endorsed by The R&A in which a sampler to golf or returning golfer can enjoy the game at a pace to suit their own needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For example, D3 is a valuable asset in encouraging individuals living with conditions such as dementia, stroke, Parkinson\u2019s and\u00a0arthritis to be more active. In this case Lee-Ann, an EDGA community golf instructor and a rehabilitation\u00a0physiotherapist, is working with the Alzheimer\u2019s Society NI to create lasting opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A local Alzheimer\u2019s Society \u2018Dementia Voice\u2019 group has benefited from a sampler session and Lee-Ann organised a group visit to The R&A Swingzone in the Spectator Village just a chip and a putt from where the legends of the game were contesting for The Open. EDGA has been present at Royal Portrush in support of Golf Ireland and The R&A.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Five people from the group were welcomed to the Swingzone to enjoy putting, chipping and a team Golfway game, using soft, colourful balls, targets and lively game formats that are adaptable for the brand new player, while a couple of the group were former regular players who were able to recall or instinctively draw upon their previous golf swing movements.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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EDGA Head of Instruction and Education Mark Taylor used his experience to assess quickly how to tailor the session for each golfer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mark said: \u201cThe wonderful thing about these activations and follow-on opportunities is that people can connect or re-connect with a game that, through one holed putt, one great shot, one \u2018well done\u2019 from another golfer, can instil confidence, a feeling of achievement, or simply a shared laugh and sense of belonging. Although through failing memory and cognition the day may perhaps slip from the memory of a player, a session like this can have the same person fully absorbed, engaged with a group, challenged in a skill, while taking them out of those feelings of isolation. It can even bring joy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lee-Ann Clarke said: \u201cThere was so much laughter today and plenty of competition. I want to thank everyone for coming along and extend my thanks to Valerie and Alison from the Alzheimer\u2019s Society NI for their continued support, as we continue to build on delivering these sessions across the local area. This was a really positive experience at The Open for our playing group, and their family members who were all involved and enjoyed the session.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe session really boosted his confidence\u201d<\/p>\n
Feedback from Clare and her father Jack: \u201cJack had a fantastic day at The Open. Jack was a golfer \u2013 Captain and President in his day \u2013 and having the session really boosted his confidence.\u00a0He enjoyed a bit of competition with his daughter! I enjoyed spending time with Dad creating new memories and seeing him so happy taking part in the activity. A very sincere thank you to the Alzheimer\u2019s Society\u2019s Dementia Voice group and Lee-Ann for a day at The Open I hope he\u2019ll remember in the brilliant sunshine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Feedback from Noelle, and her husband Albert: \u201cWe enjoyed the experience immensely and absorbed the buzz from others around us. The golf intro was pitched perfectly for our dementia group and at the same time allowed the golfers among the group to excel. As a carer it was just lovely to see fun among the group.\u201d<\/p>\n
From Phyllis, and her husband Philip: \u201cFirstly can we say thank you for the fun golf session yesterday and pass on a big thanks to Lee-Ann for her part, not forgetting Mark for keeping it light hearted and entertaining us. I feel it could be useful for dementia\/Alzheimer\u2019s patients to help them focus and spend time with people with similar difficulties. No doubt the carers would benefit from it too.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the support of its national member Golf Ireland, not-for-profit body EDGA is keen to include more local community groups in the health and wellbeing sector to enjoy early experiences in the game. \u00a0<\/p>\n
EDGA works alongside 50 national federations and supports golf leadership groups in G4D (Golf for Disabled) including The R&A, the DP World Tour, the International Golf Federation and European Golf Association.<\/p>\n
EDGA\u2019s core mission is to grow awareness of G4D, boost capacity in the industry to provide inclusive opportunities, and create a player pathway for individuals with a disability to sample, participate and compete in golf.<\/p>\n
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\u2013 If you are reading this and run a community group, live with a disability or know a friend\/family member who might like to try golf, contact:\u00a0lee-ann@edgagolf.com<\/p>\n
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[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ specialty=”on” _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_sidebar admin_label=”Sidebar” _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_module=”330″ saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_sidebar][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ specialty_columns=”2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_row_inner _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column_inner saved_specialty_column_type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] As the week of The 153rd Open started in earnest at Royal Portrush, the EDGA team was given the opportunity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgagolf.com\/web24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgagolf.com\/web24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgagolf.com\/web24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgagolf.com\/web24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgagolf.com\/web24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgagolf.com\/web24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1375\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgagolf.com\/web24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgagolf.com\/web24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgagolf.com\/web24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}