The Texas Golf Association (TGA) teamed up with the Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas, USA to ship over 8,000 golf balls to the Guyana Golf Association (GGA) which was received earlier this week. The massive donation will certainly be a fillip for local golfers. This is according to a statement released to the media yesterday by the GGA headed by Aleem Hussain.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Alfred King said the Ministry is extremely happy with the results of the partnership which started with the Guyana Golf Association and Nexgen Golf Academy in 2021. King added, “Under the driving force of Mr. Hussain, this sport was introduced into the school system and with the support of the UAA, hundreds of learners have taken golf as a PE elective. We see this partnership growing in the years ahead.”
Texas Golf Association president Jon Shipley stated that he was impressed by the level of dedication to the development of the sport being in Guyana and reiterated his commitment to the young players.
Head of the Ministry of Education Unit of Allied Arts Nicholas Fraser said, “The UAA continues to support the development of the sport by the Guyana Golf Association and has facilitated its growth in more ways than one. We are seeing that golf has a wide appeal, especially with female students and PE class sizes have increased dramatically in several schools since the introduction of the sport.” President of the GGA Aleem Hussain thanked the members of the TGA and Champions Golf Club along with the Pas Cargo team and the Ministry of Education, all of whom contributed.
With the support from the TGA, there are adequate resources to continue our push to make golf a top sport in the country. The model we have built proves that even without access to a golf course as other countries have, innovation will overcome all obstacles as our learners’ participation and pass rate is the highest in the region!”
In just two years, the GGA has been able to affiliate with the LPGA/USGA Girls Site, Texas Golf Association and several other organizations and has allowed over 8,000 persons access to play the sport for the first time in 8 of the 10 regions in the country. They are awaiting approval of their membership application to the Guyana Olympic Association, which once received will allow for other educational, tournament and training activities to become available for young Guyanese.
The arrival of the thousands of balls is timely as starting August 10, the GGA in partnership with the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Tourism Authority will host the first ever Savannah Milk National Junior Golf Championship.
Regional competitions will be hosted in Essequibo (Aug 10); West Coast (Aug 11); Georgetown (Aug 12); Rosignol and Albion (Aug 13) with the National Finals on August 19th at the Nexgen Golf Academy on Woolford Avenue. The competition is open to ages 10-22 at all skill levels with Coaches on hand to assist first time players. Top performers will be selected to represent the country in Barbados, Trinidad and Suriname.
