Meet our TGC Junior Ambassador ....

What is a Junior Ambassador at TGC?

Our Ambassadors are or have been members of Torquay Golf Club. They all have fond memories of growing up and being part of a junior section. Their role is to encourage and support young people in golf. We hope they inspire you to enjoy the game and achieve great things.

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Q&A Session with our Junior Ambassadors

We caught up with two of our Junior Ambassadors Keeley Clarke and Craig Passmore and asked them some questions about life as a junior for them .....

PB: I'm here at Torquay Golf Club talking with Keeley Clarke and Craig Passmore. Welcome!

CP: Thank you

KC; Cheers

PB: I'd like to ask you some questions and I'm sure the juniors would like to know about this, as well.

PB: How did you get into golf?

CP Well, It was actually just a competition on Saturday. My dad was ah .... I didn't have football that particular Saturday, do you fancy coming up to the golf club. Oh I don't know if I really want to ... It's fine, I had a little 7 iron. He goes to me, see how many shots you can hit down the par 5 ... ah right! I ended up making a 13! at the time. He said "well done" and literally from that day, I was like I might stick with this and carry on playing.

KC: It's better than watching?!

CP: Yeah even now if I'm watching golf on TV ... I'm like I want to play now! It was something I could do with my dad and it brought the family together!

KC: It was the same thing for me ... my dad played. I'm from the Midlands originally. He played at the Belfry but he got a back injury so he didn't really play and I played tennis as a youngster and then he said I think I was probably like 12 or 13. He suggested.. do you want to give golf a go. He wasn't playing much so I thought I'll give it a go because I'd been playing tennis since I was 4 and thought it would be something different. And I just joined up at Teignmouth, a set of clubs and off you go! Tennis is very similar to golf and I found it quite easy.

PB: What was it like being a junior at a club?

KC: At Teignmouth there weren't many juniors and I remember I actually just got thrown in the deep end and just joined the Ladies Sections really... played on Wednesdays with the ladies and then also with a couple of the lads in the juniors. It was always lads, there were never really any girls at Teignmouth.

PB: I think it is still is a problem ..

KC; Yeah

CP: I think it's changing now. People that are younger ...Georgia Hall, Charlie Hull, both very good young players, so people do want to take it up.

KC: Exactly. There are more people to look up to now.

PB: And Craig your experience as a junior?

CP:It was tough to start because I was coming in and trying to get into a side. When I started ... 8 years ago! we had so many juniors at different ages... it was tough to get into a team, but it was a good thing because you'd have to work harder. It was very good.

PB: What advice would you give to a young person starting the game?

CP: I think if you want to play golf, just go for it!! What do you want out of it? Do you want it to be a hobby and do it for a living?

KC: It's being in a golf environment. Once you're in it, it's like a big family, especially as a junior. You'll get a lot of support from the members. It's very positive and uplifting. I think the most important thing is to enjoy it!! Don't put too much pressure on yourself! You can easily forget to enjoy it.

CP: What really helped me was that both Mum and Dad were experiencing what I was feeling in competitions ... they would feel nervous and all that. If my dad was at an event, I'd look over to him sometimes and he couldn't watch me, it was like he was playing every shot too! ... But it's really about relaxing and enjoying yourself!

KC: What works for me, was practice, practice practice! .. get out there and relax. You're kind of in a bubble! You've done all the hard work ... if it's going to happen, it will happen!

Thank you to both of you for your time!

Interviewed by Phil Bragg | Junior Lead TGC