Written by Angela Goddard, GWGDS
I come from a golfing family – my parents and brothers all played the game – so when I met my husband and found out that he also played I thought well if you can’t beat them join them!
Both my parents, my husband, me and my younger brother have had the privilege of being Captain of The Royal Guernsey Golf Club. I have sat on many club committees during my 42 years as a member and am currently on the Board of Directors.
I’ve watched endless games of golf and witnessed some amazing play on our Channel Island courses. I have also been RGGC Ladies’ Team Captain for both the Bronze and Silver club divisions for many years.
I was then asked by The Guernsey Golf Union if I would be the Guernsey Ladies’ Island Team Captain for the inter-insular match against Jersey (which I have captained for both the 2016 and 2018 bi-annual matches). When reflecting on both these matches I had thoughts of how our ladies could become stronger as a team and how we could encourage younger girls to take up this amazing game so that they could have some fun within a programme of practice, training and encouragement.
So, with this in mind, I spoke to Phil Sykes who was coincidentally having exactly the same thoughts. Golf doesn’t have the privilege of a Development Officer, unlike a lot of other sports in the island, so with the help of a small committee alongside Phil we have gone on to set up the very first Guernsey Women’s Golf Development Squad.
With nearly 50 women now signed up and with the fantastic sponsorship of La Grande Mare Hotel we are up and running. Alongside Phil who focuses on all the technical aspects of the game, we have Ashley Carter our trainer and nutritionist who is also working with our squad.
My vision for the future is to take Guernsey women’s golf to the next level and to help and encourage old and new players reach heights they had only ever dreamt of and at the same time and perhaps most importantly to have a lot of fun along the way.
