West Midlands Golf Complex Receives National Golf Award

The renowned 3 Hammers Golf Complex, based in Wolverhampton, which has given more than 3,000 youngsters a pathway into golf, has won the prestigious Critchley Award from the Golf Foundation, and they celebrated their success in spectacular style by flying the staff by helicopter to a star-studded event at Wentworth.

Joined by excited crowds including their Ladies Love Golf members, the Complex celebrated the prestigious occasion by landing a helicopter on their driving range to fly the Golf Academy team and two lucky junior golfers in luxury style down to Wentworth where they collected the award in front of a packed audience of golfing greats and top celebrities. Complex Owner Ian Bonser said “3 Hammers continues to go from strength to strength. It’s a prestigious award and recognises us on a national scale as the best in the UK for our hugely successful junior coaching programmes benefitting over 3,000 kids across the region over the past year. Going forward, this accolade encourages new people to take up the sport confident in the abilities of our 5, now national award winning, PGA Golf Professionals".

Two of 3 Hammers brightest stars Will Dunn, Junior Captain and Harrison Worley, Junior Vice Captain were invited by the Complex to join them at the Presidents’ Awards on 25th May 2016 at Wentworth, the same time as the BMW PGA Championship Celebrity ProAm. Held courtesy of one of the Foundation’s chief supporters, The European Tour, and Wentworth Club, it’s always a glittering occasion attended by some of golf’s most influential figures.

Now acting as mentors for all the budding junior golfers at the Complex, the trip saw Will and Harrison rubbing shoulders with A-list celebrities such as BBC’s Chris Evans, Piers Morgan, Vernon Kay and One Direction’s Niall Horan. They were also joined by a host of sporting stars including Masters winner Danny Willet, Justin Rose, Lee Westwood, Trevor Immelman, Sir Ian Botham, John Terry, Jamie Redknapp, Kevin Pietersen, Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes.

Will, from Staffordshire, is a prime example of the Complex’s success with junior golfers. From aged 6, Will flourished through their junior golf programmes, and now aged 17, is juggling the demands of A-Levels with his aspiring golfing career. With a handicap of just 6, Will plays at County level and is already a PGA level 1 Professional. Currently working hard at his A-Levels, his next step is a Golf Degree at Birmingham University. In fact, he took his A-Level Maths exam on the morning before hopping into the helicopter at 3 Hammers to fly first class down to Wentworth with his coaches.

Harrison Worley was the other lucky young 3 Hammers junior to be chosen for the once in a lifetime trip. Now aged 14, Harrison started playing golf at the Complex aged just 5 and has proceeded through the junior golf ranks. The talented youngster was allowed the day off school to attend the event. But Harrison takes such events in his stride as, in a couple of weeks, he will be heading up to Scotland to compete in the European Boys Championship.

The Awards celebrate some of the excellent people who work at the grass roots of the game and the high achieving projects which encourage more people to find their way in golf. The Critchley Award, one of eight President’s Awards is given to the heroes of grassroots junior golf and has been awarded to 3 Hammers. The hugely popular junior programme at the Complex is testament that golf is not in decline as is often reported. In fact, 3 Hammers continues to go from strength to strength and their proven successful formula is now recognised as a national example of good practice by the EGU, PGA and Golf Foundation.

The Complex, supported by England Golf and the Golf Foundation, involves their 5 full time PGA Golf Professionals and two level 1 coaches to run Tri-Golf and Junior Golf Passport sessions in local primary and secondary schools, colleges, universities and groups across the region such as girl guides and scouts. The coaching then continues through the Player and Elite levels at the Complex’s unique facilities in Coven, Wolverhampton.

The now national award winning Complex ran junior programmes involving over 3,000 youngsters, 42 per cent of whom were girls. Pupils receive follow-on coaching right up to their teenage years with many youngsters joining local golf clubs as junior members as a result.

In recent years the Complex have expanded their facilities to enable the teaching of golf to juniors on a much wider scale with the design and commission of a purpose built Learn 2 Play Zone, the first of its kind in the UK. At over 10,000sqft the Zone is fully netted, astro turfed with synthetic putting green and an undercover pavilion.

They are also continuing with an impressive £250,000 investment project including upgrading their 20 bay driving range with the latest automatic power tees and further investment on their esteemed golf course - making it even more accessible for beginners, juniors and golfers of all standards.

With 5 full time PGA Golf Professionals on site, the Complex stands head and shoulders amongst other golfing venues across the region. The Critchley Award represents the outstanding work they have carried out in the community developing a successful pathway from school to golfer. This Golf Foundation award highlights golfing venues across the country recognising their outstanding achievements with junior golfers. All award winners support the Golf Foundation’s purpose to make golf and its benefits available to young people and help them ‘Start, Learn and Stay’ in the game.

Rob Bluck, 3 Hammers Golf Academy Director, said “The Presidents’ Awards represent a unique opportunity for us to showcase our passion, commitment and hard work inspiring young golfers and growing the game of golf. We are always delighted with the progress and enthusiasm of our juniors from ages 4 up to 16, with over 20 of our students going on to become Golf Professionals themselves. It’s a hugely rewarding part of what we do here at 3 Hammers and we’re delighted to be recognised with such a coveted award.”