Crown Golf Targets 4 Million Unwanted Golf Bags In Amnesty

By: Golf Shake | Wed 14 May 2014

Crown Bag Amnesty

Crown Golf, the UK’s largest golf club owner / operator, today announces an Amnesty – starting on June 12th 2014 – for the millions of unwanted golf bags and clubs lying neglected in golfers’ garages across the country.

With it's ‘Free Bag’ campaign for the Freedom Play flexible membership rolling out across England – in which a character named Bag is shown as being neglected in a garage – Crown Golf has set up it's 25 golf clubs as drop-off points to receive donations of surplus golf equipment from all members of the public, irrespective of whether they are golfers or not.

All items donated during the Crown Golf Bag & Equipment Amnesty 2014 will be shipped to a warehouse set up by golfing charity The Golf Trust, for re-distribution to golfers with physical and mental disabilities in conjunction with organisations such as Special Olympics GB and the Disabled Golf Society. The Golf Trust will also involve the donated goods in it's outreach work in inner-city projects within the UK, and will also send them to countries such as Grenada and India where it is helping to grow the game.

One lucky participant1 at a Crown Golf club will win a trip for two people to the Caribbean island of Grenada in Crown Old Bags autumn 2014, thanks to the Jason Roberts Foundation. But the trip will not only be a sunshine break – the pair will also be actively involved in the distribution of Bag Amnesty items to the island’s schools and parishes, and will also have the opportunity to play on Grenada’s only golf course, interacting with schoolchildren as they enjoy their newly-supplied golf equipment.

And everyone who donates a golf bag or golf club2 during the Amnesty will receive a voucher courtesy of Callaway Golf, giving £20 off their next Callaway golf bag if bought from a Crown Golf pro shop during the Amnesty period.

The Crown Golf Bag & Equipment Amnesty 2014 opens on Thursday 12th June, and closes on Sunday 28th September.
In golfing language, that’s from the U.S Open to The Ryder Cup.

Most golfers will admit to having at least one old, unwanted golf bag lying neglected in the garage, plus several old golf clubs which will never be needed again.

With over 4 million regular golfers in the UK, there’s a “golf bag mountain” which the Crown Golf Bag Amnesty is setting out to reduce.

“With the Bag Amnesty, we are setting out to liberate abandoned golf bags and clubs from garages, stair cupboards, storage rooms and garden sheds across the UK” said Stephen Towers, Chief Operating Officer at Crown Golf.

“Our Freedom Play flexible membership is helping people to rediscover their love of golf, and by encouraging them to recycle their old golf bags and clubs at the same time, they are also helping the sport to grow into new areas.

“This initiative will genuinely help large numbers of people young and old, around the world, who do not have golf equipment of their own. I hope that many thousands of golfers and members of the public respond by each bringing in an item or two”.

Cae Menai-Davis, co-founder of The Golf Trust, said: “Please respond to this call to action! We are ready to receive and re-distribute as many golf bags and clubs as people can throw at us. So come on, be generous, and have a good clear-out – we can certainly put everything to good use in our various projects.

“And thanks to the Jason Roberts Foundation, which is dedicated to providing opportunities for young people both in the Caribbean and the UK to take part in sports, we’re looking forward to taking a Crown Golf prize-winner plus a friend on an unforgettable trip over to Grenada, to see for themselves the effect this generosity will have in the schools and parishes over there”.

Guy Riggott, Director of Operations at Crown Golf, is the man with the task of organising the Amnesty. “The Bag Amnesty 2014 takes in three of golf’s Majors, and you could say that this is our own Major this year. We all have our sleeves rolled up, and will be ready to start taking in people’s old bags and clubs when Justin Rose starts his defence of the U.S Open in June. It will be a logistical challenge, especially if the public really takes it to it's heart, but we want a big response from golfers everywhere and we are delighted that we found the perfect partners in The Golf Trust, the Jason Roberts Foundation and Callaway Golf”.

Golfers who successfully root out their old golf bags and clubs should take them to their nearest Crown Golf pro shop3 (see www.crown-golf.co.uk for full addresses), where they will receive their Callaway Golf bag voucher in return by way of thanks.

For information about Crown Golf Freedom Play Membership, visit www.freedomplay.co.uk.

Drop off points for your old bags/equipment