Latest update November 13th, 2024 1:00 AM
Female Students Dominate CSEC Golf Growth
Kaieteur Sports – On Saturday at the Nexgen Golf Academy on Woolford Avenue, the new faces of golf from Rosignol Secondary School and Freeburg Secondary School took center stage.
The changing face of golf in Guyana is attracting the attention of the LPGA/USGA, the International Golf Federation and the R&A, especially in light of the astounding growth of the game, not just in sheer numbers of new players but in a tough to attract category, female players.
In 2022, for the first time in the country’s history, golf was offered as a PE elective at CSEC examinations and 116 students from Rosignol Secondary, Friendship Secondary, President’s College, Wisburg Secondary and Anna Regina Multilateral Secondary took a leap from traditional sports to do golf, and delivered incredible results with 100% pass rate at the highest level.
What many people believed was a flash in the pan, something that would fizzle out and disappear has instead grown by leaps and bounds. This year saw not only the original schools return with larger numbers but many other schools joining in the ‘el Dorado Golf Rush’ resulting in 150% increase over 2022 numbers.
Newly elected Executive Vice President of the Guyana Golf Associ
Rosignol Secondary and Freeburg Secondary School students pose with GGA president Aleem Hussain
ation Vic Oditt explained, “these results have been made possible by the exceptional efforts of our president Aleem Hussain and the innovative partnerships forged with the Ministry of Education Unit of Allied Arts and other organizations that allowed us to promulgate the sport in 8/10 regions around the country in just a year. Our kids deserve a future that allows them access to all Olympic sports and the GGA is dedicated to providing them with that pathway.”
Asked why so many students were opting for PE, Sir Kevon Jawahir responded, “Golf is the main reason since it allows all students the opportunity to participate and excel in an individual way. We grew from 22 PE students in 2021 to 57 in 2023 with all taking golf. Our sister school Bushlot Secondary has over 50 as well and I heard that even Bartica Three Mile Secondary is doing golf. And with Anna Regina Multilateral having 47 students, that makes us the number 1 golf school so that’s a great achievement for Rosignol.”
With the massive growth, there comes a need for playing facilities and according to Hussain, “in our beginning stages, we cannot afford to and there is no need to build traditional golf courses so I designed an innovative scaled course that allows players to experience golf as it should be played before progressing to an 18-hole course. Similar to the development of cricket, learners start out on small versions of a cricket ground before proceeding to the national stadium.”
To avoid having students travel long distances in the future, Hussain said that what is now required are 8-10 acre tracts of land in various regions that can be developed as a multifaceted sport facility similar to the Westside Golf Course which was recently opened in Vreed-en-Hoop and will be hosting a family fun day on May 7th to raise funds for the first ever Guyana National Junior Golf Championship.
- Freeburg Secondary School, International Golf Federation, Nexgen Golf Academy, Rosignol Secondary School, Woolford Avenue
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