THE Guyana Golf Association (GGA)/Nexgen Golf Academy continued their phenomenal start to 2023 as they continue to target schools across Guyana, this time targeting students of Regions Six and Eight.

Students and teachers hailing from Monkey Mountain, Paramakatoi, Kato and Ķopinang had their first experience holding a golf club and the joy on their faces was a sight to behold as they quickly became adept at hitting a golf ball.

GGA president, Aleem Hussain, regarding the outreach said, “We met with the Minister of Education and her team on January 12 and, since then, we have visited and interacted with 19 schools and 33 PE teachers from Regions Six, Eight, and 10. Equipment, balls and training were provided to all schools and the immediate result was implementation of the sport in several schools.”

With this latest outreach, the Ministry of Education Unit of Allied Arts and the Guyana Golf Association has now teamed up to reach eight out of the ten regions in just over a year, an amazing result for the development of the sport in a country where it was always viewed as an elite and expensive game, with no access for the general public who could not afford private club membership.

Another session is planned for Region Six next week when over 300 students will receive one-on-one training from Nexgen Golf Academy coaches. Inter-classroom competitions will be followed by an inter-school tournament while a national tournament will be held soon afterward.

Additionally, at the recent Ministry of Sport Award ceremony, the Guyana Golf Association was nominated for Association of the Year and Aleem Hussain was nominated for Sportsman of the Year in recognition of accomplishments in 2022.

The efforts of the GGA was also noticed on the world stage as invitations for our junior golfers to participate in the American Junior Golf Association world tournament over the next 5 years were extended but, according to Hussain, “At our current stage of development, we elected to defer participating until next year.”