INNISFAIL – Every Wednesday of last month 10 adults gathered at the Innisfail Golf Club to learn the finer points of driving, putting and chipping a golf ball.
They did this under a new and unique social program created in partnership between the town’s Community Partners in Action (CPIA) and the Innisfail Golf Club.
“It was very nice to see some new faces out of the golf club, and everybody who was there seemed to really enjoy themselves and were very eager to learn,” said Mathew MacDonald, the club’s head professional. “To give people a chance to learn a new skill at an older age is a very cool experience for us.
“We're really looking forward to allowing people to have the chance to learn the game and hopefully finding out that the Innisfail Golf Club is a place where they can feel welcome and feel OK to learn and take their time and enjoy.”
The program is called Golf Fore All and was originally designed in 2022 for citizens living with dementia.
However, the free program only attracted one participant last year and a decision was made to open it up to all adults, and not specific to people living with dementia.
Ellen Helgason, a CPIA member and an Alberta Health Services recreational therapist, said the change has proven to be “extremely successful" with everyone involved wanting it to become an annual event.
She said the Golf Fore All program, which began June 7, completely “sold out” every Wednesday last month with a full 10 participants every week, except one scheduled day that was rained out.
The Golf Fore All sessions began at 10 a.m. and lasted until 12:30 p.m. The sessions were facilitated by four club professionals.
“We wanted people to have that opportunity to build some of that confidence, as well as their skills playing golf, and then to be able to go and use those skills at the Innisfail Golf Club, or wherever they wanted to go,” said Helgason.
She said the Golf Fore All program has been supported through the sponsorship of the golf club, TBS Sports Excellence, and Innisfail FCSS.
“We really appreciated them (sponsors) helping out because that just took away maybe a potential financial barrier that some people may have had,” said Helgason.
She noted all 40 participants were given free lessons given by the four golf professionals on all areas of the sport, including course rules and etiquette.
Helgason said each Golf Fore All day, which lasted about two and half hours, was split into two.
She said in the first hour one group would go to a putting green and receive instruction on putting and chipping while the other would head to the driving range. Half way through that instruction the participants would switch instructional venues.
In the second hour all participants would golf two holes to test their new skills under the watchful eyes of professionals.
“The reason why we did this was that people are sometimes intimidated by a golf course so this can remove some of that hesitation in getting involved in such a great sport,” said Helgason.
When the session ended participants stayed at the club to have lunch together, said Helgason.
“It's very much that social aspect as well where they could connect with each other and get to meet some new people,” she said. “Not only that, there’s great mental and physical benefits, and a lot of fun.”
