London Golf Lessons For Women - No membership required
Last updated 6/16/2009 9:55:45 AM
Dukes Meadow Golf Club in south west London hosts regular morning clinics that last for about an hour and cover all aspects of the sport. These clinics are normally supervised by a couple of the club pros who demonstrate, discuss and take charge of the sessions.
At the end of each session the girls are encouraged to ask questions before returning to the driving range to practice what has been preached. Each pro then spends a few minutes analysing individual swings and giving much sought after advice and tips.
Once the clinic is over, the girls then meet up in the delightfully quaint clubhouse for a free cup of coffee and usually end up making arrangement for a game of golf.
Before Dukes Meadow Golf club was constructed, this area was once a sports ground belonging to the Prudential Insurance company. Now it is a pretty but compact nine hole par three golf course with a floodlit driving range of up 50 booths. Come rain or shine this is where every Monday morning at 11 o'clock a group of ladies turn up for a 'free' golf clinic. Yes, let me repeat, FREE, bar of course the cost of a basket of balls needed for the practice session.
There simply can't be many golf clubs in the UK that offer similar facilities but the club's general manager Malcolm Henbury is quick to point out that these clinics are there to encourage women of all ages to learn to play golf, but not necessarily to give handicaps.
As he explains, "the clinics have proved to be considerably successful in getting women into golf and invariably lead to playing Dukes Meadow or even booking a series of private lessons. The idea has always been to encourage women of all ages and standards to take part in these free sessions although I don't think they will necessarily improve their golf to handicap standard but if they mix it with private lessons and playing regularly, it definitely helps."
As well as Monday mornings clinics there are also Thursday morning 'come and play' sessions where anyone can turn up and the club arranges a partner to play with, invariably ladies who attend the Monday clinics. The idea is to keep a record of individual scores and work out appropriate handicaps. At least this encourages ladies to play who would otherwise feel intimated to turn up on their own.