Congratulations Louise
CHESHIRE teenager Louise McLoughlin loves helping people enjoy golf – and her bubbly enthusiasm has won her the title of England Golf’s Young Ambassador of the Year.
The 18-year-old received the accolade, presented in association with the Golf Foundation, at the England Golf Awards, sponsored by adidas Golf.
The audience of more than 400 guests at the Royal Lancaster London heard how the judges were impressed by her enthusiastic personality and by the amount of time she devotes as a volunteer to support and inspire other golfers.
“This is so exciting,” said Louise, who is a member at Bromborough Golf Club. “It means everything! You don’t realise people think so much of you and when you find out, it’s special.”
Louise is a keen golfer who plays off eight and represents her club and the Cheshire women’s B team. She got into the sport when she was 11, because she wanted to join her brother and dad in their regular games with her grandad, Ken Behn.
Ken was a member of the Wirral-based club for more than 40 years and was a regular for the Cheshire county senior team. He sadly passed away in June 2017. “My grandad was the reason I started playing golf and he is my inspiration,” she said.
She loved the sport straight away and became involved with the Cheshire girls’ programme. She grabbed the chance to get involved as an Ambassador with Girls Golf Rocks, the recruitment campaign run by England Golf and the Golf Foundation.
“There weren’t any other girls when I started, but now we’ve got nine girls at Bromborough and lots of girls in Cheshire,” said Louise.
As well as encouraging the new girl players for the last two years, she also volunteers to support juniors and women beginners at her club and goes into local schools.
“I love golf and I like making people happy,” she explains. Louise has also shared her views with the county men’s and women’s organisations as part of an action plan to get more young people into club membership.
The secret, she believes, is keeping people excited about the game, and making it fun and flexible. Louise is currently at college studying sports management. Meanwhile, she’s continuing to work on her golf and would love to get down to a four handicap this season – one better than her dad!
Louise was presented with her award by Brendon Pyle, chief executive of the Golf Foundation, and Emma Anderson, a past winner of the title who now works for England Golf.
She was challenged for the award by three other impressive young volunteers who are all making a difference in golf. The other finalists were:
Ella Baker from Warley Woods Golf Club in the West Midlands
Jessica Pilgrim from Stoke Park, Buckinghamshire
Georgina Wrixon from Ashley Wood Golf Club, Dorset
