Sign up for our daily newsletter

Latest news, reviews, analysis and opinion, plus unmissable deals for bunkered subscriptions, events, and our commercial partners.

An Angus-based club has injected a feel-good factor into its membership thanks to a programme targeted at getting more ladies into golf.

Montrose Golf Links, the fifth oldest golf course in the world, has bolstered its ladies section, and overall membership, thanks to its Get Ladies Into Golf programme that debuted in 2020.

The programme, run by the club pro Jason Boyd, attracted 11 women from the local area, the majority of whom had never picked up a golf club before.

“Like every other club, we were needing to bring in some new members and faces,” Boyd told bunkered.co.uk.

• JB Holmes blasted by fans for slow play

• Fowler responds to dig from Faldo

“However, we needed to bring it in from an aspect of being relaxed. For somebody new, a golf club can be quite an intimidating atmosphere. We were keen to show that golf can be fun and that there is a lot more to it than the traditional handicap golfer.

“The idea was to get more season ticket holders, bring in more ladies and just to get them interacting with everything about the club.”

The successful programme cost a mere £50 for four hour-long sessions with Boyd, with all participants also receiving a free 8-iron and putter as part of the deal.

Each hour-long session was spent focusing on driving, iron play, chipping and putting, before participants regrouped in the clubhouse for a debrief over a coffee and bite to eat.

• PGA Tour announces “Ryder Cup for seniors”

• Scots club unveils stunning new clubhouse

The informal nature of the programme is what Boyd believes has allowed it to be so successful, with many of the ladies now regular features at Montrose Golf Links.

“Eight of the ladies have since progressed to being full season ticket holders at the club, while three of them are now full members on the championship course, all within 12 months of taking up the game,” he added. “The beauty for me is that they are playing three to four times a week, using the facilities in the club, interacting with one another and they’ll continue to do that.”

Due to the sheer success of the inaugural programme, the club is running its Get Ladies Into Golf programme again for 2021, starting on March 31.

“Hopefully we have as much success as we had in our first programme,” said Boyd. “They were a special group of ladies and they really bought into it. I think it will be good as it’s coming on the back of something very successful.”