GROW WELL GOLF PROGRAM

The golf program started in March 2011 when three Grow Well volunteers met with St. Lucia Golf Club representatives and an enthusiastic Golf Pro and together mapped out what seemed to be a risky project:  bringing a cadre of disadvantaged children from the community to the prestigious golf course was not a universally supported concept, but one the founding group firmly endorsed. 

The St. Lucia Golf Club has not wavered in its sponsorship over the years and admired our concept from the start. They recognized this program would help keep some children off the streets and out of trouble and engaged in a healthy activity; further, it would introduce under-served youth to this game which they otherwise could not possibly afford, and, more important, they would benefit from the discipline, concentration and etiquette that is crucial to the game and their personal development.

Grow Well and the St. Lucia Golf Club could not be more proud of the way this program has evolved and how our children, with paid instruction from top-notch coaches and the nurturing and support of volunteer monitors, are now recognized by the Golf Association and are being successfully integrated into the mainstream of golf programming as the future face of golf in St; Lucia, with 12 Grow Well junior golfers having received handicap cards!

Fund-raising is a key program goal. Golf is an expensive sport with high costs for instruction, glove clubs, bags, balls, trolleys, uniforms (a constant supply of colorful shirts and navy shorts, shoes which can double as school shoes, transportation, snacks, meals, golf sets, trophies, prizes and other supplies.  The program has raised funds to finance a growing number of children and sessions each year, including Easter and summer golf camps… A laudable achievement, yet a challenge for the future.