The Future Financial's Welsh Golf Awards 2010

The Future Financial's Welsh Golf Awards took place at a glittering ceremony at Ryder Cup venue Celtic Manor on 3rd September. Details of winners are listed below:-

Harlech rewarded for going back to the future

One of the oldest and highest rated golf clubs in Wales was rewarded for modernising itself and preparing for the future when Royal St David's in Harlech was named as Golf Union of Wales Welsh Golf Club of the Year.

The internationally reknowned course received the trophy in a glittering ceremony at Ryder Cup venue Celtic Manor with the presentation from Jim Smith, the managing director of Cardiff company Future Financials who sponsored the awards.

The course is regularly ranked in the top 50 in Great Britain and Ireland, has hosted several top events for both amateurs and professionals, including both the S4C Wales Ladies Championship of Europe and Ladies British Open Amateur Championship last year.

However it was the work off the course which earned this award as the club have gone through a modernisation process and started reaping the rewards.

The club was awarded the highest level of Golf Development Wales Junior GolfCert, has won back-to-back Caernarfonshire and District junior championships having never previously won, the ladies won the Welsh Ladies Team Championship, all while bringing in an online booking system, new accomodation and improvements to the course.

“It was tremendous recognition for the hard work we have done in modernising the club,” admitted secretary Trefor Davies.

“We are a very traditional club so we wanted to keep with tradition while modernising as well, so we have adopted a lot of initiatives and made changes which have culminated in this award.

“It was a bit of a shock to the system for some people, but now they seem to have really embraced it. We have upgraded our online booking, looked at our marketing, improved our communications and become much more pro-active with our members to ensure they have their say.

“We have developed accommodation at the course so people can play and stay, there is a new type of membership to encourage people to give it a go, as well as developing the juniors, ladies and encourage people to learn the game.

“We have had more visitors, especially from overseas, so the publicity from the big events has worked really well. We have an international membership including people from Holland, the US and even Australia.

“Our junior section has become a bit like the rugby fly half factory in South Wales. We had never won the Eryri Shield but now we have won it the last two years and there is also success for the ladies.

“We will not rest on our laurels. The Ryder Cup is finishing and we want to consolidate the world that Ryder Cup Wales have started – we have got to keep pushing forward.”

The awards were sponsored by Future Financials, a Cardiff based Welsh company which provides Golf Clubs with a facility that enables their members to pay their annual subscriptions by monthly direct debit payments, rather than in one large annual payment.  For more information please go to www.futurefinancials.co.uk .

Andy's work brings top award

Golf professional Andy Humphries was determined to give youngsters in Mid Wales opportunities which he did not have growing up, as his parents clocked up the miles to let him develop his game.

That drive now has hundreds of children getting golf coaching through their schools, involving the area's seven clubs, and resulted in Humphreys being awarded the Golf Development Wales PGA Professional of the Year at a glittering ceremony at Ryder Cup venue Celtic Manor backed by Cardiff company Future Financials.

The former assistant pro at Llanymynech golf club was appointed two years ago as a roving professional across all the clubs involved in setting up the Montgomeryshire Golf Forum.

“It has been a very hard year getting it all going, but it has been very rewarding and then to get this recognition at Celtic Manor was the icing on the cake,” said 26-year-old Humphries.

“It was great to be there and really nice to get such a reward for the hard work which has been going on in Montgomeryshire.

“I was brought up in the area so I wanted to make sure there were more opportunities than there were when I was young. My parents had to drive at least 30-40 miles every time for me to go to coaching and competitions in North Wales or England.

“I wanted to change that and give people opportunities here in Montgomeryshire. I wanted to introduce people to the game through the Ryder Cup and the Golf Development Wales schemes, as well as encouraging them to continue through the clubs.

“I have been spending one a day a week at six clubs, so there has been a lot to do.”

It may have been hard work, but Humphries has achieved an incredible amount. Over 500 children received weekly coaching sessions, with more than 1,000 having been introduced to the game.

Humphries coordinates the Dragon Sport team who deliver golf sessions in each of the 60 primary schools in the area.

Each of the seven golf clubs have held Dragon Golf festivals, while one club helped a school design and construct a course within their grounds.

Easter Golf camps at Welshpool and the Mid Wales clubs resulted in four out of five attendees going on to join the clubs, with 300 ladies and 50 men going through the ladies and beginners courses.

Junior development and girls squads have been set up, along with an order of merit and matches against neighbouring counties.

It is considerable list of giving the people in Mid Wales golfing opportunities which did not exist in the past.
“The next stage is to build on all that, while maintaining the work in the schools which is going on, but also bringing more of those children to the clubs,” said Humphries.

“There will be no let up but it is nice to see the progress being made and the enjoyment that golf is bringing to all these people.

“The clubs are seeing the benefits in extra members, so that is promising as well. It will be interesting how it all moves forward over the next year.”

Humphries now has the top award to show for his efforts and hopes that will give the initiatives a further boost.

The awards were sponsored by Future Financials, a Cardiff based Welsh company which provides Golf Clubs with a facility that enables their members to pay their annual subscriptions by monthly direct debit payments, rather than in one large annual payment.  For more information please go to www.futurefinancials.co.uk .

Andy was presented with his award by Andy Morgan, Chairman of Golf Development Wales.

Amy's award boost ahead of hat-trick bid

Amy Boulden has been named as Welsh Amateur Golf of the Year as she prepares for Wales's attempt to achieve an historic hat-trick of Home Internationals titles on home ground in Cardiff this week.

The North Wales 17-year-old was presented with the award in a glittering ceremony at Ryder Cup venue Celtic Manor by Golf Union of Wales chairman Louise Fleet, the awards being sponsored by Cardiff company Future Financials.

But after the glamour it was straight down to business and practising at the Whitchurch club for the Home Internationals which Wales have won for the last two years, in fact Boulden has never been on a losing side after making her debut in that first victory.

She has an incredible few weeks coming up as she is also preparing for the Junior Ryder Cup at the end of the month and the chance to play on the TwentyTen course during the Ryder Cup practice days with the European and United States teams watching.

After that it is off to Argentina to represent Wales in the world championships Espirito Santo, to round off a remarkable year in which she qualified for the Ricoh Ladies British Open in Royal Birkdale, made the cut in the S4C Wales Ladies Championship of Europe, won the Bridget Jackson Bowl, was a reserve for the Curtis Cup team and runner-up in the Ladies British Open Amateur Championship.

Those are the highlights, but there were several other strong performances as well to make the award fully deserved.

“It was nice to get the recognition, the whole thing was really well done,” said Boulden, from the Llandudno/Maesdu club.

“It has been a good year, it was a really good experience to get into the British Open and that was something that I could take into the S4C in Conwy.

“I had played well on the course before and did well in the first round, it was nice to see my name up on the leaderboards – there was just a completely different atmosphere in a professional event.

“Now it is the Home Internationals and it would be good to do the triple, we have pretty much the same team which won it last year so there is no reason we cannot do well.

“We have not had as strong a team on paper as the other countries over the last two years, but what we had is a great team spirit and playing for each other. We get on well and are really good friends, which helps in the foursomes in particular.

“I was new to the team two years ago when we won it, but our captain Sue Turner is very experienced and our coach Jeremy Bennett helps so much with our preparation.

“Hopefully playing at home in Wales will also be an inspiration. I don't think any of the other teams expected us to win it again last year, but winning it the year before had given us a lot of confidence.”

After the Home Internationals Boulden will start preparing for the Junior Ryder Cup in Gleneagles, the best juniors from Europe and the US taking on each other.

“I am really looking forward to that, it will be quite and event and then straight after it we will be taken down to Celtic Manor for the Ryder Cup itself,” she said.

“On one of the practices days we will play a Friendship Match which is tied into the Ryder Cup and I think the two teams will be watching us tee off. It will be a great experience.”

So it is quite an end to the season for Boulden as she looks to build on adding another top award to her growing list of achievements.

The awards were sponsored by Future Financials, a Cardiff based Welsh company which provides Golf Clubs with a facility that enables their members to pay their annual subscriptions by monthly direct debit payments, rather than in one large annual payment.  For more information please go to www.futurefinancials.co.uk .


Rhys Davies has been named the Future Financial's Welsh Tour Professional of the Year after his first full season on the European Tour, including winning his first Race to Dubai event.

He was unable to collect the Future Financials Golf Union of Wales award in person at a glittering ceremony in the Ryder Cup venue Celtic Manor as he was competing in Switzerland.

Davies is also preparing for a special role at the Ryder Cup as assistant to captain Colin Montgomerie, picked out to gain experience of the unique event as a likely Ryder Cup player of the future.

The 25-year-old is a former Wales amateur international, played in two Walker Cups, set a number of US collegiate records while at East Tennessee University and is a former British Boys champion.

He achieved his big break in Europe by winning the SWALEC Wales Challenge thanks to an invite from Ryder Cup Wales, went onto to win again on the Challenge tour before holding off Louis Oosthuizen to win the Moroccan Open.

He was second to Graeme McDowell in the Wales Open after a course record 62 in the final round and pushed hard for a Ryder Cup place despite missing the first part of the qualification period.

“It is always great to see someone who has come through our system in Welsh golf going on to do well,” explained Golf Union of Wales chief executive Richard Dixon.

“He represented Wales with distinction on countless occasions and also formed a very strong Walker Cup pairing with Nigel Edwards.

“Everyone in Welsh golf knew that Rhys had what it takes to reach the top, hopefully his success will help to inspire the next generation of Welsh amateurs where there is some real talent coming through.”

The awards were sponsored by Future Financials, a Cardiff based Welsh company which provides Golf Clubs with a facility that enables their members to pay their annual subscriptions by monthly direct debit payments, rather than in one large annual payment.  For more information please go to www.futurefinancials.co.uk .

Rhys’ father Graham collected the award on Rhys’ behalf from Ryder Cup legend Brian Huggett.