Article written by The R&A and featured in The R&A Developing Golf Magazine Volume II Issue 6: https://www.randa.org/en/developing-golf-magazine

The Danish Golf Union (DGU) is broadening its Pilot Project after seeing promising results in the first year since its launch. Designed to combat a ten-year decline in junior numbers, the initiative has seen ten clubs hire dedicated youth coordinators to strengthen their offering. With participating clubs having shown a 22% increase in youth membership, far outstripping the 4% national average, the DGU will now work with an additional five clubs in 2025. The R&A recently spoke to the DGU's Tournament and Development Consultant Rikke Haurvig to find out more about a project that is really taking off.

What are the participation trends in Denmark? 

Overall participation is at its highest level ever. As in many places, we saw a big increase around Covid-19 and the levels are still high now, with golf the fourth biggest sport in Denmark. However, we have been seeing a decrease in junior participation for a long time and it's one of the lowest in the EU at 4.6%. Numbers went up during the pandemic across all age groups, but we didn't retain the younger ones, so that's why we introduced this Pilot Project. 

Can you summarise what the Pilot Project involves? 

In its first year, the Pilot Project involved ten clubs who hired coordinators to look after their junior programmes. The idea was to have a dedicated resource whose priority is to increase youth participation by creating a more structured and engaging environment for young people within these clubs. 

Why was this approach considered the best way forward? 

We found that one of the key factors behind whether a junior environment was flourishing or not was the people involved and whether there was some continuity. Often, we saw parents getting involved and doing good things, but then their kids got older and they moved on and everything went back to zero. We want to have people involved at club level who have junior organising as their priority so all the knowledge that they build up can be retained. Parents are still involved, for example as volunteers in junior committees or coaching, but now we have coordinators to oversee all of that and move it forward. 

How did you find the right people for the roles and who pays for them? 

We announced the Pilot Project and set about looking for clubs who wanted to be part of it, then we had ten roles to fill which are financed half and half between the DGU and the clubs. We just drew up a job description and put it out there. In the first year we really didn't know who would be interested in the role. There were lots of different profiles across the ten clubs, and one of the groups that did well was senior members. They had good knowledge not only of golf and the club itself, but also of how workplaces operate. They had the experience and that served them very well. Another group consisted of younger golfers, often taking a gap year before university and seeking work experience while pursuing their golf aspirations. They faced some challenges as they were still building their knowledge and understanding, and at times they might have found it difficult to assert themselves in club and committee settings. Some came from university and they had a broad knowledge of sport but perhaps not so much of golf. They may have excelled over a longer period, but they needed time to get to understand golf and the clubs they were working in. These are some overarching trends, and success in the role will, of course, always depend primarily on the individual. 

What training and support is provided to the coordinators? 

When all the clubs had hired their coordinators, we held a training day to familiarise them with DGU's strategy for the junior area, providing tools to work across all aspects — from the fundamental structure of the junior area to training, playing, other activities and communication. The day also included an in-depth look at specific data at both club and national levels, offering them a structured method to evaluate their club's offerings and environment for juniors, as well as to identify potential areas for development in their role. Finally, we initiated a network among the coordinators to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing. Every two weeks we held online meetings with the coordinators to check how they were doing, what they needed help with, areas they could work on and so on. Sometimes we would invite people in to talk about specific topics to help them.

Another step we took was to meet with the participating clubs and come up with an action plan. We have a strategy in Denmark built around the idea of a clubhouse where you have to score your initiatives. The coordinator and the club completed this scoring, and based on the assessment, we collaboratively identified the areas we wanted to work on. 

What have the results been? 

Across the ten participating clubs there was an increase in junior members of 22%, compared to 4% nationally. Also, at the national level, the increase was only in the age groups from 15-18, whereas in the clubs involved in the Pilot Project, the increase was matched in the under-10 age group and for those between 10-15, so the increase was across the board. Our goal is to increase junior membership in these clubs by 25% each year, so 22% is close. It's important to say that this rise in numbers came later in the year. The coordinators did some great work early on, but we didn't really see the results until later. As well as increasing the numbers, the level of activity also increased – so even existing members were getting involved more often in coaching sessions and other initiatives. 

How will you apply what you've learned in year one to your plans in 2025? 

The clubs and the coordinators gave positive feedback and said it was a valuable project, but it was only the first year so of course we have identified ways to improve things. We are increasing the project with five new clubs and we have lots of information that we didn't have when we started. For example, we spoke about the sort of people who would be good coordinators and we now have more knowledge about who will be able to make the biggest impact. One thing we found was that the clubs wanted to be more involved, which we took as a positive thing because it shows they are engaging with it. We have made the terms of being a participating club more precise to provide clarity to everyone, and we are expanding our training so we will now offer an additional day where we have both the coordinators and other people from the club in attendance. For those clubs involved in the first year who are continuing, we will now fund 25% of it and they will cover the rest. It is for them to see if this has longevity for them and if they can see the benefit in continuing with a coordinator.

Hands-on approach pays dividends 

One of the biggest things we learned from the first year of the Pilot Project was the value of taking a hands-on approach. The DGU has been more involved with the ongoing process than we originally imagined we would or should be. It's important to recognise that it's not just a case of hiring someone and then everything falls into place – you need to have a strategy and you need to work with the clubs and with the coordinators to ensure it is delivered. The provision of training and the sharing of knowledge and best practice is crucial to achieving success. You can't just sit back and expect things to happen; you need to help make them happen.