England Golf

Driving awareness of England Golf and its equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives outside of the golfing community

England Golf is the governing body for amateur golf in England, representing over 1,900 golf clubs and over 740,000 members.

Dedicated to growing the game of golf, England Golf has developed a number of initiatives designed to increase participation and grow the grassroots game.

PHA’s Sport & Fitness team were challenged to raise the profile of England Golf and highlight the success of these initiatives, before submitting select initiatives for industry Awards to enhance England Golf’s relevance and standing outside of the golfing community and within the wider sports sector.

To strengthen the award entries, it was important to secure top tier press coverage around the England Golf initiatives that were the focus of the submissions. This would give added credibility and visibility in both online and print media.

The strategy we devised focused on maximising England Golf spokespeople in the national media, targeting sports reporters whose remit included community-based initiatives. These spokespeople discussed the impact of covid on participation numbers in the grassroots game, weaving in key messaging in interviews which fed into our keyword ranking strategy.

Starting with a bang, PHA successfully secured an interview with England Golf’s Women and Girls Manager to discuss their ‘Girls Golf Rocks’ initiative with PA Media, which resulted in over 100 pieces of coverage, including the likes of the Daily Mail, The Independent and Yahoo! Sport. In addition, we also secured an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live.

A key tactic we used to promote England Golf’s success in driving participation in the sport was the use of case studies, one such example being a woman named Marjorie from Cumbria who, at the age of 93, won her Club medal. Seizing this opportunity, we reached out to Marjorie’s local media, resulting in a broadcast interview on BBC North West and BBC Radio Cumbria.

Another powerful case study was a lady called Claire Jones who has been using golf as a way to maintain her physical and mental resilience whilst battling Parkinson’s disease. We were successful in securing an interview with Claire’s local media, resulting in a full-page feature in Leicester Live and a broadcast interview with BBC Leicester.

Engaging with regional media was crucial to help England Golf deliver on its objective to create a more diverse golfing community by supporting inclusive and fun golf experiences. Both Marjorie and Claire embodied that perfectly, with a clear call to action for others to try their hand at golf to experience the benefits themselves.

Having successfully raised the profile of England Golf’s initiatives with media, we then began drafting award entries that would further raise the profile of England Golf’s initiatives within the industry, shining a spotlight on their commitment to diversifying the sport and inspiring other sports to do the same.

The first award entered was the SGA ‘One to Watch’ award for which England Golf put forward its Legal and Governance Officer (Billy Methley). The judges fed back that the nomination demonstrated Billy’s resilience in the face of adversity, and the tangible impact he has had on England Golf’s governance. Billy was subsequently crowned the SGA’s One to Watch – no doubt the first of many wins!

All photos supplied by England Golf

115

Pieces of coverage secured

3

Award entries submitted

11

Keyword increases around women in golf onto, or within, page 1 of Google

8%

Increase in non-branded terms – showcasing an increase in visibility for England Golf around golf-related terms

"PHA have been instrumental in helping us generate and distribute our key golf news to both local and national media. The team have been professional and always work to tight deadlines, and they feel like a genuine extension of our team at England Golf."

Toni Shelbourn

Campaigns and Brand Manager

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