Golf continues to make great strides in Guyana, but especially at Leonora, West Coast Demerara, as the Leonora Secondary School received approval for establishing an onsite golf training facility.
This was as a result of strong efforts by Head Mistress Faye Gittens, along with teachers Kharlyn Henry and Usha Banson, who were determined that their school should become the leader in development of the sport.
“Golf is part of the CSEC Physical Education syllabus, and one of the few sports that are fully COVID-19 compliant, so it is of great benefit for all involved.”
The teachers of Region 3
As evidenced by the phenomenal growth of the game in the past year, golf has taken on a whole new life at the Ministry of Education’s Allied Arts Unit, but Region 3 has taken an aggressive approach to the sport and are leading the way forward based on the efforts of the Regional Executive Officer Jainarine Somwar, Regional Education Officer Devendre Persaud, Lindley Langhorne (Allied Arts), and Ulrich Charles (Region 3 Sports Coordinator).
June Ann Gonsalves, Assistant Chief Education Officer, Secondary Schools, and the Allied Arts Unit headed by Lorraine Barker-King combined efforts to ensure that golf is available to all students in Guyana’s secondary schools, and there are plans to train teachers from an additional 50 schools in August. This would give over 10,000 students access to the sport by end of 2021.
Overseas-based Guyanese Danny Ramnarain, who hails from Leonora, has been extremely proactive in assisting with the development of the game in his old hometown, and will be on hand for the proposed opening of the facility later this year.
Golf is predicted to be one of the most popular sports in Guyana with two years, rivalling cricket and football, based on the new model that provides all equipment, smaller but easier to access courses, lower costs, no membership fees, shorter playing time, and many competitions.
There are several facilities being planned in Linden, Berbice, Essequibo and West Coast Demerara to help to build the skills of new players, who would eventually compete at national, international and Olympic level.
