JUPITER, Florida (April 18, 2016) – Golphin Ltd. (www.golphin.com), an award-winning Scottish-based company which designs and manufactures specialized golf equipment for children, is supporting the Girls Independent Golf League (GIGL), a nonprofit organization based in Norton, Mass. Golphin has donated two sets of girls’ golf clubs, with standbags, to GIGL.
“This is just one of many ways we are honoring our commitment to help expand junior golf in the U.S. and around the world,” said Calum McPherson, founder and managing director of Golphin. “It is our pleasure to support GIGL, which is proving highly successful in bringing more girls into the game.”
GIGL conducts five tournaments per year. Often LPGA Professionals and former LPGA Tour players, including Pat Bradley, attend GIGL events to show their support and encouragement. The next GIGL tournament will take place May 1 at the MGA Links Course in Norton, Mass. Proceeds will benefit The First Tee of Massachusetts.
“It was good of Golphin to donate golf clubs to our organization,” said Dave Barend, commissioner of GIGL. “It will give more girls the opportunity to experience learning and playing golf, with brand-new age-appropriate equipment.”
About GIGL
In 2013, Jillian and Sadie Barend (then ten and six years old) asked their parents if they could be on a golf team like the U.S. women they watched play in the Solheim Cup. Their father, Dave Barend, searched, but could not find a single all-girls youth golf team. So he and his wife, Sara, with the help of many other parents, now voluntarily run what has been dubbed the Girls Independent Golf League (www.giglgolf.com). GIGL is the only all-girls junior golf league anywhere in New England. It has become much more successful than anyone could have imagined.
Elements of the GIGL mission include: fun (scores are kept, but winning is secondary to enjoyment); team (playing with girls they get to know); girls only (less intimidating); play/compete (meeting the goal of encouraging more girls to play golf); learning (no experience is necessary to participate); low cost (green fees are $5-10, and no one associated with GIGL receives any compensation); and no major commitment (girls can attend whichever GIGL events they want to, and pay only for those events).
About Golphin
Golphin Ltd., founded in 2012 in Scotland, the Home of Golf, was inspired by Calum McPherson having observed his son’s difficulty playing golf with cut-down clubs and having set a goal to make golf more enjoyable for juniors. Research and development in 2012 led to the design of prototype equipment in 2013, and Golphin was launched officially in 2014 at the Scottish Golf Show.
Golphin clubs, designed to benefit children ages three through 12, were developed in partnership with PGA Professionals and the biomechanical department at Strathclyde University, in Glasgow, using technology transfer from the aerospace industry. They are 22% lighter and 35% larger than most junior golf clubs, making it easier for players to swing, control and hit. A radial profile was added to the sole of the clubs to provide greater forgiveness for differing lie angles and to accommodate children’s various address positions and heights.
The GFK line of Golphin product selections is based on the height of each individual child. The model numbers correspond to the appropriate age ranges (i.e., “GFK324″ corresponds to children ages three to four, approximately). GFK 324 clubs are for children 39-43.5″ tall; GFK 526 clubs are for children 43.5-48″ tall; GFK 728 clubs are for children 48-52.5″ tall; and GFK910 clubs are for children 52.5-57” tall.
The Golphin Coaches Pack, designed for teaching professionals to provide equipment for potential new golfers at clinics and lessons, consists of 14 clubs: four high-loft drivers, six 7 irons, two “Swedgers” and two putters – including several left-handed clubs. Individual GFK sets include one driver, one 7 iron, one “Swedger” and one putter.
Golphin has a powerful strategy known as “Beginners to Winners,” with GFK specifically designed for beginners and Golphin Advanced (to be launched in May 2016) designed for junior golfers who aspire to elite performance. Golphin Advanced clubs will be for children ages seven through 12.
Recognized for its outstanding concept and designs, Golphin won two prestigious awards in 2015: the inaugural Scottish Sports Business Innovation Awards, presented in March in Glasgow, Scotland; and the 2015 HSBC Golf Innovation Award, presented at the HSBC Golf Business Forum in November in Shanghai, China. Also, Golphin was selected by the R&A for inclusion in its Swingzone area at the 2015 Open Championship, played at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland.
Duncan Weir, director of golf development for the R&A, said, “The high quality and versatility of the Golphin GFK range is very impressive. It is certainly well geared for getting youngsters into golf and helping to address the undoubted participation issues the sport is currently facing.”
The McPherson family has a rich heritage in golf-club design and manufacturing, with over 50 years of experience, spanning back to the 1960s when the family business manufactured club heads for various brands, including John Letters, Wilson and Ryder. Its latest innovation is a hybrid of golf and aerospace technologies – hence Golphin’s capability of helping kids get the ball airborne quickly.
For more information, see www.golphin.com.
Contact:
Sally J. Sportsman
407-248-1144
sjsport@earthlink.net
