Golf History Made by Guyanese Students at CSEC
For the first time in Guyana's history, Golf was taken at CSEC by 110 learners across five schools with 84 students achieving Grade Ones and 26 securing Grade Two passes.
At the Anna Regina Multilateral Secondary School, 44 students got Grade Ones and seven passed with Grade Twos.
From Rosignol Secondary 27 students who took Golf passed with Grade Ones and 10 passed with Grade Twos.
Friendship Secondary had two golfers with Grade Ones and Five with Grade Twos.
President’s College secured all Grade One passes from three students who took golf as their Physical Education Elective.
Wisburg Secondary had eight Grade Ones and four Grade Twos.
The Ministry of Education’s Allied Arts Unit noted this is the fastest a new sport has ever been implemented in the education system.
Despite limitations imposed by the covid-19 pandemic and elections turmoil, the Guyana Golf Association was founded in 2020.
Golf had the unique advantage of being a sport that was safe to participate in during the period of the pandemic where heavier safety protocols were imposed across the country.
Association President Aleem Hussain then partnered with the Ministry of Education Allied Arts Unit to bring the sport to secondary schools for the first time in the country's history.
Their plan was to include golf on the PE curriculum and allow students to take it as an elective at CSEC examinations and in March 2021, a pilot programme was launched for schools.
Six schools took part in a 'Train the Trainers' programme, developed along with a syllabus and examination guideline for teachers.
By the end of 2021, teachers from 102 secondary schools had gone through the programme and amazingly, over 100 students had decided to take golf at CSEC in 2022.
An additional 5,000 Trainee Teachers and 6,000 university students are set to be exposed to the sport in the coming months.
According to Hussain, the emphasis must now turn to the development of Golf courses and facilities to satisfy the demand as the growing number of local players, expat workers and remigrants will require at least six new courses within the next few years.
"Nexgen Golf has created a unique model that uses just 6-8 acres of land to build a scaled golf course near to populated areas. This saves on development and maintenance costs, thereby reducing the fees for the average players and opening the sport to everyone."
Persons interested in learning to play golf can visit Nexgen Golf Academy on Facebook/Instagram pages, call 645-0944 or stop by the driving range on Woolford Avenue in Georgetown.
