A record number of young golfers took part in the Wales Mini Masters, including more than 100 girls making up almost a third of the entry for the first time.

Numbers for the golf championship held at events across Wales increased by 50% in 2018 and built again on that number in 2019.

An extra qualifying round at Nefyn Golf meant no player in Wales was further than an hour from a qualifying round for the first time.

The support of Volvik helped the Twitter statistics grow along with a record engagement through Facebook for the Mini Masters.

“It is good to see a continued increase in children taking part in an event which caters for all standards of young golfers, with the popularity of the events around Wales and also the final,” said Wales Golf Community Golf Development Co-ordinator Theo Baker.

“It is great to see this helping to grow the game of golf, particularly among girls.”

The event allows young players to take part in one of four categories from Under 7’s through to over 12’s, with eight qualifying events around Wales building up to a final at Ryder Cup venue Celtic Manor.

“The figures for this year’s Wales Mini Masters are encouraging, it is an event which has steadily grown since it started in 2010,” said tournament organiser Andrew Jones.

“It gives some of the best young golfers in Wales the chance to compete in a competition, but is also open to young people of all abilities to come and enjoy taking part in a golf event.

“It was great to have 30% of the entries coming from girls with a record number taking part. The number of girls taking part the four age categories has tripled since 2017."

“It was also encouraging to hold an event in Nefyn for the first time which, along with going back to Cardigan, meant we had our best ever geographical spread of the eight events around Wales.

“Around a third of the golf clubs in Wales get involved with the Mini Masters, which shows potential for further growth, while we are also encouraged by the clubs who are keen to host events in 2020.

“Also, this was probably the best year in terms of approach from parents and other supporting adults. We also had a record number of players invited to take part in the final."

“Volvik played a key role in boosting the profile of the Mini Masters, for example there were 73,000 Twitter engagements in October alone, around the final event.”

There were 342 entries in total, with 104 from girls. The numbers taking part increased by 31 compared to 2018 and 101 more than in 2017.

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