As Ladies Love Golf launches a new Academy, Editor Emma Ballard caught up with Founder and Director John Cheetham to talk about LLG's thriving women's golf community
Ladies Love Golf (LLG) is a community of women of all ages and abilities looking to improve, socialise and play golf. There are now five venues around England where you can access weekly coaching designed specifically for women, away days and even overseas coaching breaks. LLG's goal is to remove the barriers for all women looking to get into golf and get everyone involved. There is also an online community that you can join for free if you are not based near one of the hubs, as well as membership packages to suit your lifestyle.
Editor Emma Ballard headed to The Beeches Golf in Cheshire to catch up with LLG Founder and Director John Cheetham, to get an update on LLG, hear more about the launch of their fifth centre in Devon and take part in a lesson as part of her 40 by 40 challenge.
Tell me about LLG at The Beeches Golf?
The Beeches Golf opened two years ago. It’s an awesome facility with the new Trackman range. At our LLG launch event we had 68 women attend and from that we had around 40 sign up to LLG membership on the day.
So we were off and running after this and from then it has been organic growth mainly through word of mouth. We have a lot of women from golf clubs round the area coming down now to take part in our coaching sessions.
How many sessions do you host a week?
We have four sessions a week, one at the weekend, one evening and two in the morning to cater for all women. As well as myself, we have Ben Stanier here who has been a great addition to the LLG coaching team.
Where are the other LLG venues?
We have 3 Hammers in Wolverhampton where Meghan Hopkins leads the LLG coaching, Branston Golf Range in Burton-on-Trent with Academy Director Rory Haigh and Chilli Dip Golf in Bolton with Philip Newnes.
LLG has also now expanded outside of the Midlands, as we have opened our fifth LLG academy at Plymouth Golf Centre in Devon.
Tell us more about the launch in Devon
Over 80 women attended our Devon launch at Plymouth Golf Centre. We had taster sessions running in the morning, lunchtime and evening, with the evening session comprising of two groups as we had 44 women there for the two hour session.
The Plymouth range has 36 bays all with Trackman, so there was plenty of space for all participants to get a feel for what LLG is all about. We were pleased to see a number of women sign up to LLG membership straight away.
I am pleased to report that in the first official week, all three group classes are full with our lead coach in Plymouth, Oli Balchin.
It’s a really great centre with the Owner and Director of Golf really on board with LLG, they really get the concept and I believe we’re going to have a really strong community in Devon. We’re already looking to do some away trips to Devon next year, which will hoping bring some LLG members down from the Midlands to join in.
Are there plans to expand the LLG community further?
Definitely! Our goal is to branch out further, working directly with centres to build a community of women, just like we have done so far. It’s important that we get venues to use all of the assets at the facility, from the bistro, to the golf course to the practice area.
The community goes beyond the individual venue too as we bring women together at our away days and coaching trips abroad.
We recently took a coaching trip to Spain with 40 women, which included golfers from The Beeches, 3 Hammers and Branston. It’s a great way to build your golf network too.
Can you explain why LLG is different from other coaching programmes/groups?
At LLG we have a dedicated approach to women's golf. We focus a lot on the group coaching session, in particular a longer session approach which enables us to have a social element involved.
With each venue, we try to add member benefits, for example LLG members at The Beeches Golf get 10% off food and drinks at the bistro and at 3 Hammers there are discounted rates to play the golf course.
Our aim is to create a real hub at each centre so that you want to come back to it week in week out with your friends.
As well as the onsite coaching and benefits, we have weekly tips and regular marketing that we send out to our members, plus we have an online forum where everyone can chat together.
There are also a number of social events that members can attend, including our yearly Gala Dinner.
It’s just a really dedicated focus on women’s golf.
How much does it cost to be a LLG member?
The membership fee is £99 for an annual pass. Once you have that, everything is then discounted, from the weekly coaching sessions to the trips we host. So if someone is coming roughly twice a month, then it’s well worth having the membership to access all the benefits associated with it.
Do you have to be a LLG member to join the coaching sessions?
No, we try to be as flexible as possible and have no barriers, so anyone can try out our coaching sessions. If they like it, which a lot of women do, then they’ll join LLG and come to more sessions.
A lot of the centres we work with create a pathway to LLG. For example, at 3 Hammers, they have a Learn to Play programme, when you finish that programme, the next step is LLG. This gives a nice pathway to stay in golf rather than eight weeks of beginner lessons and then wondering what’s next.
Over the years we found that the entry beginner player with no fundamentals in place, is hard to integrate into an LLG group but once they have had four/six/eight lessons or some one-to-one coaching then we can get them straight into LLG.
For more information on Ladies Love Golf, please visit their website here. I'll share more on my lesson with the LLG group at The Beeches Golf in an upcoming blog for 40 by 40.
