Saturday night's alright for golfing as Rushford opens doors for juniors

Golf is full of gizmos, gadgets and gee-whiz contraptions. Whether it’s a Trackman here or a Toptracer there, the Royal & Ancient game can be so high-tech, it can make the International Space Station look about as cutting edge as the hand-cranked mangle.

For PGA professional Bobby Rushford, the latest kit is driving his latest venture. “Trackman is great but it’s not cheap … especially when you have to buy seven of them,” he chuckled. In this game, you have to speculate to accumulate and Rushford’s various enterprises in the Central Belt of Scotland continue to grow.

The 34-year has recently opened two Fairways Indoor Golf Studios at Maxim Park on the outskirts of Glasgow and Abbotsford Business Park in Falkirk to add to his existing centre in Coatbridge.

Bringing terrific facilities, and wide-ranging benefits, to all walks of golfing life, it is a ‘Community Initiative Series’ that is really stirring Rushford’s senses. In the great traditions of PGA pros, Rushford is getting a lot out of putting plenty back into the game he loves.

“When I was studying at Stirling University, I was looking into social inequality and saw that in the 1990s and early 2000s there was a big push in the USA with mini basketball leagues,” he recalled. “Courts were offered up free to those from less well-off backgrounds and it was aimed at getting kids off the streets on a Saturday night. That was the inspiration for this golf initiative. It’s been done with football and other sports, so I thought golf would be a good fit.

“Our facilities close to the public on a Saturday at 4pm so we have a few spare hours. We decided to do something positive for the local community without making any money from it.

“So we run league matches for junior golfers at local clubs on our simulators at both Maxim Park and the Falkirk facility and the idea will be to have a final at the end of the season. We’ve had teams from Drumpellier, Airdrie, Falkirk, Stirling, Braehead, Alloa and Bonnybridge taking part and the feedback has been great.”

There have been spin-offs for Rushford’s wider work. “Stirlingshire are wanting to bring their country coaching to us now and it’s been the same with Lanarkshire,” added Rushford, who is eager for his facilities to work in tandem with local clubs, not against them. “I’m a PGA pro first before a business owner. I want these facilities to be places where you learn golf not just come for a laugh. I want to help provide a pathway to courses and membership. We are working to compliment what’s around us.

“We’ve had scratch handicappers in and we’ve had total beginners getting their first introduction to the game on a simulator. This is why I’ve invested in this. It’s quick. You can nip round a course on a simulator in an hour. The first entry into sports these days for kids tends to be online. They start playing the game, whatever it may be, and then branch out to the real thing.”

With his Stirling University qualifications bolstered by The PGA credentials, Rushford’s canny sports management nous and business brain are helping to enrich the domestic golf scene. There’s plenty of job satisfaction too.

“It’s very rewarding,” said Rushford, also runs a number of Fairways Professional Shops at a variety of clubs in the area. “I love seeing people develop. From seeing someone who’s never played and really getting into golf is a great feeling. I had a young lad who was told he had to give up for football for a variety of reasons. He was only 12. He hadn’t swung a club before but he came to me and now he’s in the Lanarkshire team. Little stories like that makes it all worthwhile.”

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