'Bag Mountain' Is Just The Beginning

• PHOTO SHOWS GENEROSITY OF UK GOLFERS
• JASON ROBERTS MBE ORGANISES FIRST SHIPMENT OF DONATED BAGS & CLUBS

BRACKNELL, BERKS, UK .. Blue Mountain GC Course Manager Jamie Pender and his team worked wonders to ‘wrangle’ 368 golf bags and over 2,100 loose golf clubs for a photograph which shows the enormous generosity of golfers who have donated their old golf equipment as part of Crown Golf’s ‘Bag Amnesty’ summer 2014 initiative.

At the front, ex-Premier League and international footballer Jason Roberts MBE stands with Cae Menai-Davis and Frank Harrington from The Golf Trust, Otis Roberts from the Jason Roberts Foundation, and Caroline Griffiths and Matthew Lynwood from Crown Golf.

The bags in the photo account for roughly one quarter of the total donated so far, after just four weeks. Since the Amnesty began on June 12th, over 1,400 golf bags and more than 8,000 loose golf clubs had been handed in at Crown Golf clubs as of mid-July 2014.

With the Bag Amnesty campaign running at all 25 Crown Golf clubs until September 28th, the last day of The Ryder Cup, organisers expect over 4,000 golf bags and over 20,000 golf clubs will eventually be donated by generous golfers.

Bag Amnesty (www.freedomplay.co.uk/bagamnesty) is an initiative to liberate some of the UK’s estimated 4 million unwanted golf bags from garages, sheds and lofts, and to redeploy them via The Golf Trust charity to disabled golfers and inner-city golf projects across the UK, and to other projects further afield in countries such as India, the Caribbean and Romania.

Golfers can donate at any one of the 25 Crown Golf clubs this summer (see list on www.crown-golf.co.uk), and will receive in return a voucher giving them £20 off their next Callaway Golf bag when bought at a Crown Golf pro shop.

The Jason Roberts Foundation will also fly one donor plus a friend to the Caribbean island of Grenada this autumn, to see how Bag Amnesty equipment is kick-starting the sport of golf on the island. The prize draw (1) to find the winner will take place immediately after the Amnesty ends.

“This is a brilliant initiative, and the response has already been stunning” said Jason Roberts. “I urge anyone reading this to donate their old bags and clubs this summer, because The Golf Trust will find a good home for every single item, somewhere in the world”.

After this photograph was taken, all of the bags and clubs in the 'bag mountain' were shipped to Grenada to be deployed in a variety of golfing projects in schools and parishes across the island.

Bag Amnesty (2) donations can be made at every Crown Golf pro shop (3), with no appointment necessary.

• Facebook Page address: https://www.facebook.com/BagAmnesty
• Email a photo of your own unwanted bags and clubs to: bag@crown-golf.co.uk

For information about Crown Golf Freedom Play Membership, visit www.freedomplay.co.uk.

Ends.

(3) Drop-off points for the Crown Golf Bag & Equipment Amnesty 2014 are:

• 9 of Herts Golf Course, Rickmansworth, Herts WD3 1JS
• Addington Court Golf Centre, Croydon, Surrey CR0 9AA
• Batchworth Park Golf Club, Rickmansworth, Herts WD3 1JS
• Blue Mountain Golf & Conference Centre, Binfield, Berks RG42 4EX
• Cams Hall Estate Golf Club, Fareham, Hants PO16 8UP
• Chesfield Downs Golf & Country Club, Stevenage, Herts SG4 7EQ
• Eccleston Park Golf Club, Prescot, Merseyside L35 4PG
• Hampton Court Palace Golf Club, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey KT1 4AD
• Merrist Wood Golf Club, Guildford, Surrey GU3 3PB
• Milford Golf Club, Godalming, Surrey GU8 5HS
• Mill Green Golf Club, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL7 4TY
• Oak Park Golf Club, Farnham, Surrey GU10 5PB
• Paultons Golf Centre, Romsey, Hants SO51 6AN
• Pine Ridge Golf Club, Camberley, Surrey GU16 9NX
• Pyrford Golf Club, Pyrford, Surrey GU22 8XR
• Sherfield Oaks Golf Club, Hook, Hants RG27 0HB
• South Essex Golf Centre, Brentwood, Essex CM13 3LW
• South Winchester Golf Club, Winchester, Hants SO22 5QX
• Sunbury Golf Centre, Shepperton, Middlesex TW17 8QA
• Stapleford Abbotts Golf Club, Stapleford Abbotts, Essex RM4 iJU
• St Mellion International Resort, Saltash, Cornwall PL12 6SD
• The Bristol Golf Club, Almonsbury, Bristol BS10 7TP
• The Hertfordshire Golf & Country Club, Broxbourne, Herts EN10 7PY
• Traditions Golf Course, Pyrford, Surrey GU22 8UE
• Wickham Park Golf Club, Fareham, Hants PO17 5PJ
  

BAG AMNESTY QUICK FACTS

• Crown Golf appeals for golfers to surrender unwanted golf bags
• Amnesty runs from Thurs 12th June to Sun 28th September 2014
• 25 Crown Golf venues across the UK are drop-off points
• Amnesty also applies to unwanted golf clubs
• Photos wanted of unwanted golf bags & clubs
• Special Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BagAmnesty
• Golfers can donate items in period spanning U.S Open to Ryder Cup 2014
• Donations will be redistributed in UK and rest of world by The Golf Trust charity
• Grenada trip prize for two people supplied by Jason Roberts Foundation
• Callaway Golf bag voucher for all who donate

CONTACT CROWN GOLF: 01344 200200, Hannah Baker, h.baker@crown-golf.co.uk

www.crown-golf.co.uk

The award-winning Crown Golf group has 25 UK golf facilities and 38 golf courses in its portfolio. With pride in customer service and innovation, Crown Golf (established in 1994) aims to provide an outstanding golf experience for its members and visitors, tailor-made to suit the lifestyles and needs of a wide range of golfers. The company’s flagship is the European Tour venue St Mellion International Resort, home to The Nicklaus Signature Course – the first in the UK to be designed by 18-time Major-winner Jack Nicklaus.

www.thegolftrust.com

The Golf Trust was created to highlight and develop the inclusive values of golf. We feel that anyone and everyone should have the opportunity to play the sport regardless of circumstance. We seek to remove the barriers to participation so that everyone can play the sport we love. Our work is predominately outreach focused, taking the sport to inner city communities and places one may not usually associate golf with. The ComGolf project has worked tirelessly in London and the South East coaching over 10,000 people since September 2011. We've teamed up with organisations that share our aims to deliver fun community based projects with educational, health and technical performance outcomes.

www.freedomplay.co.uk

Of the estimated 4 million golfers in the UK, less than 1.5 million are members of a club. Crown Golf has created Freedom Play as a new way of joining a golf club, to encourage more golfers to take that step. In Freedom Play, golfers pay a low annual subscription and get credits which they exchange for rounds of golf. Play at busy times and you use more credits: play when it’s quiet, and your credits go further. Freedom Play membership is available at 18 Crown Golf clubs across the UK – see the website for locations.

www.jasonrobertsfoundation.com

The Foundation was established by Grenada international and Premier League footballer Jason Roberts, to provide opportunities for children and young people to participate in sports and cultural activities in the UK and in the Caribbean; to encourage young people in the UK and in Caribbean to participate in structured sporting activity, which will contribute to improving health and fitness, self esteem, confidence and social inclusion; to provide opportunities for young people to participate in learning programmes, which will enhance educational achievement; to develop a Sports Academy in Caribbean, which is accessible to children and young people across the island; and to work in partnership with key public, private and voluntary sector partners to deliver high quality provision.

www.callawaygolf.com

Through an unwavering commitment to innovation, Callaway Golf Company (NYSE:ELY) creates products and services designed to make every golfer a better golfer. Callaway Golf Company manufactures and sells golf clubs and golf balls, and sells golf apparel, footwear and accessories, under the Callaway Golf® and Odyssey® brands in more than 110 countries worldwide. For more information please visit our website at www.callawaygolf.com.