Singapore: NTUC Club, the Singapore Golf Association (SGA), and the Singapore Professional Golfers’ Association (SPGA) are collaborating to make a­ffordable golfing a reality.

The three parties have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote golf, and make the sport a­ffordable and accessible to all workers.

With this MOU, the parties hope to make golf an inclusive sport by jointly lowering the barriers of entry and enhancing its mass appeal.

The golfing experience will be enhanced with a focus on golf for leisure rather than for competition. As a start, they will embark on joint community engagement activities to off­er a­ffordable golfing trials and experiences.

The collaboration will leverage on the current golf assets owned by NTUC Club. This includes Orchid Country Club (OCC) and Marina Bay Golf Course which together have over 270 driving range bays.

Leveraging on SGA and SPGA golf professionals and expertise in running the curriculum programme, learning golf will be made easy and accessible.

The three-year agreement was signed by Lim Eng Lee, CEO of NTUC Club, Ross Tan, President of SGA, and Madasamy Murugiah, President of SPGA.

U Golf Academy NTUC Club will set up a U Golf Academy at OCC with classes expected to be open for enrolment in the third quarter of 2021. To make golf lessons more accessible, there will also be satellite training centres and golf outreach events island-wide.

Golf ambassadors from SGA and SPGA will engage participants at these events. SGA-endorsed lesson curriculum will also be introduced to those who are keen to embark on their golfing journey.

This MOU aims to grow the golfing community and reach out to 50,000 workers in three years. To start, NTUC members and their families will be introduced to the sport through the extensive union network.

Lim said: “We believe in providing aff­ordable recreational experiences of choice to all. Golf has often been seen as an expensive and exclusive sport. With this MOU, we hope to make golf more inclusive and accessible to a wider base of participants through the collaborative induction programmes and golf lessons. Most importantly, learning and playing golf should be a­ffordable, easy, simple and fun.”

SGA President Tan said: “The game of golf is changing with the times and now there are more opportunities, such as digital interfaces for new golfers to learn and enjoy this sport.

“We hope to expand our community of golfers and dispel the view of golf as an expensive sport for older people. With this MOU, SGA will also involve our national players and young professionals as golf ambassadors to engage and motivate the new golfers.”

Raymond Chin, General Secretary of the Union of Security Employees, welcomed the collaboration.

He said: “With this MOU signing, my union members are able to pick up golf more easily, especially those younger members as they now have an opportunity to understand and engage in this sport.”

SPGA President Murugiah said: “Eventually, we hope to make golf a popular lifestyle and recreational choice for more people, and not just a sport for golf professionals.

“We aim to grow the golfing community through technology and new innovations. For example, we can bring golf simulators to outreach events so that office workers can play golf during lunch breaks.”

Besides bringing golf closer to workplaces, schools, and community spaces through outreach events, the parties will curate golf content to engage audiences on the digital front.

U Golf Academy’s programmes and golf classes have been extended to the youth and are gradually gaining popularity.