The Academy has been awarded Junior Section of the Year 2008 for England.

And on top of that, it has also been named as winner of Junior Section of the Year 2008 for Great Britain and Ireland, by the Professional Golfers' Association and Glenmuir clothing.

Burnley Golf Club was awarded Junior Golfmark from the English Golf Union in 2006 and is now working towards Golfmark and Sport England's Sportmark.

As part of the Golf Academy's prize for winning Junior Section of Great Britain and Ireland, the club will receive a trophy and a plaque at a Pro-Am tournament at Moortown, Leeds, at the end of the month.

The professional, junior organiser, and two juniors will be taking part in the Pro-Am tournament during the day and the awards will be presented at the prizegiving in the evening.

The Academy will also receive a selection of Glenmuir junior clothing.
As Junior Organiser Gloria Varley explains: "We provide a safe, secure environment for children to learn to play golf.

"We have child protection policies in place and all our volunteers are CRB checked.

"At the moment we are the only club in the immediate area to do this.
"This is a great achievement for a provincial club, and we are very pleased to be the inaugural winners.

"This award recognises our achievements with promoting junior golf in our area."

She added: "We have joined with Burnley Schools Sport Partnership to provide golf coaching in all Burnley Primary schools.

"Throughout the school year, Matthew Baker, the club's Director of Golf, and I have been delivering after-school sessions in every primary school in Burnley, using 'Tri Golf' equipment.

"These sessions have been free to the schools and have been funded by the Big Lottery Fund.

"We have been targeting children from disadvantaged backgrounds in Years 3 and 4, who would not normally get a chance to participate in out-of-school activities.

"This is the first time this has happened in Burnley and the surrounding area, and Burnley Golf Club is proud to be the instigators."
These coaching sessions have been done in five clusters of primary schools.

At the end of every cluster the club held a "festival" where the schools have come together to compete against each other in a series of golf activities.

These festivals were held in the sports barns at Burnley Football Club and the Spirit of Sport Leisure Centre in Burnley.

The final festival was held at Burnley Golf Club on Tuesday evening where the winners of each cluster festival competed against each other.

Burnley Golf club's vice captain, Terry Walne and lady captain, Julie Clarke, presented a cup, sponsored by Burnley Golf Club, to the winning team – St Augustine's Roman Catholic Primary School.

The Golf Foundation also donated a cap and t-shirt to the best junior from each of the five schools.

Varley concluded: "The event was a great success with everyone having a great time – even the weather cleared up for us!"

"Thanks to the Big Lottery Fund this will be repeated for at least the next two years."