England Golf recognised the need to support community coaches, leaders, and volunteers with the skills and confidence to introduce golf in inclusive and engaging ways. They wanted a learning programme that was modern, accessible, and designed to inspire new audiences to take part in the sport. This vision became the Community Golf Instructor Programme — a blend of engaging online learning and practical application aimed at growing golf at the grassroots level.
The Challenge
England Golf needed:
- High-quality, accessible learning content that reflected their values and coaching principles.
- An online delivery model that was engaging, easy to navigate, and accessible across the UK.
- A platform that could host the course for England Golf and potentially be extended to other Home Nations.
They turned to Sport Structures for our expertise in content development, digital learning design, and learning management system (LMS) hosting.
We wanted to ensure there was a simple learner journey for the training, so having a platform where registration, payment, access to the eLearning and live classrooms, course resources and certification were all in one place was very important. - Matt Bloor, England Golf, Volunteer and Workforce Manager.
Our Approach
We worked closely with England Golf to bring the Community Golf Instructor vision to life through a fully collaborative process:
- Content Co-creation
- Partnered with England Golf’s development team to design course materials that aligned with their learning objectives, brand, and tone.
- Incorporated interactive elements, visuals, and real-world scenarios to keep learners engaged and inspired.
- Ensured content was inclusive, accessible, and relevant to a wide range of audiences.
- England Golf's ambition was to create a supportive environment for learners, which moved away from pass and fail education, to a philosophy of appreciating people's varying experiences and helping them develop the skills and confidence to be a CGI – even if this took longer than the formatted learning.
- Digital Learning Design
- Transformed the collaboratively developed content into four online learning modules.
- Applied modern eLearning best practices to create a mix of video, graphics, activities, and quizzes for maximum engagement and knowledge retention.
- Structured modules for flexible self-paced learning, allowing participants to revisit key concepts.
- Platform Hosting and Rollout
- Hosted the course on our Sport Structures LMS, ensuring smooth access for learners.
- Delivered a seamless enrolment and learning experience for participants across the UK.
- Following the successful launch with England Golf, we worked with Scottish Golf, Wales Golf, and Golf Ireland to also host the course, making the programme accessible across all Home Nations.
The Results
- Nationwide Impact: The course is now available to aspiring Community Golf Instructors across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
- Increased Accessibility: Learners can complete the modules anytime, anywhere, supporting more flexible pathways into coaching.
- Consistency and Quality: The LMS ensures a uniform standard of training while allowing each Home Nation to offer the course under its own banner.
- Positive Learner Feedback: Early participants have praised the engaging, practical, and easy-to-use format.
Looking Ahead
The Community Golf Instructor Programme is helping to grow the game by equipping a wider network of people to deliver fun, welcoming, and inclusive golf experiences. Sport Structures is proud to have played a key role in turning England Golf’s vision into reality — and in creating a model now benefiting the entire UK golf community.
"Sport Structures are always available to help scope out new learning we want to create and discuss the best options. The tech support, such as responding to learner issues or making improvements, is always fast – usually the same day." - Matt Bloor England Golf, Volunteer and Workforce Manager.
