ROYAL Liverpool’s Ladies European Tour player Emma Goddard has become the first recipient of the LET’s first Gateley education grant awards.
Leigh said: “This Gateley grant will enable me to attend a special course that will give me a much deeper understanding of how to communicate effectively.
“That will give me a much better understanding of my clients and how to reach out to them and to the goals they want to achieve.”
Soon after the first grants were offered to Emma and German-based Leigh Whittaker, two additional awards were made to Germany’s Esther Henseleit and France’s Astrid Vayson de Pradenne.
Although Esther is an LET rookie and has only just started her professional career, she believes that continuing her education is important.
She said: “Since I graduated from high school this summer, I noticed that I miss studying and learning something new besides the golf course.
“For that reason, I decided to start studying. I’m sure that it will help me to exercise my brain and be the best person and athlete I can be – on and off the golf course.”
Astrid turned pro in 2013 and secured her maiden professional victory at the 2018 Jabra Ladies Open, but has also worked as a physio since qualifying in 2011.
In order to maintain her physio registration, she must attend courses every year and her Gateley grant will enable her to attend a two-day course that explains the mechanisms and magnitude of the placebo effect of treatment and considers the ethical and moral implications of using placebo in physiotherapy.
Astrid said: “I am looking forward to an update on pain. Indeed, it is the number one concern of my patients, in front of functional limitations.”
The introduction of the grant-aid scheme is part of the LET’s longer-term objective to increase the number of women in decision-making roles in the sport.
It is also consistent with the aims set out in The R&A’s ‘Women in Golf Charter’, to which the LET is a signatory.
Sponsors Gateley are a legal firm with offices in England and Dubai. The LET headquarters are at The Buckinghamshire Golf Club.