Former One Direction star Niall Horan in action during the pro-am event prior to the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club, in 2019. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

FORMER One Direction star Nial Horan is to lead a drive by The R&A to create new grassroots programmes aimed at inspiring more young people to play the game.

The new programmes will be launched later this year by Horan’s Modest! Golf company, and provide more opportunities for young people to be introduced to golf.

They will utilise fun and accessible formats of the sport that are more in tune with how today’s generation uses its leisure time

They will also be designed to encourage them to stay within the sport, the R&A said today.

The power of social media influencers from the sports and entertainment world will be used to present the sport in a more positive light to new audiences and challenge some of the more unhelpful perceptions that exist about golf.

R&A chief development officer Phil Anderton said, “Modest! Golf has a wealth of expertise and insight from the entertainment and sports industries.

“That will be combined with our experience of developing golf around the world to establish exciting new initiatives aimed at reaching new audiences and inspiring more young people into playing golf with their family and friends.

“Our relationship with Modest! Golf is built on a shared ambition for golf to be viewed as a fun, friendly and accessible sport that is inclusive of all people no matter their age, gender, ability or background.

Horan ‘hugely passionate about golf’

“We look forward to working together to broaden its appeal through our networks in golf and encourage young people to enjoy its many social and health benefits.”

Horan, who founded Modest! Golf in 2016, said, “I am so proud to work alongside The R&A in developing programmes to encourage and inspire more young people to play the game of golf.

“It is something my company Modest! Golf is hugely passionate about and I am honoured that chief executive Martin Slumbers, Phil Anderton and The R&A are entrusting my agency to help drive the game forward.

“The R&A has a long legacy within the game and I look forward to helping to create new and modern initiatives to showcase to the younger generation just what a great sport golf is.”

Modest! Golf evolved from entertainment agency Modest! Management and was founded by Horan and former Taylormade manager Mark McDonnell five years ago.

It is responsible for the management of professional golfers including BMW PGA Champion Tyrrell Hatton, Ireland’s former World Amateur No. 1 Leona Maguire, Scotland’s Connor Syme, Germany’s Olivia Cowan and Italy’s Guido Migliozzi as well as world top five disability golfer Brendan Lawlor.

Modest! also aims to promote inclusivity and opportunity through events like the ISPS Handa World Invitational, and the Horan & Rose charity tournament, which has raised over £2 million for children’s charities across the world, with Hampshire’s Justin Rose.

Tyrrell Hatton claimed the fourth Rolex Series win of his career by winning the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship, on Sunday – and his third since signing for Horan’s Modest! Golf.
Picture by GETTY IMAGES

Hatton flying with Horan’s team

NIAL HORAN, who played golf, football and gaelic football as a youngster, caddied for Rory McIlroy in the Par 3 Contest at the 2015 Augusta Masters.

The One Direction singer, who has had four UK No. 1s with 1D, has been a regular at the BMW PGA Pro-Am at Wentworth, where Hatton claimed his third Rolex Series win in October.

Hatton, who also won the first Rolex event series of 2021 in the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship on Sunday, signed for Modest! Golf in 2019.

The Marlow golfer, who came through the B.B.&O. junior ranks, signed an extended deal in November, having secured his first PGA Tour win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March 2020.

Horan’s delight after capturing Hatton’s signature on a longer deal was clear. He said in November: “We are so proud to resign Tyrrell to the business.

“His golf this past 18 months has been incredible.

“To not only witness him make his breakthrough in America and win for the first time on the PGA Tour, but to also watch him win the European Tour’s flagship event at the BMW, was something really special.

“We’re just so delighted and proud to be on that journey with him.”

The 29-year-old’s four-shot victory in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, means Hatton’s place in Padraig Harrington’s European team to face the USA in September’s Ryder Cup, at Whistling Straits, is nailed on.

Hatton made his Ryder Cup debut in Europe’s record victory against America in Paris in 2018, earning one point for Thomas Bjorn’s side in his three matches.

Tyrrell Hatton after his first BMW PGA Championship win at Wentworth in October.
Picture by GETTY IMAGES

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ESSEX’S Todd Clements holds a one-shot lead after the weather-delayed second round of the Challenge Tour’s innovative ISPS Handa World Invitational with a separate men and women’s tournament being staged side by side for the first time in Europe.

Northern Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow (pictured) and Manon De Roey are leading the way in the women’s section of the innovative tournament presented by Modest! Golf Management, being staged in Northern Ireland.

In a race to finish his round before nightfall, Clements posted four birdies in his opening nine holes at Galgorm Castle Golf Club before defying the challenging scoring conditions to come back in level par

That secured his place at the top of the leaderboard for the first time in the 2017 English Amateur Champion’s short professional career on seven-under.

Clements said: “I’ve played great over the last couple of days. The putts have been dropping and it’s the first time I’ve been out in the lead over the weekend.

“So it’s a new experience and I’m just going to learn,” said the Braintree GC member, who is coached by Surrey’s former teenage prodigy Zane Scotland.

“It’s been tricky with the weather, as everyone knows,” added Todd, who won the English Amateur title at The Berkshire two years ago.

“With the suspensions you’ve just got to stay patient and it’s a mental battle more than anything else for me.

“It’s wet, it’s soft and it plays to my strengths, which is great,’ said Clements.

“It was a bit of a rush at the end to get in before it got too dark. I had a six-footer for par on the last and it horseshoed on me.

“Will I regret that over the weekend? Who knows.

“I’m just going to keep learning, keep doing what I’m doing, it’s the same strategy and hopefully it all comes together for me.”

Despite bogeying his final hole, the 22-year-old will begin his third round at Galgorm Castle with a narrow advantage over four players.

That includes Scotland’s two-time European Challenge Tour winner Calum Hill, Spaniard Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez, Somerset’s Laurie Canter and Italy’s Francesco Laporta, who sit one shot back on six-under.

Canter, the winner of both the South African Strokeplay and Spanish Amateur titles, said: “Honestly, I had so much fun out there today.

“It’s been a tough few years where I’ve been struggling to find my game, so it’s great to be back in contention again.

“I wasn’t really thinking about too much out there. I’ve come into this event off the back of a three-week break and a trip to Ibiza and instead of getting bogged down in my thought process I just went and played golf.

“It was just really fun to be playing like that again and hoping for more of the same tomorrow,” added Canter, who is attached to Cumberwell Park, in Wiltshire and also won the Hampshire Hog at North Hants, and the West of England Strokeplay, as an amateur.

With nearly four inches of rain falling on the two co-hosting venues, Galgorm Castle and Massereene Golf Club, overnight and howling wind making for tough conditions, local star Meadow demonstrated why she is touted as one of Europe’s best talents with a two-under 70.

Meadow jumped ahead of overnight leader Ellie Givens, from Darlington, into a share of the top spot at the halfway stage on four-under.

Meadow, who represented Ireland in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, said: “My front nine definitely felt pretty tough.

“The wind was howling out there and the greens were a little firmer than I’d expected given how much rain we’d had so that was a bit of a learning curve throughout the round,” said Stephanie, who turned pro in 2014.

“The greens are rolling almost exactly the same at both venues so good job to the green staff for preparing the course that way.

“I’ve been close the last couple of days to doing something really nice, so I’m just going to go out tomorrow and keep doing more of the same stuff.

“It’s fantastic to be back in Northern Ireland, it’s actually my first professional event at home and the first tournament I’ve played in Ireland since 2013,” said Meadow who played in two Curtis Cups in 2012 and 2014.

“I can’t tell you how much it means for all these people to come out and watch me.

“I make a putt and there’s lots of claps and the lots of hugs at the end and just genuine joy from people to see me out here competing,” added the former University of Alabama golfer.

“It doesn’t matter if I win or don’t win they’re behind me so it’s very special and I’m very touched,” added Meadow, who secured his first win on the Symetra Tour in the USA, last year.

The Northern Irish player is joined at the summit of the leaderboard by De Roey, who added a one-under 71 to her opening round of 70 for a four -under total.

De Roey is looking to add the ISPSA Handa title to the LET Access Tour title she clinched earlier in the summer.

The pair are one-shot clear of a seven-strong chasing pack which includes former World No. 1 amateur Leona Maguire, first-round leader Givens and Middlesex golfing legend Trish Johnson.

It was another day to remember for the Irish amateurs in the field, with Lauren Walsh carding a one-under par 72 at Galgorm Castle to head into the weekend of her first professional event just one shot off the lead.

Irish amateur Annabel Wilson said: “I’m not fazed by much, I made one poor swing off the first tee which led to a double.

“But I hit a lovely shot into two and then just moved on and didn’t think too much more about it.

“That’s just golf, it’s why you love it. My short game was great. I actually had chipped-in twice which is always helpful.

“I’m not much of a leaderboard watcher, maybe I’ll have a quick look tonight especially for the draw tomorrow and see who I might be playing with.

“It’s cool that Charley Hull is playing this week. We were on opposite ends of the draw so I haven’t seen her yet, I’d like to see her hit a ball before the end of the week.”

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Josh Hill showed plenty of guts as he fired a three-under par 67 at Massereene Golf Club, to sit in a share of 11th place.

That ensured Hill will contest the weekend at his home club alongside the stars of the European Challenge Tour.

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Rockliffe Hall’s Andrew Wilson claimed the MotoCaddy Masters at Linden Hall, just three days after landing a place in the 148th Open Championship at Royal Portrush via Final Qualifying after playing eight rounds in seven days.

DARLINGTON’S Andrew Wilson claimed The Motocaddy Masters days after clinching a place at The 146th Open later this month.

Wilson, who is attached to Rockliffe Hall, knew a good round would put him in the mix and posted his second 67 of the week to go five-under for the day to win by one shot.

It was some week for Wilson after playing two rounds of enduring Open qualifying on Tuesday at Notts GC’s Hollinwell. Wilson played his third round of the week at lunchtime on Wednesday in his opening round at Macdonald Linden Hall where he shot five-under.

Wilson said: “It was really tough. The entire day was really tough. I was just happy to finish and even better to win.

“I played here on Sunday for practice then practice round on Monday for Open qualifying, then two rounds on Tuesday –  I don’t know many rounds of golf I’ve had over the last two weeks,” added Wilson, who played at Dudsbury in the EuroPro event as well as the first round of Open Qualifying.

“I didn’t expect to be up there to be honest. I struggled a bit on Thursday. I just sort of held it and my caddy did a really good job.”

He went out in his last round with six birdies and only one bogey to put himself right into contention. Something that seemed unlikely at the start of play.

It wasn’t to be for Richard Mansell, from Beau Desert Golf Club, and Chelmsford’s James Allan, who both ran Wilson close at the end with Mansell finding the water on 18 and Allan going close with a putt that would have tied the former England amateur international and forced a play-off.

Elsewhere, it was nearly the case of deja vu for Kent’s Alfie Plant, who was leading by two shots at one stage on 10-under, as the 2017 European Amateur Champion looked to win back-to-back for the first time in the pro ranks, after his win in The Golfcatcher Championship at Dudsbury, a week earlier.

The Sundridge Park ace, finished tied for second having got to four-under at the turn in his third round, only for the birdies to dry up, and a solitary bogey at the 14th to leave him one shot shy.

Limerick Golf Club’s Tim Rice, who went close in Open Qualifying in Scotland last week, Dunbar’s Neil Fenwick, Boldon’s Rhys Thompson joined Allan, Plant and Mansell on nine-under.

Amateur Matty Lamb, from Hexham Golf Club, gave a good account for himself on the last day carding a level-par 72 to tie for eighth with Falkirk’s Ryan Campbell, Shropshire’s Will Enefer (Retail Furniture) and Tom Gandy, from Rowany  GC on the Isle of Man.

Wilson is taking the week off as the EuroPro heads to the Macdonald Portal Hotel, Golf and Spa, in Cheshire, for The Cobra Puma NXT LVL Championship, which takes place from July 10-12.

Cobra Puma Golf  announced a partnership with player management company Modest! Golf earlier this season under which  13 EuroPro Tour members were hand-picked for the ‘NXT LVL’ academy – wearing and playing Cobra Puma products.

Cobra Puma Golf – who signed a three-year extension to its deal as official equipment, apparel and footwear sponsors of the PGA EuroPro Tour – is following the progress of the ‘NXT LVL’ academy through the 2019 season on social media.

The selected players are eligible for the Cobra Puma Golf Order of merit running alongside the main PGA EuroPro Tour moneylist.

There is a low round bonus, plus five Challenge Tour starts in 2020 up for grabs with Nial Horan’s Modest! Golf management firm having agreed to be partner of the Cobra Puma Golf order of merit.

Cobra Puma Golf marketing manager Craig Verrinder said: “We are extremely excited about the opportunity to work closely with the future talent in the game.

“The EuroPro Tour really is the springboard to the best platforms in the game, and to work with these players in 2019 is a really exciting prospect. To be able to support them further with product, additional bonuses and work through our social media channels is testament of what we think of the players and the tour itself.”

He added: “Further to that, to be able to work with Modest! Golf on the Cobra Puma Golf Order of Merit enables us to use their standing within the game to offer the Challenge Tour invites in the 2020 season.

“We value its support and also how it perceives the future of golf. We would like to take this opportunity to thank both Modest! and the European Challenge Tour in the support they have shown this NXT LVL of players.”

Modest! Golf Management director Mark McDonnell said: ”We are really excited to support Cobra Puma Golf with this initiative. We appreciate that support is hard to come by for a large amount of really talented young golfers looking to make their way in the game.

“The Cobra Puma Golf NXT LVL Academy will give young talented players the support and belief at a point when they most need it.”

Niall Horan, founder and director of Modest! Golf, added: “Our company is all about supporting young talent. The NXT LVL Academy does exactly that, and we are delighted to be able to provide some playing opportunities and hope this will add as an additional incentive for the NXT LVL members.”

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