Friday, March 15, 2019

Gold Award Spotlight: Outer Banks Girls Golf Club

Girl Scout Ambassador Ashley has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor and achievement a girl can earn in Girl Scouts.

As a daughter of a professional female golfer, Ashley was destined to have a passion for golf! However, growing up in Kitty Hawk, a small beach town in North Carolina, she found there was little to no opportunity for girls to enter the golfing community. For her project, Ashley created her club,  “Outer Banks Girls Golf Club” to give girls a way to become involved in the sport.

“There were very few girls that played golf in our area. I wanted to start a club so more girls would have the opportunity to learn about golf and how to play,” she said.

The Outer Banks Girls Golf Club is now one of 425 communities in the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA-USGA) Foundation. The focus of the program is to teach the Five “E’s” of girls golf to empower, enrich, engage, exercise and energize young women through golf. Ashley’s club started with 13 members and has already increased to 20!

“I don’t think most people know how rewarding the game can be. The girls definitely gained confidence, as well as respect for themselves and others,” Ashley said when she reflected on the success of her project.

In the future Ashley plans to return from college over the summer to help with her club as it grows.