SJGI Scotland Team Coaches Win 2025 Scotland Spirit of Golf Award

Photos, video and story available via: scottishgolf.org

St Andrews, Scotland - Alan Hamilton and Fiona Kelly, SJGI Team Scotland Coaches, have won this year’s Spirit of Golf Award sponsored by Loch Lomond Whiskies in recognition of their outstanding efforts to breathe new life into junior golf in the Forth Valley.

Both golf enthusiasts were already involved in running junior sections at their clubs (Hamilton at Bonnybridge and Kelly at Stirling) when they decided in 2020 that more needed to be done to remove barriers to play.

The mission was clear – to increase the number of kids playing golf in the area and to make it accessible to all, regardless of age, ability or gender.

They were both determined to show that, despite being told otherwise, there WAS a desire from young golfers to take part in the sport at a local level.

Since Forth Valley Junior Golf was formally constituted four years ago, the brainchild of the two founders has gone from strength to strength.

Fourteen clubs across Stirlingshire and Clackmannanshire are now connected and together the group has created a range of playing and social opportunities for juniors of all levels.

A new inter-club league was formed which gave the youngsters their first opportunity to experience golf as a team sport.

The dwindling numbers attending junior opens were given a shot in the arm as players aligned with Forth Valley Junior Golf signed up to compete with and against their friends.

The Gleneagles Hotel and Resort also bought into the values represented by Forth Valley Junior Golf by offering their facilities for an end-of -season finale.

In 2024, Forth Valley Junior Golf’s “Race to Gleneagles” series allowed 168 local juniors to participate in 14 junior opens across Stirling and Clackmannan.

Pictured: Fiona Kelly, after being presented the 2025 Spirit of Golf Award at the Scottish Golf Awards.

Kelly (pictured above) said:

“I just feel so humbled and actually quite amazed. I think I might pass out with the excitement. "There are so many incredible volunteers, not just in junior golf, and to win this is unbelieveable. "Alan and I are both so thrilled. "My son was a member at Stirling and the junior convenor retired and I took  on that role. It then very quickly developed from there. “I forged an alliance with other junior convenors and Alan was one of them There weren’t a lot of opportunities for juniors in this area. “In 2020 we got together and started Forth Valley Junior Golf. “Although it started through my son, it’s now about helping lots of other kids get into golf and making sure there are opportunities for them to play – league matches, club matches, medal, stroke play and then the Order of Merit ‘Race to Gleneagles.”

Hamilton said:

“To win this is fantastic and totally unexpected. It's just such an honour. "I took on the juniors at Bonnybridge in 2017 when there were no juniors apart from my son and one of his friends! “Junior golf had all but disappeared there. “The main thing we wanted to bring in to all that we do was a love of the game and to build a community. “When Fiona and I and other volunteers reflect on what we’ve actually achieved , coming from a point where very few kids were taking part to where we’re at now with so many friends from across all the golf clubs coming together to not just to play competitions, but socially…..that’s been one of the most rewarding aspects of Forth Valley Junior Golf.”

Hamilton and Kelly came top in a strong category also featuring unsung heroes from Kirkcaldy and Strathmore.

All the finalists were acknowledged by the judging panel for making a fundamental difference to the lives of so many golfers in their clubs through their own selfless volunteer work.

Martin Christie has been the driving force behind all the excellent community work undertaken at Dunnikier Park promoting the game to vulnerable or disadvantaged people in the local area.

In 17 years at Strathmore Golf Centre, Iain and Dawn Butchart have been crucial to growing the game at club, area and county level through coaching and volunteer work.