Siem Reap

A free children’s golf clinic held at the Sofitel Phokeethra Country Club on Sunday is likely to become a permanent fixture on the club’s calendar, according to the course’s operations manager Jack Hedges.

Despite being “sunburnt like hell”, Hedges said the clinic, which involved 55 children from four local schools and orphanages, was an unexpected success.

“Nobody has ever done this in Cambodia before and we didn’t realise how much the kids would like it,” he said.

Hedges and fellow instructor David Maxwell from the Angkor Palace Driving Range are in the process of selecting between 12 and 15 children who participated in the clinic to receive free weekly lessons and equipment.

“I was surprised at the level of natural ability all of the kids had. Almost every one could hit a golf ball the first try,” added Hedges.

“The feedback for the event has been great. We’ll start looking at doing another one once we’ve selected our final group.”

Officials from the Cambodian Golf Federation were at the course on Sunday to observe proceedings, which Hedges indicated may be held multiple times each year depending on the level of support available from sponsors.

“In my opinion I don’t think they expected to see much, but were surprised by the organisation of the event and to see the kids having fun,” he said.