WHEN you’re coaching 300 school children in the space of just two days, there’s not much time to catch your breath. “I’m just enjoying a seat,” gasped Dumfries & County head professional James Erskine.

No wonder. Keeping such a vast number on the straight and narrow must’ve been broadly equivalent to the mighty logistical operation Noah faced when he was herding various beasts up the gangway of his floating zoo. “I think the average heart rate was about 155 beats-per-minute so there was no need for exercise after that,” he added with a sense of panting achievement.

Making sure golf in his own backyard remains in rude health is Erskine’s enduring passion. The opportunity to drive the game into local schools, meanwhile, is, as he puts it, “Willy Wonka’s golden ticket” in terms of development. 

Thanks to funding from the Children’s Golf Trust, Erskine now has the financial clout to spread the golfing gospel. “We get paid to take golf in there, the schools don’t pay a thing and it’s during curriculum time from Primary One through to Primary Seven,” he explained of his recent visit to Heathhall Primary School in Dumfries. 

“To get access to so many kids is huge. The hope is that we can go into every school in the town for years to come. We started on Thursday and we’ve already had loads of messages from parents of children who’d never tried golf saying they loved it.”

In the home of golf, there has been a long-standing debate about getting the game Scotland gave to the world on to the school curriculum. Erskine, unsurprisingly, is a staunch advocate.

“The game would really prosper,” said the PGA pro. “When I first started my business about 15 years ago, I went into schools and charged £1 per pupil. It was hugely popular but I’ve not been in once since. It can be hard getting into schools. If they are doing golfing programmes they have to pay. That can eat into their education budget. 

"This way, though, the costs are covered, the teachers love it and the kids get additional PE from it. We had kids who may not have been the most physically active, there were some with disabilities, but they all took part and engaged. Not many sports can do that. It’s a game for everybody. We are using arithmetic, we are explaining rules, we are promoting etiquette but most of all we’re having fun. I don’t see why golf in school is not championed more.”

In a topical twist to the chinwag, the popularity of curling in Erskine’s native county cropped up. Fortunately for this jammy scribe, I was speaking to Erskine on the eve of Team GB’s Olympic showdown on ice where the Galloway trio of Bobby Lammie, Hammy McMillan and Grant Hardie were going for gold. Erskine saw at first hand the benefits of promoting curling in schools.

“Bobby was a class golfer and he used to come to my junior classes at Portpatrick,” noted Erskine. “The way things have been going out in Beijing, he’s obviously made the right decision to focus on curling. When I was originally trying to get golf into schools, curling was already going through them in Dumfries & Galloway. The county has loads of curlers and clubs are bursting at the seams. That shows it works.”

Erskine’s own golfing education was served in the relative isolation of Portpatrick on the western fringes of Galloway but this rural, idyllic location had plenty of advantages. “We were fortunate that we had a short par-3 course there and could create our own learning environment on it,” he reflected. “Those types of facilities, where kids can actually get out and learn on a short course, are what Scotland sorely lacks. Most clubs will have a junior medal. But if you put them out on a hole that’s 350 yards long, and they just hit it 50 yards, then they can come away with a 10 or something and their confidence can take an early hit. 

"But put them on a hole that’s 50 yards long, where they have a chance to hit it on the green and may even have a putt for an eagle, and it changes their whole perception of the sport. That’s what we need more of.”

There is plenty of good work being done across Scotland to nurture junior golf. The tireless Erskine, meanwhile, continues to do his bit.