A DRIVE to encourage hundreds of women and girls to take up golf in Worcestershire and Herefordshire will get under way next week.

The first event will be a taster morning to introduce girls to the sport at Bewdley's Wharton Park Golf Club on Tuesday. More than 30 girls are planning to attend and give golf a go.

Then, on April 9, the same club will host an all-day event for women.

Both sessions are supported by the Worcestershire and Herefordshire County Golf Partnership.

Over the next 12 months, the partnership will be investing £30,000 in recruiting new golfers.

Half the money has come from the Clydesdale Bank and the other half from the government-funded Sportsmatch scheme.

Altogether, £15,000 will go towards attracting more women and girls into golf, while the rest will be spent on initiatives for young men and minority groups.

Warwick Holland, the partnership's development officer, said: "Over the next three years, we want to attract 2,000 new golfers into clubs and 5,000 people into the game. We want around 40 per cent of those to be women and girls."

Plans include the free loan of half-sets of clubs to women and girls who want to start playing and intend joining a club within Worcestershire or Herefordshire.

Free taster sessions will be organised to introduce new people to the game and provide the opportunity to meet other players.

Any woman or girl who joins a club in the county, and is not a member of an existing club, will be offered a free individual lesson.

The project will also try to develop new entry schemes into golf clubs, such as nine-hole memberships, special times of play, trial memberships and open days.

The Worcestershire and Herefordshire County Golf Partnership is an alliance of men's, women's and professionals' organisations.

County partnerships are developing throughout England to support and expand golf by drawing on the combined resources of the English Women's Golf Association, the English Golf Union and the Professional Golfers' Association.

Partnerships have also been introduced through England Golf's Whole Sport Plan' which aims to make the country the world's leading golf nation by 2020.

For further details on Wharton Park's taster events, contact the professional's shop on 01299-405163.

For more information on the Worcestershire and Herefordshire Golf Partnership visit www.worcestershireamateur golf.co.uk