Staff WriterThe Road To The Opens Trophy Tour has completed its 18-day run across the North West of England, taking some of golf’s most recognisable silverware out of the glass cabinet and into schools, clubs and community spaces where the next generation could get close enough to imagine their own name somewhere near it one day.
It is the first chapter in a wider Road To The Opens programme, backed by The R&A, Golf Foundation, England Golf and The PGA, and built around this summer’s two major championships in the region: The Open and the 50th AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
That famous Lancashire links was the starting point. From there, the trophies went wandering — in the best possible sense — visiting 19 venues, engaging 39 golf clubs and reaching more than 600 young people.
Not bad for a tour without a bass guitarist, a smoke machine or a merchandise stand.
Golf’s Grandest Prizes Step Outside The Ropes
The idea behind the Road To The Opens Trophy Tour was refreshingly direct: if young people are not yet walking through the gates of golf clubs, take golf to them.
That meant schools, community projects, sports centres and local clubs all getting a taste of the theatre that usually belongs to major championship week. For many children, this was not just a look at a trophy. It was a first meaningful encounter with golf presented as something open, playable and within reach.
“Seeing these iconic trophies out in communities, schools and clubs is a powerful way to inspire young people and connect them to the excitement of The Open and the AIG Women’s Open,” said Kevin Barker, Director, Golf Development – GB&I and Africa at The R&A. “This tour is just the start of a wider journey that will engage thousands more young people in the months ahead.”
That wider journey matters. Golf has never lacked grandeur. It has sometimes lacked an easy front door. The Road To The Opens programme is designed to make that front door rather more obvious, particularly for children who may never have seen the sport as theirs.
From First Swings To Proper Pathways
The Trophy Tour was not simply a case of wheeling in silverware and hoping awe would do the rest. The practical bit came through the Junior Journey delivered by England Golf and the Golf Foundation, which connects first experiences in schools and community settings with structured coaching and playing opportunities at clubs.
That pathway is important because first impressions in golf can be tricky. Give a child a club that feels too long, a ball that refuses to behave and a lecture about etiquette, and you may as well introduce them to tax law. Give them games, confidence, movement, laughter and a visible route into a local club, and the sport suddenly feels less like a private members’ riddle and more like something worth trying again.
The tour’s purpose was to turn the presence of The Open and the AIG Women’s Open in the region into something lasting: not just spectatorship, but participation.
Community Golf With A Football Accent
Across the three-week period, the Trophy Tour called in at community projects including Prairie Sports Village, a Forget-Me-Not dementia event at Heysham Golf Club, Everton In The Community and the Liverpool FC Foundation.
At Anfield Sports and Community Centre, former England and Liverpool goalkeeper Chris Kirkland joined the Golf Foundation team to help introduce young people to the game. It was one of those pleasingly odd British sporting images: football territory, golf trophies, children laughing, and a former Premier League goalkeeper helping bridge the gap.
“You can see how much they’re enjoying it,” Kirkland said. “You can see how much they’re laughing.”
That, frankly, is the whole sales pitch. Golf can spend a great deal of time explaining itself. Sometimes it is better served by a child having a go and discovering that striking a small white ball can be both maddening and magnificent within the same 12 seconds.
“It feels proper good, because kids have never seen golf trophies like this and it’s actually brilliant,” said one youngster from the Liverpool Foundation. “It would be a dream to go and see the AIG Women’s Open.”
There is your legacy strategy, neatly delivered without a flipchart.
Clubs See The Bigger Picture
The North West is hardly short of golf clubs, particularly with The Open and AIG Women’s Open both giving the area a major championship glow. During the Road To The Opens Trophy Tour, 39 clubs engaged with the initiative, including Royal Lytham & St Annes, which helped launch the programme and hosted a daughters’ and granddaughters’ day to encourage members to inspire more girls into the sport.
Chorley Golf Club also played its part, with the Trophy Tour arriving in time to support the launch of the 2026 GolfSixes League season.
GolfSixes League, the junior team-based format from the Golf Foundation and The R&A, has become one of the more sensible answers to an old problem: how to make golf feel social, fast-moving and less terrifying for young players. More than 9,000 young people played GolfSixes League in 2025 across 743 clubs, with 2026 expected to grow further.
At Chorley, the presence of more experienced juniors helped show how quickly a first taste can turn into something more regular. Golf, after all, is not really about one perfect shot. It is about the dangerous belief that the next one might be.
“Having The Open here in the area is great”, said Aaron O’Berg, Junior Captain at Chorley Golf Club. “It gives us all the opportunity to go watch a high level of golf, and it’s inspiration to do better. It’s great for the area.”
Schools Find Golf’s Softer Side
Five primary and secondary schools welcomed the trophies during the tour, including Our Lady Star of the Sea Primary School, where more than 60 pupils took part across two sessions.
The visit went beyond a one-off assembly moment. Teachers also received training to support continued delivery, using the Golf Foundation’s Unleash Your Drive programme, which blends golf games with mental wellbeing.
That is a useful shift. Golf in schools does not need to be sold as a miniature version of the professional game. It can be coordination, concentration, resilience, patience and problem-solving — with the added bonus of occasionally sending a ball roughly where intended.
“I liked learning new skills,” said one young pupil, “and how they helped not just golf but other sports, and mental life too.”
There is something rather powerful in that line. Not polished. Not corporate. Just a child neatly understanding that sport can teach you more than sport.
The Organisations Behind The Push
For the Golf Foundation, the Road To The Opens Trophy Tour fits neatly with its mission to bring golf to young people rather than waiting for young people to find golf by accident.
Brendon Pyle, CEO of the Golf Foundation said: “This tour is exactly what we’re about. Taking golf to young people, wherever they are, and showing them that the game is fun, inclusive and for them. As the starting point of Road To The Opens, it’s about creating that first spark and then supporting young people on a journey into the sport. We’re looking forward to reaching more young people in the months ahead.”
England Golf sees the same project as a practical demonstration of its Junior Journey, linking schools, communities and clubs into something coherent.
Richard Flint, Chief Operating Officer at England Golf, said: “The Road To The Opens Trophy Tour has been a brilliant way to bring the Junior Journey to life. From first experiences in schools and communities through to playing at clubs, it shows how young people can take that first step and continue their journey in golf.”
The PGA’s involvement adds another crucial layer, because once curiosity has been sparked, coaching often decides whether it survives.
Dr Jonathan Wright, External Relations at The PGA, said, “Our Members play a vital role in introducing young people to golf and nurturing their development, and the Road To The Opens Trophy Tour has highlighted the impact of PGA Professionals and coaching in making golf accessible, enjoyable and rewarding for the next generation. With both championships fast approaching, we look forward to seeing that inspiration continue to grow across the region.”
A Trophy Tour With A Point
The Road To The Opens Trophy Tour worked because it understood something golf occasionally forgets: inspiration is easier when people can see and touch the story.
For young people across the North West, the trophies were not distant objects on television or ceremonial decorations behind velvet ropes. They turned up at schools, football foundations, local clubs and community projects, carrying with them a simple invitation.
Try this.
Enjoy this.
Come back.
The Open and the AIG Women’s Open will bring world-class golf to the region this summer. The more important legacy may be found in the children who first picked up a club because the game finally came looking for them.
