Scottish Golf handed James Bond boost as they team up with Sean Connery Foundation to support women's game
Jason Connery reckons dad Sean would be proud to see his country's female golfing starlets shoot for the top.
Scottish Golf has announced a Women and Girls Strategy including major new partnership with the Sean Connery Foundation.
Three long-term visions are to support Scotland's top female amateurs as they move into the professional ranks, a three-year fund which supports the employment of full or part-time staff dedicated to growing and retaining female members and a fund targeted specifically to retain female employees within the sport.
Hannah Darling and Lorna McClymont are the first to be backed with the pair facing the elite this week at the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open. Connery's sons were in attendance at the announcement and Jason said: 'Our hope for the Scottish Golf Women's Professional Transition Programme is that it alleviates the financial stress on these young women, who are extraordinary golfers, as they transition into their professional career.
'Seeing Scots at the top of the mountain, and leaderboard, is really what we hope to see. Dad would be so proud.'
Stephane, chairman of the Sean Connery Foundation, added: 'The foundation was established in 2020 to reflect Sean's passions and guiding principles. He always wanted to champion talented people who couldn't otherwise get a break, backing excellence in need.
'Sean greatly admired the women's game and he saw an injustice in how little attention it got in comparison to the men's. We've been building a partnership with Scottish Golf over the last couple of years and, in that time, it has become evident that while there is a lack of funding in the women's game, there is no lack of will or commitment.
'It made complete sense for our foundation to try and assist in that area. Both Lorna and Hannah are seriously talented. We've met them, we know them and it's important to us that they feel the people supporting them care about who they are and what they need.'
Darling turned professional this week ahead of the Dundonald event and said: 'It gives me a bit of a foundation moving forward. The people behind it have identified an area where they can really help us.
'With me and Lorna being the first to receive it, it's really nice. We can start our pro careers on the front foot almost and not worried about not making enough money to play the week after. The Sean Connery Foundation are stepping into that really well and it's exciting for us all.
'We played in the pro-am with them and that's what they said. They just wanted to make sure that we were set and go focus on playing golf rather than worrying about the finance or any of the stress that comes with it. They've been awesome and really get it, which is cool. The Sean Connery Foundation have identified the women first. They have been awesome putting their finance there.'
McClymont, who turned pro last year, added: 'It's huge. I think it just takes such a weight off, which definitely helps. I think having that [finance worry] off your mind, you're just able to go out and just be free because, at the end of the day, if you have stuff like that in your mind, then you're not going to be able to perform to your best.
'I mean golf in general is an expensive sport, so I think, especially for kind of younger girls looking up, if that weight can be taken off them, then absolutely, yeah, it's huge.
'It's a quite cool kind of programme to be a part of and I'm just grateful that I can be part of it, especially the first year of it as well, it's definitely going to be pretty exciting.'
McClymont and Darling have been supported throughout their journey on Scottish Golf's performance pathway, representing Scotland at age-group level, on the international stage, as well as, memorably, being part of Catriona Matthew's victorious Curtis Cup team last year at Sunningdale.
Matthew said: 'We all want to see more Scots competing at the top of the women's game and this programme is designed to help bridge the gap for young professionals.
'By putting in place this programme and laying down strong foundations of support, my sincere hope is that many more aspiring Scottish players will follow Hannah and Lorna and benefit in the years ahead.'
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