THE winding snake of trolleys rolling along the side of the 18th fairway and up towards the clubhouse was a heartening sight for any golfer.

Each of them was pulled by a player standing only a foot or so higher than the bags themselves and they were large in number.

The junior section at Barrow Golf Club is booming and the summer coaching camps run by professional Mike Newton and the Rakesmoor Lane Club’s junior committee were packed.

For several years now, the club have worked hard to boost their juniors and the now-regular summer camps are more popular than ever.

Fully subscribed long before they started, they featured five to 11-year-olds – mostly club members, but some who were just keen to be involved – and a whole host of smiles.

“The camps have been brilliant,” Newton said. “We’ve been full up and they’re a huge success.

“A lot of the children who are here have been coming for the past four years and they just keep coming each time.”

For three days, the group of youngsters as keen on the sport as you could wish anyone to be spent their mornings and afternoons on the greens, fairways and practice ground at Barrow engrossed in improving their game.

From the sounds of balls pinging sweetly off the faces of drivers to the looks of stern concentration as they tried to master the tricky green on the course’s final hole, here was a group which Barrow hopes will be the future.

Junior organiser Nick Edmonds was pleased to see the wealth of talent and enthusiasm on show – with his son among the children having a good time – and said: “We’re full again – the days we have had this year have sold out in three or four days. We’ve got a great junior section and these days work well, because the kids are all of the right age to learn, have fun and develop.

“They are mostly members, but we’ve got a couple of new faces. We’re very happy to have them here, because we know this is how you can get the kids involved longer-term.

“We have three children here who came to the club for the first time when we held a camp in May and they are members now – it’s a great way of getting the kids involved.”

All aspects of the game were covered over the course of the three days, working from putting, to approach play – hitting towards the green on the practice ground and over bunkers – and on to driving.

These skills were put together in four-hole and eight-hole competitions, with the youngsters given a chance to play on the course itself – often using the black markers which are used in junior competitions to shorten holes to manageable lengths.

“A few of them have been out on the course for the first time,” added Edmonds. “We have some who do play in competitions here, but also some who haven’t yet.

“We are trying to get them in through the camps and out on the course. Our numbers in junior competitions have been good and hopefully they will all move on to the main competitions. It’s small steps, but we’re going in the right direction.”

Junior competitions will be held at Barrow during the summer with 888 events – where the youngsters play eight holes in 88 minutes – specifically designed for those contesting their first events and who might not be able to play 18 holes.