Golphin Ltd. (golphin.com), an award-winning Scottish-based company which designs and manufactures specialized golf equipment for children, won Golf Digest’s inaugural Editors’ Choice Award for Best Beginner Junior Golf Clubs, as announced in the May 2016 issue of the magazine.
“We are honored and delighted with this award,” said Calum McPherson, founder and managing director of Golphin. “It is validation by golf industry leaders that our innovative clubs are helping to grow the game.” Golphin’s GFK (golfinforkids) line of junior equipment “introduces the game in an effective – and more important, fun – fashion,” according to the Golf Digest editors. Building on its successful début of beginner junior clubs throughout the U.S. and around the world, Golphin soon will introduce equipment for more advanced players, too.
“With Golphin’s GFK range pioneering a new methodology when introducing kids to golf, the next step is just about to appear on the horizon,” McPherson said. “An exciting innovation called Beginners to Winners is about to be launched. “This will include a stage-2 advanced range of clubs to make sure kids have the very best technology to help their progressive development.” This is the first year Golf Digest editors have rated their favorite products, apparel, hotels and resorts, thus enhancing the publication’s well-known and longstanding rankings of golf courses, resorts and destinations, golf teachers and clubfitters. The Golf Digest annual Hot List is a highly-recognized ranking list of golf equipment. This marks the first time that junior golf clubs have been rated by the magazine’s editors.
About Golphin
Golphin Ltd., founded in 2012 in Scotland, the Home of Golf, was inspired by Calum McPherson having observed his son’s difficulty playing golf with cut-down clubs and having set a goal to make golf more enjoyable for juniors. Research and development in 2012 led to the design of prototype equipment in 2013, and Golphin was launched officially in 2014 at the Scottish Golf Show.
Golphin clubs, designed to benefit children ages three through 12, were developed in partnership with PGA Professionals and the biomechanical department at Strathclyde University, in Glasgow, using technology transfer from the aerospace industry. They are 22% lighter and 35% larger than most junior golf clubs, making it easier for players to swing, control and hit. A radial profile was added to the sole of the clubs to provide greater forgiveness for differing lie angles and to accommodate children’s various address positions and heights.
The GFK line of Golphin product selections is based on the height of each individual child. The model numbers correspond to the appropriate age ranges (i.e., “GFK324″ corresponds to children ages three to four, approximately). GFK 324 clubs are for children 39-43.5″ tall; GFK 526 clubs are for children 43.5-48″ tall; GFK 728 clubs are for children 48-52.5″ tall; and GFK910 clubs are for children 52.5-57” tall.
The Golphin Coaches Pack, designed for teaching professionals to provide equipment for potential new golfers at clinics and lessons, consists of 14 clubs: four high-loft drivers, six 7 irons, two “Swedgers” and two putters – including several left-handed clubs. Individual GFK sets include one driver, one 7 iron, one “Swedger” and one putter.
Golphin has a powerful strategy known as “Beginners to Winners,” with GFK specifically designed for beginners and Golphin Advanced (to be launched in May 2016) designed for junior golfers who aspire to elite performance. Golphin Advanced clubs will be for children ages seven through 12.
Recognized for its outstanding concept and designs, Golphin won two prestigious awards in 2015: the inaugural Scottish Sports Business Innovation Awards, presented in March in Glasgow, Scotland; and the 2015 HSBC Golf Innovation Award, presented at the HSBC Golf Business Forum in November in Shanghai, China. Also, Golphin was selected by the R&A for inclusion in its Swingzone area at the 2015 Open Championship, played at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland.
Duncan Weir, director of golf development for the R&A, said, “The high quality and versatility of the Golphin GFK range is very impressive. It is certainly well geared for getting youngsters into golf and helping to address the undoubted participation issues the sport is currently facing.”
The McPherson family has a rich heritage in golf-club design and manufacturing, with over 50 years of experience, spanning back to the 1960s when the family business manufactured club heads for various brands, including John Letters, Wilson and Ryder. Its latest innovation is a hybrid of golf and aerospace technologies – hence Golphin’s capability of helping kids get the ball airborne quickly.
For more information, see golphin.com.
