ONE of Carus Green Golf Club’s most successful junior members has been awarded a special ‘3 Counties Challenge’ sport grant from Kendal Rotary Club.

Harriet Barker, 14, received one of three awards for £400, to help with her golfing ambitions and plans to spend the funding on new golf equipment.

The grants are given to talented local sports stars who are all ranked highly on their sport's national lists and are funded from money raised at the 2014 and 2015 ‘3 Counties Challenge’ cycle sportives, organised by The Rotary Club of Kendal in conjunction with cycling group Kent Valley Road Club. The 2016 event takes place on Sunday 14th August.

Harriet, who is a pupil at Queen Katherine School in Kendal, has been a member at Carus Green for almost five years, playing golf since the age of eight and competing since the age of 10. Regular coaching sessions with Carus’ head professional, Dave Turner, daily training at the Gary Wolstenholme academy and early morning gym sessions to aid her strength have clearly paid off, with Harriet’s handicap dropping from 6.8 to 5.7 in recent weeks.

Mr Turner was on hand to see Harriet receive her grant, with on-going support from all the team at Carus Green essential to Harriet’s development, as Mum, Jane Barker explains:

“We are so lucky to have such valuable team support from Carus Green and that Dave turned up to support Harriet on his day off, is testament to their commitment,” she said. “Harriet is on good form at the moment, with her hard work paying off. The ambition to get to a handicap of two by the end of the season is certainly achievable. We are also tremendously grateful to the Kendal Rotary Club for funding and supporting Harriet’s aspirations.”

In 2015, Harriet won seven competitions including the ladies club competition at Carus Green, making her the youngest ladies club champion in the history of the club.