It started with two young golfers
More than 15 years ago, Charlie Luther was a 20-year-old PGA Assistant when he inherited two four-year-old pupils, Daniel and Frank. Two pupils became a group. The group became an academy. And over the years, an idea began to develop for a different approach to junior golf.
Today, Daniel and Frank still play. Frank’s two younger brothers and a number of their friends are now GolfStars members too.
What started with two young golfers has grown into GolfStars — and we’re only getting started.
I didn't grow up expecting to work in golf
Golf came into my life relatively late. I’d grown up playing football, but after a round of golf with my dad, something clicked.
I started having lessons with a PGA Professional who I’m still friends with today and quickly became completely hooked. Within three years I’d reached scratch and started my journey towards becoming a PGA Professional. I’ve now been a PGA Professional for more than 15 years. I still love playing and practising whenever I get the chance, but coaching — and particularly junior coaching — became my real passion.
What I love about golf goes far beyond hitting a ball. It’s a game you can play with your family. It introduces you to people who can become friends for life. And unlike so many sports we play when we’re young, golf can stay with you forever.
That’s ultimately what I want more children to discover.
I wanted to create golfers, not just golf lessons
As the academy grew, I started to notice something. The children loved their lessons, but many weren’t actually playing much golf outside them.
The jump between attending a coaching session and confidently going out onto a golf course could simply feel too big. So I started looking at junior coaching differently. Instead of asking only “What should we teach next?”, I became much more interested in “What does this child need to feel ready to play?”
That thinking became one of the foundations of GolfStars. GolfStars gives children a clear and supportive journey through the game, helping them develop their skills, experience playing and progress at a pace that’s right for them. Because the ultimate goal isn’t simply to create children who have golf lessons.
It’s to create golfers.
A great programme
needs more than a great coach
For years I wrote ideas down, built programmes, tested them, changed them and kept trying to improve what we were doing. If anything, I probably spent too long trying to make it perfect. But along the way I learned something equally important.
A thriving junior academy doesn’t run on coaching alone. It needs administration, technology, communication, marketing, equipment, events, systems and support.
Once I started surrounding myself with great people who were experts in those areas, everything changed. That infrastructure allowed the academy to grow — but the part I’m most proud of is seeing where so many of those young golfers are today. Many have gone on to become junior members of golf clubs and continue to play regularly. Some of the young golfers who came through those early years now help coach the next generation at GolfStars. One has become a PGA Professional, while another is now competing professionally.
Not every young golfer will follow the same path — and that’s exactly the point. For one child, success might simply mean playing golf with their friends and family for years to come. For another, it might become a lifelong passion. For some, it may even become a job or a career.
There isn’t one right destination. What matters is giving every child the opportunity to discover where golf might take them.
Those years of coaching, ideas, experience and development eventually came together as GolfStars. Today, we’re taking everything we’ve learned and building it into something that can work far beyond one coach or one golf club.
Every child
can become a GolfStar
At the heart of GolfStars is a simple ambition: to help every young golfer fall in love with the game, develop skills they can carry with them both on and off the course, and discover where golf might take them.
And that journey will look different for every child. For some, golf will mean weekends on the course with friends and family. For others, it may bring friendships, confidence, experiences and opportunities that stay with them throughout their lives. And for some, it could lead to coaching, a career within the game or competing at the highest level.
There is no single definition of a GolfStar. Our job is to give every child the opportunity to discover their own.
That starts by making golf accessible to more children — whatever their background, ability or previous experience of the game.
It means taking golf into schools and communities, making golf clubs more welcoming to young families and creating pathways that help beginners become confident golfers. It also means supporting great PGA Professionals to build thriving junior academies and growing into more venues so that more children have the opportunity to discover the game. Our ambition is for golfstars to reach children across the UK and, ultimately, around the world.
However big GolfStars becomes, what matters most will remain the same: Helping children fall in love with golf and become their own version of a GolfStar.
Where will their first swing take them?
Charlie’s journey started with a round of golf with his dad. Daniel and Frank started with a lesson when they were four. Every golfer starts somewhere.
Find one of
our sessions
Join us at one of our amazing GolfStars approved golf courses.
Search for golf courses across the UK and view a map of all the clubs in your area. Use your location or enter a location to find a GolfStars approved venue.
