LOCHGELLY Golf Club professional Michael Kanev has a number of new ideas up his sleeve which he hopes current members at Cartmore Road will enjoy and could prove attractive to potential new members.

And he is full square behind the plans by 'Scottish Golf' to attract more young people into the sport and he wants to see youngsters coming along to the Lochgelly club and enjoying the sport.

Michael last week celebrated one year in the role as professional at the club and he is enthusiastic about the way things have gone.

He said: "Things have been going well and I have found the members very supportive.

"I have been able to grow my coaching base and and the members are all wanting to improve their game and be as competitive as possible.

"Our 30 to 40 age group, in both men and women members, has grown markedly over the past year which has been encouraging."

Michael is keen to try new things for members and he held a Par 3 competition on March 31 which attracted 78 people to take part.

"The green staff reduced every hole to Par 3 length and everyone had a great time and we intend to repeat it in September.

"There are one or two other things I hope that we can try to give people 'fun' competitions to enjoy."

The Edinburgh man is a great believer in Scottish Golf's moves to attract more young people into the game.

He said: "Every club has seen a reduction in youth membership for a variety of reasons but the time it takes to play a round seems to be a key factor.

"To get youngsters back into enjoying golf there are a number of ideas in the pipeline but we would like to see more youngsters enjoying playing at Lochgelly.

"We are offering free membership to under 16s, which will include free coaching, a run down on the etiquette of golf and knowledge of the rules.

"It would be good to get a good base of young members who could take part in competitions over, say six or nine holes, initially and enjoying being on the golf course."

Any young person interested in getting involved can call Michael on 01592 782589.

The £299 senior membership fee also includes the opportunity to play a free round at Airdrie, Bathgate, Linlithgow, The Merchants Edinburgh Hayston Kirkintilloch, Eastwood and Windyhill courses.

Michael has also introduced Adidas products in his shop which is proving popular, particularly the footwear, and he has a wide range of golf wear available.