THE DUKE of York has been taking a special interest in a rapidly growing Gloucestershire business.

Young Masters Golf Ltd, based at Upper Wick, near Dursley, provides structured training in golf for children between the ages of 5- and 16-years old and attracted the attention of the Duke as far back at last summer.

"We first met His Royal Highness this time last year," explained managing director David Goslin, the Charfield man behind the programme and a PGA professional with 20 years experience of coaching young golfers.

"At that time we had just a handful of clubs offering our junior programme. However, because of his commitment to children and to widening the appeal of golf, the Duke was very supportive of our aims."

Six months later the Duke invited Mr Gosling to Buckingham Palace to brief him on progress of the scheme, by which time the company's network of clubs offering the programme had grown to almost 140.

Mr Gosling said: "He was even more impressed when we met him again last week and explained that in just over a year since we began the network has expanded to in excess of 250 Young Masters Golf junior golf academies up and down the country, providing training for more than 8,500 children.

"Forward-thinking golf clubs know that the future success of golf lies in attracting new young players. Young Masters Golf's comprehensive introduction to the game is helping achieve this and is now being offering by many of the top PGA professional golf instructors in the UK."

Clubs running the programme locally include Minchinhampton Old and New Golf Clubs, Kendleshire Golf Club, Filton Golf Club, The Players Club, Bristol Golf Club, EuroPro Hambrook Golf Range and Gloucester Golf Club.

More details about the programme are available at www.ymg-golf.com

Pictured: Seen with the Duke of York last week are Young Masters Golf directors Nigel Blenkarne, David Gosling and Chris Smith.