Golfer Lee Bromley has one goal in mind as he launches his new business in the South Wales valleys – to help newcomers become the best they can be by taking up the sport he loves.

Lee, who started out as a professional golfer in Zimbabwe in the early 1990s, believes teaching people the popular leisure activity can help them make positive developments across all areas of their lives.

He set up and ran a programme along these lines in South Africa to help youngsters become interested in the sport.

With that experience behind him, he is now bringing his teaching skills and enthusiasm to South Wales with a new business venture.

Importantly, his socially-minded enterprise based in Caerphilly has received £7,500 in start-up funding via the Robert Owen Community Banking Fund.

The 44-year-old, who has relocated to Wales to be with his partner Angela, said: "Without that help I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

Lee has an impressive sporting CV and knowledge of the game after becoming a pro golf player in 1994 on the Sunshine Tour in South Africa.

He has also served as both president and vice president of the Zimbabwe PGA, and experience which he said gave him a deeper insight into the mentoring side of the sport.

But it was while he was working as a pro at a club in Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa a few years ago that Lee realised the potential for his sport to help youngsters in all areas of their life.

He said: "There was a settlement right by the club and there were literally hundreds of children who were watching, hanging around trying to get the golf balls.”

The results of the initiative were startling, Lee said, with the children not only learning to play golf but also improving other aspects of their lives.

“The feedback after six months was that the children’s grades were up, their behaviour was improved, and they weren’t missing school either.”

Altogether, 3,500 children have benefitted from the foundation’s work in South Africa, but Lee said the scheme lacked backing to see it develop further.

Now he is transferring his teaching skills to the golf courses and schools of South Wales.

The start-up funding from SULC has been used to buy the all-important equipment which Lee uses to entice children to develop a passion for golf.

The simplified SNAG – Start New at Golf – system which has been developed in the US to do just that. It uses special clubs and a colour-coded system to teach the skills of the game ensuring a fun way into golf, said Lee.

Launching his business Lee has already linked up with four golf clubs in the Caerphilly area – Ridgeway, Blackwood, Bargoed, and Mountain Ash – and via them he is developing links with local schools.

He is starting to coach 120 children at Hendredenny Primary in Caerphilly and also Penrhys in Rhondda Cynon Taff.

The youngsters are starting out with the SNAG system, with the first phase taking place at the school and the second at a nearby golf facility.

He said making the sport fun is a big driver and hopes that learning golf will empower youngsters to make the most of their lives. He also wants to get away from the formal, rule-bound image golf has making it more accessible.

“This is a real opportunity to help children in the area and I hope schools, clubs and other organisations will want to get involved with SNAG,” said Lee.

His ambition, said Lee, is to have a network of golfing academies in the area.

“The more academies there are, the more newcomers will be empowering themselves and becoming the best they can be.”

ROCBF is one of the bodies charged with delivering Start Up Loans in Wales, and has lent £1.5m to 200 businesses in Wales in just over four years.

SULC is part of a UK Government initiative to stimulate enterprise in Britain, and has provided some £230m of funding to thousands of UK businesses.

The scheme offers loans at six per cent, and also free mentoring and advice for 12 months on how to create a business pan, cash flow and other issues faced by new businesses.

David Garner, business consultant at Robert Owen Community Banking Fund, said: “We were very impressed with Lee’s experience and knowledge of golf and his desire to help others improve their lives through this marvellous game.”