Golf has long been seen as the preserve of the rich, with equipment that can easily cost thousands of dollars and greens fees in the hundreds.

Paul Adams, the director of golf at Turtle Hill Golf Club, is hoping to do something about that, launching a programme that will help children who want to learn to play the game do so without their parents having to break the bank.

Adams and the Fairmont Southampton Hotel are bringing the Junior Golf Exchange to Bermuda, a system that takes donated clubs and passes them on to younger players free of charge.

“We’ve been talking about it [a club exchange in Bermuda] for years, and years, and years,” Adams said. “Wouldn’t it be good to collect clubs from people who no longer want them and give them to people who need them.

“The problem we always ran into was the organisation, who stores the clubs, gives them out, etcetera. This exchange solves all that. It’s organised, it creates a situation where people can donate the clubs, it’s even a charity, so those that are American citizens can get a tax credit for donating their clubs.”

Operated from Turtle Hill, the programme requires families with sets of clubs that are no longer being used to give them to Adams, who then distributes them. Strictly for children 14-years-old and younger, Adams sees the programme as only being of benefit to the game in Bermuda.

“If ever we wanted to revive golf in Bermuda, this is the way to do it,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to me there are so many [junior golfers] coming up, and we can solve that with this programme.”

Similar exchanges in the United States have operated with 15 sets of clubs in rotation, and with no charges involved, Adams believes that with “so much equipment just lying around” there is no reason the programme cannot succeed.

The only requirement for children who are given a set is that they play the game, and hand the clubs back when they grow out of them, or have decided golf is not for them.

“When you’re starting to play you don’t need the latest set, most junior sets are fine,” Adams said.

Anyone with a set of junior clubs that they would like to donate is asked to contact Adams at Turtle Hill.