Much ink has flowed over the years regarding the pecking order of the world's best golf courses.

Always of course trying to rank them from the top – St Andrews, Augusta National, Valderrama, Pinehurst etc. etc. – take your pick. Professional golf journalists pass their days ranking courses. Great work if you can get it. A little like being a reviewer for the Michelin Restaurant Guide.

We'd like to turn your attention to the world's worst golf course for a while. A lot less is known about the world's worst golf clubs.

Well, I'd like you to focus for a few minutes on this question and a related subject. There is of course no definitive winner in this category and nor is there much interest in their ranking but we have identified one course which would stand a fair chance of winning this dubious accolade. This would be the Freetown Golf Club in beautiful Sierra Leone.

This is an 18 hole par 71 course set in the spectacular sea-side suburb of Lumley Beach. If you remember the beach bar in Blood Diamond where Ricardo Di Caprio met Jennifer Connelly – well it's just across the road.

The course is at the limits in terms of what passes as a golf course. However its patrons, Government Ministers, Diplomats, NGO are all agree that it's the finest club in Sierra Leone, and indeed it is. Of course it is the only club in the country.

The greens are not greens but "browns" – sand from the beach is covered with oil to give a surface on which you can actually putt.

18th Brown  Freetown GC.

Whatever about Freetown’s Golf Club being among the worst in the world a short drive from the club can be found what is certainly one of the world’s most deprived schools, and it is this school that we want to talk to you about. We will leave the improvements to the Golf Club to its honorable members.

The school “Regent School” is in dire need of refurbishment and we need your help. If you have the slightest of interest please read on.  If not, at least you now know a little about Freetown Golf Club!

Sierra Leone is a heart-breaking country. Often ranked the poorest in the world but as you will have learned from the afore-mentioned movie, rich in diamonds and other minerals and has the most beautiful tropical forests and beaches.

Its recent history has been a catastrophic period with a prolonged civil war which spilled over from neighboring Liberia whose former leader Charles Tailor is now on trial in The Hague. Many Sierra Leoneans were drawn into a conflict not really of their making.

 Apart from the horrendous physical consequences of this war of which the use of child soldiers was the most disturbing aspect, there is an invisible consequence of a lost generation for whom education was non-existing.

Its people suffered immense strife and horror during the war. To his eternal credit Tony Blair finally sent a small armed force to snuff out the insurgence and put an end to the countries strife, or at least to the violence. Tony Blair’s father lectured Law at Freetown’s Fourah Bay University during the 60’s.

On returning recently to Sierra Leone I was surprise by the resilience of the people, their dignity and good nature and their ever radiant smiling faces. They seem to have put the war behind them and with the help of a Peace and Reconciliation Commission social harmony has been restored.

But Sierra Leoneans are poorer now than ever. A stable government and a heavy UN and NGO presence has helped to revive the economy considerably but from a very low level.

A Small project to make a small improvement but a huge difference to some.

Regent Elementary School Main Building                     A Sierra Leonean Welcome

We want to renovate one of Freetown’s oldest and poorest schools “Regent School”.

Regent School was first built in 1828 when Sierra Leone, under British Control and a Governor General – General McCarthy who hailed from Cork (where else!).  It was built by the Christian Missionary Service and was one of a cluster of schools in Freetown which actually helped to develop the city as the major learning centre for English speaking West Africa.

Existing Latrine which must be replaced

We need to raise a mere €25,000 to complete this very worthwhile project which includes re-roofing the building and most importantly building latrines as the current state of sanitation is, lets just say, not good.

So we are asking you to help us and contribute as much or as little as you like but please, something.

Hard times, donor fatigue etc. etc. – we realise there are plenty of reasons for inertia. But if we could spirit you to Freetown for just an hour to meet these wonderful people and to see their plight you wouldn't hesitate a minute to help.

Guarantee

We guarantee that every penny collected will go straight to the project in question. We are working with AKIN (Association for Kids in Need) which is a Gibraltar based registered charity (www.akincharity.org) who in turn is working with the Spanish Red Cross in Freetown. The Spanish Red Cross directly project manages the renovation on a private basis with funding from AKIN. This is, a “seepage” free charity structure. We are small and flexible and whatever costs there may be are covered by volunteers.

How can you help?

We want to make this as easy as possible and give you as many options as possible.

1. Visit the AKIN website http://www.akincharity.org/supportakin.html and complete the donation form specifying the Sierra Leone option.

2. Post us a cheque (any currency) payable to AKIN – Sierra Leone to us :

Golf Experience / AKIN Appeal
Urb. Guadalcantara Golf
Bloque 2 - 3d
29670 San Pédro de Alcantara
Malaga
Spain

3. Corporate Affiliate Programme.

Become a Corporate Affiliate of AKIN (Association of Kids in Need).  This will allow your company to have a reciprocal link. We will list your company as an affiliate and supporter / donor of AKIN on the AKIN website.  You can use the AKIN logo on your company’s site with a link through to the very worthwhile charity. The charge for this philanthropic act is €100 per annum.

Finally

Education is the key to progress.  The better the quality of education the greater the progress.

So please, while the thought is fresh in your mind, write that cheque or fill in the donation form on the website. We will provide receipts for all donations.

Thanking you in anticipation.

Seamus Whooley
Golf Experience / AKIN (Association for Kids in Need)

Thank you for your time.

For more information on Sierra Leone visit:

http://www.yoursierraleone.com