'Sir' Les Ferdinand Signs For New Club -- PlayGolf Northwick Park

Former England, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United football legend Les Ferdinand has been appointed as an ambassador for London Golf Course Playgolf Northwick Park.

Former England, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United football legend Les Ferdinand has been appointed as an ambassador for London Golf Course (http://www.northwickpark.com) Playgolf Northwick Park.

A keen golfer, Les plays regularly at the popular Harrow complex, which features replicas of some of the most famous golf holes in the world and will become London's premier 9-hole golf club (http://www.northwickpark.com/virtual_caddy_tour.php) this month.

In his new role as ambassador he will make personal appearances at Playgolf Northwick Park and also help to promote Playgolf's other major sports projects in the UK, including its Manchester venue and the Playsport Scotland venture -- a £16m golf and multisports complex in East Kilbride, Glasgow.

Les' first appearance will be to officially open the new additional hole at Northwick Park on April 2. The course was originally designed with eight holes - six in play at any one time. But the creation of a brand new hole, which will play as the 8th, means the complex will become a full 9-hole course this Spring.

Said Les: "Unlike a lot of footballers, I didn't actually take up golf when I was playing. I only started to play golf a couple of years ago and the facilities and quality of the course at Northwick Park make it a brilliant place to practice and play.

"I'm really honoured to be the first ambassador for Playgolf. Northwick Park is a terrific venue which plays a key role in the local community and is making golf accessible to everyone.

"London is extremely fortunate to have such a facility and I'm excited by Playgolf's ambition of opening up similar venues across the UK."

Ferdinand, 41, is one of football's best-loved players. He started his career in Middlesex, with Hayes, and earned the nickname 'Sir Les' with fans at QPR.

He became a household name with his goal-scoring feats in the North East, where he scored 50 goals in 84 appearances for Newcastle United, and he went on to star for Spurs, for whom he had the distinction of scoring the Premier League's 10,000th goal in a 4-0 win against Fulham.

He was awarded 17 caps for England, scoring 5 goals, and is a regular pundit on BBC's Football Focus and Score and an analyst for Setanta Sports. He was awarded an MBE in 2005 for his services to football.

Playgolf first started talking to Les about an ambassador's role after he staged a hugely successful charity golf day at Northwick Park last June. Celebrities including former soccer stars Jamie Redknapp and Lee Dixon played PowerPlay Golf - the new way to play the sport which features two flags on every green - to raise money for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

Jimmy Wallace, Playgolf Northwick Park General Manager, said: "We are thrilled to have Les on board. He was a superb ambassador for football in an unblemished career and he will make a brilliant ambassador for Playgolf because he is such a super guy.

"What's important for us, is that Les really understands what we are trying to do as a company - not only in golf, but in sport in general. He has been a supporter of Playgolf Northwick Park since it opened and it's fantastic that he has agreed to become an official ambassador."

Les has signed a one-year agreement to act as Ambassador for the Playgolf and PowerPlay Golf brands.

Playgolf Northwick Park opened in 2005 and is home to the revolutionary 'Majors' golf course, featuring full-size 'tributes' to great golf holes from the world's great golf courses, including Augusta National, Royal Troon, Royal Birkdale and The Belfry.

In April it will be become London's premier 9-hole golf course (http://www.northwickpark.com/9/index.php), permanently set up to play PowerPlay Golf.

The Harrow complex also features a 56-bay floodlit and heated two-tier driving range (http://www.northwickpark.com/driving_range.php), American Golf store, Premium Golf Schools teaching academy, The National Short Game Centre golf practice area, the 9-hole 'Mini Majors' Adventure Golf Course, state-of-the-art gym and the UK's only fully automated baseball and softball batting cages.

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