Florio Golf is hoping to bring mental health awareness to the golf course with the launch of a free online mental health platform, Healthy Minds Golf Club (www.healthyminds.golf).
The brand-new website, which goes live on October 10 – World Mental Health Day – marks the start of Florio Golf’s wider mission to make mental health part of everyday golf culture.
The World Health Organisation estimates that approximately one billion people are living with mental health conditions worldwide. With millions of golfers included in that figure, Florio Golf’s founder Danny Clark believes Healthy Minds GC can provide much-needed education, guidance and clear signposting to support services.
Healthy Minds GC is Florio Golf’s digital home, featuring personal stories from across the golf world, simple guides on starting conversations and spotting signs, and signposting to support services. Its resource library is packed with honest, practical content as well as self-care help and advice, all of which has been signed off by Dr Edward Clark, a consultant psychiatrist at North London NHS Foundation Trust and part-time mental healthcare specialist for the DP World Tour.
Danny Clark, founder of Florio Golf and the Healthy Minds Golf Club
“The mental health benefits of playing golf are well-publicised. We’re fortunate to be able to take long walks in nature with our friends, but a lot of golfers out there don’t speak about how they’re feeling, and they don’t really know where to go for help,” says Clark, who has combined his golf background with experience in the healthcare sector to build the new platform. “Support already exists, but the way it’s presented can sometimes feel hard to relate to. We frame everything in golf speak so it feels like part of the game, not a medical brochure. That’s the difference we want to make.”
After playing NCAA college golf in the United States, Clark gained a Masters degree at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. He moved to Dubai in his early twenties but quit his career in management consultancy after experiencing severe depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts.
Clark ended up moving home to his native Germany, and later took a job in education, where he rediscovered his passion for teaching and learning. Now a stay-at-home dad with a 17-month-old boy, he’s focusing his efforts on growing Florio Golf as the grassroots movement for mental health in the game.
The Healthy Minds GC website features stories of golfers from all sectors of the amateur and professional game who have faced mental health challenges
Alongside Healthy Minds GC, Florio Golf is preparing to launch the Florio Golf Club Partnership, the second strand of its two-pronged effort to embed mental health into golf. Built around Florio’s new framework on what makes a mentally healthy golf club, the programme will equip clubs with practical resources such as posters and micro-guides, provide training for staff and volunteers, and establish a dedicated mental health captain at each club. A pilot with selected clubs will begin this year, ahead of a wider rollout in 2026.
Florio Golf has not been established to replace professional help. One of its aims is to help connect people to trusted services provided by mental health charities Mind and Samaritans, as well as NHS support. Florio Golf is not a medical service and does not offer diagnosis, treatment, or therapy.
For more information on Florio Golf, please email Danny Clark at hellofloriogolf@gmail.com
