TERRE HAUTE — Even if I didn’t have school age children, I would know that school was out because of the abundance of kids I’ve seen on the golf courses! I think that’s a great sign for the future of golf, that there is a strong interest in junior golf. Judging by how some of the local high schools in our area have fared this spring, I’d say junior golf is very strong in the western part of the state of Indiana.
As I write this, the boys’ golf teams from Linton, Terre Haute South, Sullivan and South Vermillion are all preparing for regional competition, having made it past the first stage on the road to the state finals, which were the sectionals. The teams from Northview and Terre Haute North just missed coming out of it by one and three strokes respectively. Those were two strong teams that just didn’t play up to their potential at Rolling Meadows.
The same thing happened to South’s team last year at Regionals at Christmas Lake. That loss rankled the South boys all season, so they are very determined to make it to the state this year, although it won’t be easy. Last year, Travis Smith went as an individual qualifier, but I know he would prefer to have his teammates with him.
I have watched a lot of boys high school golf since my son Phillip plays for the South team. On the whole, I have been favorably impressed with most of the boys that Phillip has played with, reconfirming my idea that a golf course is a pretty good place for a growing boy to hang out. They’re not going to get into too much trouble on a golf course, and they might make some strong friendships along the way.
So how do you get a youngster interested in playing golf? If you are a golfer, and are the father or mother of a child, the easiest way to get them interested is to take the time to take them out with you. When they’re very young, take them out in a cart on a day when the course isn’t crowded, and let them ride along with you. They’ll be more interested in driving the cart than anything, so let them sit on your lap and steer while you control the pedal and brake. You can always grab the wheel if you need to. Make sure that they are out of the cart or far away from the gas pedal while you’re hitting though! I remember learning that lesson the hard way. Children can begin to learn golf etiquette even before they can play. Our lesson No. 1 was teaching our boys to be quiet!
Up to the age of four, one of those plastic toy sets is going to be enough to keep a child occupied and learning golf. We started Phillip with one of those, but the only problem was that they are made to be right or left-handed. Phillip started out swinging left-handed, so we made a valiant effort to change that. We knew we would have too many hand-me-down sets of right-handed clubs so we needed him to be right-handed!
The next step is to get him or her one of the little tiny junior sets that are available at golf shops. They’re pretty inexpensive, but durable. They will last until the child outgrows them, most likely. Taking an old set of clubs and cutting it down to child-size is a possibility, and is what we did with an old set of mine, but the problem is that the shaft becomes pretty stiff. The children’s sets on the market have very flexible shafts, allowing a child to get some pretty good distance with a little club. Little children can learn how to putt, and start getting an idea of how to chip. Here’s a tip I used when trying to keep my boys to keep their head still while putting: hide a colored marker under the ball, and tell them to tell you the color of the marker right after they hit the ball. This keeps their eyes on the spot where the ball was long enough for them to not lift their head.
When they get the strength and coordination to do a full swing, make sure that they learn a proper grip and set up before they start flailing away. They can learn these things at a junior clinic put on by golf professionals. One thing that we have found with our boys, and I hear it from other parents too, that they are more likely to listen to anyone else besides their parents, regardless of their abilities! When Phillip was about five, he argued with his father about his grip. He was certain that his left hand went below his right, for a right-handed set up. Andy took him into a golf shop, and had the owner showed Phillip how to do it correctly. After that, Phillip referred to it as “the grip Jay showed me”, even though it was the same grip his father had shown him.
When your child has started to learn a swing, you should take them out on the course when it’s not crowded. If a child is struggling and taking a long time, you feel frustration if you know you have a foursome breathing down your back. Try to be very patient with a new golfer, so that they don’t associate golf with making mom or dad angry! Always teach golf etiquette along the way; teach a child how to repair a ball mark, replace a divot, and rake a trap. Once you’ve reached the green, show them how to mark their ball, and avoid walking in someone’s line. Also, teach them how to remove the pin and place it where it won’t get hit by a putt going too far past the hole.
Golf is a game that can be played throughout a lifetime. Teaching a child to play, and playing with them often, will form a bond that will also last a lifetime. This is true of daughters too. Please don’t stereotype your daughter that she can’t play golf because she’s a girl. The ratio of boys to girls at the Boys and Girls’ Club clinic this summer is about 9 to 1. The best way to get girls playing is to start them young, and to make it fun for them. In the long run, it could be the best time you’ve ever invested in the development of your child.
I I I
Upcoming events for juniors:
Rea Park — June 22, the Rea Park Junior Classic, and on June 29, the Rea Park Junior Scramble. Sign up for both events in the pro shop. Call (812) 232-0709 for more information.
Hulman Links — June 28, the Hulman Links Two-Ball Tournament; July 11, the Hulman Links Junior Open; Aug. 9, Hulman Links Junior Scramble. Call (812) 877-2096 for more information.
The Junior City Tournament will be July 18-20 at Rea Park and Hulman Links. Sign up in either pro shop.
Jennifer Myers can be reached by email at jfmyers@xsthe.net.
On & Off the Course
On And Off The Course: Junior golf is alive, well
- On & Off the Course
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Some things on golf course are worse than steep putts
It’s not often that anything gets more scary on a golf course than a steep downhill putt, but on some courses around the world, things a little more on the supernatural side might give you a bigger fright!
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The shot heard round the world
I don’t know if the Golf Channel will show a “Best Shots of 2011” highlight reel, much like ESPN does for baseball or football.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The Red, White and Blue visits the Isle of Green
In 2006, the Ryder Cup was held in Ireland at The K Club in County Kildare.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Fall may be coming but golf season is far from over
Once the major tournaments are over with, what’s there to look forward to in the world of golf?
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Golf… simplified!
Golf is not a simple game. A golf course is made up of 18 holes, all different. There are par-3s, par-4s and par-5s; they all vary in length and elevation, and each has its own challenges. There can be water hazards, trees, sand bunkers, tall grass, hills, valleys — and then, if that’s not enough, there’s probably wind too.
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On and Off the Course: Northern Ireland builds on golf history
Northern Ireland is only about 5,452 square miles in area and has a population about the same as West Virginia, which is about 1,880,344.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Women’s Open at the Broadmoor
This is the weekend of the U.S. Women’s Open, and this year it’s being played at The Broadmoor, East Course, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The Fort Golf Course: A Walk in the Park…
Indiana has some pretty spectacular state parks, but one of them gives you the ability to “spoil a good walk” by chasing a little white ball.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Father’s Day is a good day for golfers
Most people consider the time around Christmas to be the gift-buying season.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Playing with lead a difficult task
As exciting as last week’s Masters was, with six players being tied for the lead at one point on Sunday, it was very difficult watching Rory McIlroy fall apart to shoot an 80.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Masters a rite of spring
This is Masters weekend, the grand kickoff to the golf season for a lot of golfers. Sure, there have been tournaments on TV, because the professionals have been playing in Hawaii, California, Texas, Dubai, and other areas not so affected by winter as we are here in the Midwest, but to me, watching The Masters is a rite of spring.
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ON THE OFF THE COURSE: Some history on the Ryder Cup
I fell asleep in way too many history classes to ever qualify as a history buff. However, since I have grown up a bit (not much), I enjoy learning about all kinds of history. I often have questions about how something began, or how something came to be.
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On and Off the Course: Purdue's Kampen Course a gem in Indiana's rough
About a month ago, Indiana was still heavily mired in heat and humidity, making outdoor activities such as golf less appealing than usual. At that time it felt like the repressive heat would never go away, it would never rain again, and all of the grass was just going to continue to wither and die. And the month prior to that we kept getting rained out of golf events!
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On and Off the Course: Successful golfers know ... focus is the key
I have a good friend who coached his daughter’s basketball team for a number of years, and told me that his theme with the girls was always “focus”, until it was ingrained in their brains. Now when they play high school ball, if they hear “focus” yelled from the stands, they know the source.
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On and Off the Course: Technology adds even more fun to the course
You’ve hit a drive into some brush in an area marked as a hazard, but you can’t find the ball to prove it is there. And no one actually witnessed it go in the hazard. You just think that’s where it probably is. What is the rule for this situation?
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On and Off the Course: Anthony Gonzalez First Tee Classic a worthwhile charity event
On Monday, I worked as a volunteer for the Anthony Gonzalez First Tee Classic, Golf Tournament and Auction at Eagle Creek Golf Course in Indianapolis. It was an absolutely beautiful day, with clear blue skies, just a few wispy clouds here and there and a high temperature of about 76 degrees.
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On and Off the Course: Trends show golf in decline
You don’t have to watch the news or read the paper to understand that America is struggling on the economic front. The evidence can be witnessed at the local golf course.
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On and Off the Course: Remembering former South golfer Ian White
It’s usually a bit of a struggle for me to figure out what my topic will be for this column. This week I could have written about Tiger’s withdrawal from the Players’ Championship due to a bulging disc in his neck, or by association, the health hazards a violent golf swing can have on the human body, or any number of other golf-related topics.
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On and Off the Course: Ochoa’s departure to impact LPGA
LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan already had a tough job, trying to promote the LPGA tour and keep the 25 events that they have on the schedule, but that job was made tougher last week when the tour’s No. 1 player announced her retirement from the game at the ripe old age of 28.
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On and Off the Course: Examining the square groove rule change
Even though the Masters is going to have its own little drama going on with the return of Tiger Woods, an interesting thing to note will be how well the players are able to hold the hard fast greens at Augusta. An underlying part of the bigger picture that everyone might not realize is a rule change that could dramatically affect most, if not all, of the players. That rule change took effect on Jan. 1.
- On and Off the Course: President's Cup should be entertaining Just when we thought golf season was over, and it was time to concentrate on football, we must awaken from our naps, because there’s going to be some exciting golf for us to watch next weekend. The President’s Cup will run from Oct. 6-11 at Harding Park in San Francisco.
- On and Off the Course: The obscure of golf's rulebook Golfers know that the rules that govern the game are abundant. The game originated in the 15th century on the links of Scotland, and somehow as time went on and people became more civilized, rules were adopted.
- ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Women’s City Match Play had tough competition I played in the Terre Haute Golf Association Women’s City Match Play Tournament a couple of weeks ago.
- On and Off the Course: One for the ages … well, almost! I wonder how long people will be referring to last week’s British Open, as “one for the ages.” They could also refer to it as “one for the aged!” Tom Watson’s near miss of a 9th Open Championship (as the Brits prefer to call it, and as it rightly should be by virtue of its longevity) was a rallying cry to all those golfers who have toiled for so many years at their game, but had given up hope as for ever getting it back to where they had it twenty years ago.
- ON AND OFF THE COURSE: In a bad economy, should LPGA raise its fees? For 31 years The LPGA’s Corning Classic was held at Corning Country Club in Corning, N.Y., with Corning Glassware as its title sponsor. This year, however, was the end of an era as LPGA players played their final rounds in its’ longest-running event. Due to many factors Corning chose to not renew their contract for 2010.
- ON AND OFF THE COURSE: ‘Average golfer’ ready to face challenges of Bethpage Black Golf Digest, in association with the USGA and NBC Sports, has asked the question, “Can the ‘average golfer’ break 100 at Bethpage Black under U.S. Open conditions?”
- On and Off the Course: Golf is for Mother’s, too I’d like to wish all of my readers who are mothers, whether they play golf or not, a Happy Mother’s Day — and if you do play golf — I hope you have a fine day today and that you find the time to get out on the course.
- The Haig changed golf off the course
- On and Off the Course: Fall a great time on the course If I could have fall weather year-round, I would take it. I love the crisp air, the blue skies, and the bright sunshine. Ever since my childhood I have associated a beautiful fall day with Turkey Run State Park, one of my favorite places to go, especially in the fall. This is Covered Bridge Festival week so many other people are seeing the beauty of the fall in the trees, rivers and bridges in Parke County too!
- On and Off the Course: Life’s lessons on the golf course During the Ryder Cup last weekend, there aired a number of commercials for RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) that starred participants from The First Tee, a program founded by the World Golf Foundation to enable kids from every walk of life to participate in golf, a game that teaches values for life and can be played for a lifetime.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Some things on golf course are worse than steep putts
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