Junior golfers are the future of the game. I started yesterday's article off with the same statement and I do it again because it is so true and important. The points I want to discuss today are critical and will make learning and enjoying the game of golf so much easier and better for your children — and also go easier for you, especially in your wallet.
I stated in bold and absolute terms that the Number 1 priority for starting kids playing, and for them to achieve instant success, is that they must have fitted golf clubs for their size and strength. All of us who have started a child playing, know that playing golf is an expensive sport, even for kids. They need clubs, balls, and a bag to put them in. They need golf shoes, but these can wait till they show they like and want to play. Initially, they can use their sneakers. They will need money for practice balls on the range and to pay green fees if you don't belong to a club. They will need money for summer instruction and tournament programs, and then for private lessons. And, we can't forget money for lunch, snacks and drinks when practicing or playing. Lastly, they will need money for a cab if the Mom or Dad can't deliver and pick them up. Sorry for the scare. But I have to tell the truth and hopefully it has not scared you away.
The last bit of news is the fact that kids grow older and in the process grow up and out of their clothes and clubs. It can be considered by some more doom and gloom news, but I have a solution for the out growing the clubs problem. 'Pass Them On.'
In my first Head Professional job, I worked at a private club with around 500 members. It was an active playing club and had a fairly large younger membership. We had a lot of young kids. I started a summer junior instruction and tournament program my first year and we had over 50 kids sign up. Even back then, in the infancy of my PGA career, I was already highly interested in and stressing proper fitted clubs for all players, especially juniors.
Most of our juniors had clubs, many of which were cut downs (too heavy, stiff and grips too big). Others had junior clubs but they were too long and heavy. To say the least, we had clubs causing the kids' problems and not enough junior sets for everyone. The first year or two, we did a lot of sharing clubs and I did a lot of talking parents into buying their child correct fitted clubs from the start. We also were forced to do a lot of sharing clubs (with parents permission) so kids could start using the correct fit for their size. But after a couple of years, a problem began to grow. The kids were growing out of their clubs and needed longer and stronger shafts and bigger grips.
Some of the lucky parents, who knew someone that had kids clubs that fit their child, borrowed them and were saved from buying a set. One of the parents told me about that and the idea was born for 'Pass on the Junior Clubs.' This program is like loaning books from the library. When you are done with it you return the set so someone else gets to use it.
I started asking members that had older kids and young adults children that play if they had junior clubs and bags, even golf shoes (but they had to be in good shape) hanging from nails on the wall or stacked up in the corner of the garage or in the attic. The number was unbelievable. Some had two or three sets just collecting dust. So, I asked and got 100% participation of parents donating their no longer used junior clubs to the club's junior club inventory that would be maintained and stored in the bag room, and supervised by me and the golf shop staff.
The next stage: I offered to sell parents junior clubs for cost. The catch was that when they needed to up grade because their child grew and needed a new larger and stronger set, they had to leave them with the program to be loaned out. The only exception was if they had another child that would need them, they could, of course, keep them. But when their last child was done with using the set, they are given to the club's program.
This 'Pass on the Junior Clubs' program worked well. In just a few years we had multiple sets of basically just about every size of junior clubs. This program can work at private and public courses, even at driving ranges. The key is you need the space to store them, and you need a pro or someone willing to be the club librarian to maintain them and book them in and out. It is the least we can do to get our junior golfers started off correctly with properly fitted clubs. It will increase the odds of children enjoying the game and making golf the game of their lifetime.
The Surge!