There are a couple of very good reasons there’s been so much focus in recent years on bolstering junior golf.
First, exposing young people to the sport and keeping them in it is crucial to the long-term health of the game. And second, the current trend regarding youngters’ participation in golf is worrisome.
Everything seemed to be going well a decade ago as the National Golf Foundation reported that the number of junior golfers in the country grew from 3 million in 2000 to 3.5 million in 2005. But that trend quickly reversed itself, as the NGF said the number of youngsters playing the game dropped 23 percent from 2005 to 2009, going from 3.5 million to 2.7 million.
Such a drastic decline is enough to get the attention of any person who cares about the long-term well-being of the sport.
Concern about this issue is one of the primary driving forces in the Allied Golf Associations’ recent launch of a concerted golf-in-schools initiative — the Colorado Section PGA Golf in Schools Program, presented by the Colorado Open Golf Foundation.
But there are also smaller but important steps being taken at individual golf facilities, which brings us to what’s happening this year at the courses run by South Suburban Parks and Recreation. Starting in 2011, they’re implementing a program that allows junior golfers to play for free on Saturday and Sunday evenings.
On those days this year, kids 17 and under get free greens fees after 5 p.m. at two courses — Family Sports in Centennial and Littleton Golf & Tennis — and after 6 p.m. at Lone Tree Golf Club and both the regulation and par-3 facilities at South Suburban Golf Course. And the offer isn’t just limited to South Suburban-area residents; it’s open to all junior golfers.
“We’re trying to support junior golf and help grow the game as much as possible,” said John Tolan, the head golf professional at Family Sports and the father of one of the top players in the state over the last decade, Derek Tolan. “We’re also trying to grow our base (of players) out here. So we hope this takes off a little and maybe we’ll start a trend.”
Dustin Jensen, director of youth programs for the CGA, would be all for that.
“I really hope this might start something on a statewide basis,” Jensen said. “We want to continue to get youth out on the golf course. This is really an exciting endeavor they’re taking on.”
The free golf for juniors program figures to get rolling in earnest after Colorado goes to Daylight Savings Time on March 13. At that point, the sun will set after 7 p.m., then progressively later until June 21, giving golfers a decent amount of time for evening play.
The idea to offer junior players free golf at the specified times evolved out of a “family nights” program that was in place for the last couple of years on weekend evenings. That deal allowed a paying adult to bring out up to three junior players for golf late Saturday and Sunday.
“We still couldn’t draw very many people, believe it or not,” John Tolan said. “So we decided to find something that does work. We checked (course) capacity reports and we all found that there wasn’t much play after 6 p.m. (on weekends). So my boss, (South Suburban Parks and Rec manager of golf) Bill Ramsey made the call.”
Although South Suburban is motivated by a desire to support junior golf, officials also hope that the presence of the young golfers on weekend evenings will bring in some revenue through sales of food, beverages, etc. “And if no one is on the course (at that time), why not?” Tolan said.
And in the bigger scheme of things, offers like the one at the South Suburban-area courses may pay long-term dividends by making some kids lifelong aficionados of golf.
“John (Tolan) has always been a huge supporter of junior golf,” Jensen said. “In fact, he was chairman of the CGA Youth Programs Committee a number of years ago. He has a soft spot for kids. I think he wants to do anything and everything he can to grow the game. They have one of the largest youth programs in the state at Family Sports and this is just another way to continue to grow junior golf, so I applaud him for that.”
