The Do's and Don'ts of Junior Golf.

By Louis Honore Sr.

Chapter 3. Organizations

There are many Organizations around the country that sole purpose is to introduce and assist young people in learning the game of golf. Many are for the beginner, but there are a few that have developed programs that have helped serious golfers go on to earn golf or academic, college scholarships, at the great delight of their cash strapped parents. We will discuss those last.

You must not confuse these organizations with your local golf course’s Jr. Program. The local programs are designed to get the local boys and girls interested in golf and frankly are simply propagating their future customer base, as any good business will do. They offer reduced play and practice rates on certain days, and have group classes for those members who join for a yearly fee. There’s nothing wrong with joining these programs, but do understand that they have their limitations. As your child grows in skill you will want a more advanced program.

Assuming your young golfer is no longer in the beginner stage, if you can afford it, private lessons are best and you should choose your golf professional carefully. Chances are you will be together for a long time and you should know what and how he or she teaches.

A scholar once said that you could learn everything about anything, if you only knew the right questions to ask. Most of the time all a parent asks a teaching Pro is “How much do you charge”? Although that may be of major concern to you and the rest of your family that you must feed clothe and educate, unless this guy’s name ends in Harmon, Leadbedder or Mclean, chances are you can afford the lessons. So go ahead and get those lessons, and take good notes. However, before you forego your wife’s new coat to pay for these lessons, find out what you get for your buck, ask the right questions.

Such as, what do you teach? Is this your main occupation? Do you videotape the swing? Can you check the swing speed? Do you teach the short game? How long have you been teaching? Where did you learn your skills? Do you have any students or their parents I could talk too? Do you take your students out to play? Can we call you? Oh yeah, how much do you charge?

I have found as I went from Pro to Pro to Pro to Pro, that not all can give you what you want or need to bring your child to his or her full potential. They just can’t do it all. I guess if they could you would see them on television on most Sundays. The sad part is that very few Pros will admit that they can’t teach it all to the advanced player. Some are very good on swing mechanics or driving or chipping or putting or course management. But very few are very good at all of those skills.

So are we going to need four different teachers to excel at this game?

Maybe, but not right away. The PGA professionals on tour do have different teachers to tune up different parts of their game, but they can afford it. What’s a parent on a budget like you and I to do? Well, we get help.

Remember those organizations I spoke about earlier? They can help. But they too are limited, some by resources, some by philosophy.

Let’s see what they have to offer.

Western States Jr. Golf Association. This organization has been helping the beginner Jr. Golfer in the LA area for many years. They have many fine people who have dedicated their free time to coordinate weekly play dates with some group lessons offered on weekends. They put on local golf tournaments and end their season with golfers coming from all over the western states to participate in the annual tournament held in one of their participating states. This is offered to the jr. golfers at a very small fee to defray the costs and they also offer limited college scholarships to some of those who stay with the program throughout high school. Their program is seasonal though, usually running from April to August. They do not offer advanced classes to those who want to go beyond local competition. However, depending on your means you should take a look. They offer course access and practice balls for very low fees, and that alone warrants a closer look. This is just an overview of their program and if you are interested, you should contact them for details.

Urban Youth Golf Program This Program formerly known as LPGA Jr. Golf, offers beginner classes at several local golf courses and they too offer access and practice balls at low fees. Due to their former association with the Ladies tour, they have a lot of donated equipment that they issue to their beginner members and their Yippee Skippy club teaches Jrs. to track and post their scores on the golf courses’ computers for their USGA index. They host minor local tournaments, usually par three courses, and are also seasonal. They do not offer advanced classes, but you may want to check them out for other benefits that you may need. They offer very few scholarships but if you are a member and qualify you should apply for any and all they offer. We will discuss scholarships in a later chapter.

Young Golfers of America [YGAA] This organization has been assisting young golfers with group and private lessons and play dates at quality courses since 1990. They are not seasonal and operate year round. They offer assistance with scholarships and have helped numerous inner city youth to further their education at many colleges and Universities. Though they do not sponsor local tournaments, they are affiliated with The Teens on the Greens organization. TOG offers tournaments through out the world, and selects the best golfers to compete in their televised finals. YGAA offers their members access to tournament qualifiers and provides assistance with travel and lodging to many of the tournaments hosted by Teens on the Greens. YGAA continues to assist its members with advanced training and reduced rates to golf schools. Physical fitness training, psychological guidance and assistance with personal goal setting for the individual golfer are also made available to those in the Gifted Golfer Program. They also have some donated equipment for issuance to their members who need it.

They assist their advanced members with private lessons and arrange play dates at the better courses in Southern California. They are associated with The National Minority Jr. Golf Association and through them they offer the advanced golfer exemptions into some of the AJGA National Tournaments held in the US. [YGAA.org] [TEENSONTHEGREEN.COM] [NMJGA.org]

Southern California Professional Golf Association, Jr. Golf Foundation [SCPGA] This foundation’s major purpose is to host hundreds of tournaments from beginner to advanced, throughout Southern California. Their members can apply through a controlled application process to play against the best golfers in the US. They have qualifiers for Jr. World and other nationally rated tournaments. They assist their members with posting indexes and tracking their progress during their jr. years until age 18. They do not offer or assist with scholarships, but many college coaches track the progress of their members for possible recruitment. [SCPGA.org]

American Jr, Golf Association [AJGA] This organization is the number one national Jr. Golf tournament organizer. They have tournaments though out the year, but they only accept the very best golfers. There are local and regional qualifiers, but they too are difficult to enter. There is no assistance with travel or lodging, and the entrance fees are very high. But if you can get in, and if you can place high, you will get into other AJGA tournaments more easily. These tournaments are nationally ranked and college coaches watch the result meticulously. YGAA can assist some qualified golfers in getting exemptions into some of the National tournaments and qualifiers.

There are many golf clubs and associations throughout America that may serve your needs, these are only a few. You can check them out by going on the Web and typing Jr. Golf. Most of the Jr. Golf Associations have their own web site, [their name .org] Check them out. [AJGA.org]

I recommend that you check these organizations out and join the ones that serve your needs the best. I don’t believe in entering the Jr. Golfer in a competition he or she cannot fairly compete with the other young men and women. Until they break into the eighties I recommend they stay with the local tournaments, par-threes and short par fours. Once they cross into seventies, I recommend that they apply for the SCPG regional tournaments and play as many of those as they can get to. There are many local golf courses that host these tournaments for SCPGA, and the fees are very reasonable. They have got to shoot in the seventies if they hope to compete in any AJGA tournaments.

We will discuss the competition and how you should prepare your young golfer to play his or her best in the next chapter.

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For information or additional news, contact the editor at marilyn@ygaa.org