Page 14 - 2018 Golf Guide

Early Start
The region’s golf community is on a mission to get the next generation into the game.
BY MICHAEL BRADLEY
If someone asks Scott Nye what’s preventing young people from playing golf, the head pro has lots of examples at the ready. “Look at AAU basketball programs, lacrosse camps, overnight camps like Tecumseh, AAU baseball,
and even sports like ultimate Frisbee that have summer leagues,” says Nye, who’s been Merion Golf Club’s pro since 2000. “Between electronics and all of those things, finding time for a junior to go out and play for fun is tough.”
It’s one thing to spend countless
hours trying to reach the next level of a videogame, and quite another to perfect a swing that seemingly could betray you at any minute. Golf is a great game, but it’s also really hard. “We’re fighting against
a lot of things,” Nye says. “There’s a huge
push to get this generation playing.” Nye is among the pros at clubs in
Southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware who are working to increase youth and family programs and expand competition opportunities. Examples can be found everywhere. At Garrison’s Lake Golf Club in Smyrna, Del., golfers 18 years
or younger are eligible for a 50 percent discount, and juniors play for free on Saturday and Sunday afternoons when accompanied by a paying adult. Garrison’s Lake is also unveiling new sets of tees designed to make the game more enjoyable and accessible to people of all ages and skill levels. Atglen, Pa.’s Moccasin Run hosts summer evenings where families can play five or nine holes for a low rate. At Wild Quail Golf Club in Wyoming, Del.,
Rick McCall Sr.’s Junior Golf Academy runs year-round. Some of his students have gone on to play on the PGA and LPGA tours.
“Youth participation has grown exponentially,” says Leila Mackie, the Philadelphia PGA’s player development director. “When I started in 2013, there were zero teams in the junior league— nobody participated. The amount of teams has doubled every year since. It’s definitely going to grow again this year.”
The PGA Jr. League is one of the more popular ways to engage youth in the game—and it’s unlike anything that’s existed around golf. In 2017, 27 different age-group leagues, comprised of over 2,000 players on 136 teams at 86 area facilities, participated. Golfers
GG12 Golf Guide 2018 | www.todaymediainc.com
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE PGA