Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2024 - 18

Getting Kids
on the Green
To ensure future demand, programs such
as Youth on Course (YOC) and First Tee
help young people get acquainted with
golf by offering access to public courses
at reduced rates. These initiatives have
largely replaced caddie programs as the
primary pipeline for youth to enter the
golf world-but not completely.
Caddie programs have made a comeback
at some of the higher-end private
courses, and now the public courses
are getting into the act again. Last year
Hiawatha Golf Course in Minneapolis
began a 15-person caddie program at a
facility whose clubhouse is named after
Solomon Hughes, an African American
pioneer in the game of golf. There is also
a Solomon Hughes Sr. Golf Academy
(SHSGA), based at the University of
Minnesota's Les Bolstad Golf Course,
with a stated goal to share his impact
with a new generation of young people.
Hughes, who passed away in 1987, was
recently inducted into the Minnesota
Golf Hall of Fame. The SHSGA is affiliated
with YOC and First Tee.
All public courses recognize not just
the obligation but the necessity of developing
the next generation of golfers.
" We have 192 kids that we put through
our junior golf program, " says John Kellin,
head pro for both Chaska Town Course
and the par-30 The Loop at Chaska. " We
probably could do triple that. For the
Hiawatha Golf Course
coming season we open up registration
around March 1. It sells itself out in about
two minutes. "
At Edinburgh USA in Brooklyn Park,
the junior golf program begins as soon
as the course opens in April and runs all
season. Each unit runs for a month, with
two sessions per week taught by multiple
instructors.
" [Kids] can sign up for a month for $99
and then come as much or little as they
want, " says Don Berry, now in his 36th
year at Edinburgh, where he has served as
head pro since 1994. " It's in the evening,
and there's also some morning classes. If
you sign up for a month, you can come
to every class if you'd want. " Edinburgh
also has a successful PGA junior team
that plays a half-dozen matches each year
against teams from other area courses.
" Developing lifelong players is our
goal, " Berry says. " Obviously we always
want to have some standout players who
make high school golf teams, but that's
not really the goal of that program. It's to
build lifelong players. "
Edinburgh offers a junior golf season
pass for $325 a year, a price that has
increased just $25 in the past 15 years.
About 50 juniors took advantage of the
pass last year, which provides unlimited
golf, with certain time restrictions.
" Golf is hotter now than it was in the
90s, " says head pro Mark Foley of Keller
Golf Course in Maplewood. " But there'll be
a correction, and it's just really important to
make sure that that pipeline does not slow.
Otherwise, you look up and [ask], 'Where
Braemar Golf Course
18
MINNESOTAGOLFER Directory 2024
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Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2024

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