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Date: 15 Sep 2006 19:21:06
From: TG
Subject: My kid seems to be good at this golf thing, whats best to help him
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I'm not a big golfer, in fact calling me a hacker would be a stretch. My
two boys however, have embraced the sport and seem to do quite well at
is. My oldest though, is finding less and less time for it as he enters
the working / post secondary world.
My 15 year old though, may have some potential I am thinking, at least
enough for perhaps a scholarship or making a college team etc.
He's never had a lesson, but he pretty well lives on the course during
golf season (May to Oct up here), usually doing 27 or 36 holes a day
every weekend and all summer. I live withing walking distance to a
course so I bought them both junior clubs when they were 13 and a yearly
pass (bargoon at C$150!) and they have taken it from there, buying
better clubs later on when they could afford it etc. In fact he just
spent $150 of his hard earned money buying a 52 degree wedge, he said he
needs it for those shots when he's 100 yards out so he can keep it on
the green when I tried to talk him out of it.
He's only entered 2 tournaments, both of them being this year where he
tied for 1st in one (not sure what he shot) and lost the other by 2
strokes but won his age group, I think he shot a 79 at this one, but he
tells me he had a terrible game. He tells me he usually shoots in the
mid 70's and has had some low 30's on nine holes.
I asked him if he wanted to opt out of other sports such as soccer
(which he is also very good at) and concentrate on golf, but he
declined. I'm not going to push this as I've seen another local kid (the
older one he lost by 2 strokes to) that gets all the local press
coverage get pulled out of all other sports and even sent to school
where he could golf all year and he still has to really work at it to
beat my boy in a round. In fact some of the local golfers tell me my son
is far better at the same age than this kid was and doesnt have 1/2 the
playing experience.
I would however, like to do what I can, I'm thinking enter a few more
tournaments next season and some good lessons. Our local pro will take
him out for a round for 50$, but he's fairly young and quite new at the
job himself. Should I take him to a bigger center and shell out $$ for
some more one on one with a seasoned instructor? Or just let him
continue on as is..
all advice and suggestions welcome!
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Date: 18 Sep 2006 16:45:12
From: DK
Subject: Re: My kid seems to be good at this golf thing, whats best to help him along?
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>
> I would however, like to do what I can, I'm thinking enter a few more
> tournaments next season and some good lessons. Our local pro will take him
> out for a round for 50$, but he's fairly young and quite new at the job
> himself. Should I take him to a bigger center and shell out $$ for some
> more one on one with a seasoned instructor? Or just let him continue on as
> is..
>
> all advice and suggestions welcome!
I'd pay more for a well known instructor with a proven track record. Good
instructors are very difficult to find, and bad or inexperienced ones can
really mess up your game. So if you have someone in your area who has a
track record of improving kids' golfing abilities, it would be worth the
extra money to go to them. Even if your kid doesn't win tournaments as a
result, at least if his game improves, and he enjoys working with a good
instructor and learning more about the game, at worse he'll at least have
some good knowledge and ability so he enjoys the game more through his
lifetime.
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Date: 15 Sep 2006 16:20:22
From: Larry Bud
Subject: Re: My kid seems to be good at this golf thing, whats best to help him along?
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> He's only entered 2 tournaments, both of them being this year where he
> tied for 1st in one (not sure what he shot) and lost the other by 2
> strokes but won his age group, I think he shot a 79 at this one, but he
> tells me he had a terrible game. He tells me he usually shoots in the
> mid 70's and has had some low 30's on nine holes.
I'm sorry to say, but mid 70's for a 15 year old are a dime a dozen
unless he's playing tough courses from long yardage.
Has he had his growth spurt? Is he big enough to kill the ball?
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Date: 16 Sep 2006 02:22:52
From: TG
Subject: Re: My kid seems to be good at this golf thing, whats best to help
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Larry Bud wrote:
>> He's only entered 2 tournaments, both of them being this year where he
>> tied for 1st in one (not sure what he shot) and lost the other by 2
>> strokes but won his age group, I think he shot a 79 at this one, but he
>> tells me he had a terrible game. He tells me he usually shoots in the
>> mid 70's and has had some low 30's on nine holes.
>
> I'm sorry to say, but mid 70's for a 15 year old are a dime a dozen
> unless he's playing tough courses from long yardage.
>
> Has he had his growth spurt? Is he big enough to kill the ball?
>
Not saying he's a potential pro or anything like that, he just wants to
get good enough to have a crack at a scholarship or make a college team,
and local golfers that watch him tell me he has one of the nicest swings
they have seen in a kid his age, and considering he has barely over 2
seasons under him, with more work he has a good shot at a scholarship or
making a team.
I just want to know how best to go about helping him get better, we have
no illusions about him making the pro circuit etc.
He has just started his growth spurt vertically, grown about 4" in the
last 15 months, but the bulking up part is yet to come. He can whack the
ball 300 (maybe more, been awhile since I've watched him) yards and hits
it straight and true on most of his drives. I'd say he has another 6"
minimum (based on family genes) to grow yet and he's the beefier of the
two boys so lots of weight yet to pack on.
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