With that said... Do you remember the other things you learned as a youngster growing up on the golf course? Junior golf teaches kids far more than how to hit a big drive. For example:
- Honesty and integrity- You keep your own score and call your own penalties. Kids that learn the importance of honesty at a young age will likely take that into adulthood.
- Good sportsmanship and temperament control- Nobody wants to play golf with a bad apple. Through junior golf, kids have the chance to learn how to win and loose with gratitude. Also, it must be said that with all of those hormones flying around as a teenager, golf helps kids to get a grip on their temper, which is something not easily taught.
- Discipline and timeliness- It's pretty simple... To get better, you need to practice and that takes discipline. If you are late for a tee time in golf, you either don't get to play or get penalty strokes. I don't know about you, but I am rarely late and attribute my time management skills to all of those years of trying to get to the tee box on time.
- How to interact with all walks of life- This may be the biggest lesson of all. When you play golf as a junior, you have the opportunity to play with other kids your age, adults, seniors, good golfers, bad golfers... the list goes on and on.
Through playing with all of these different types of people, juniors learn how to be comfortable in different environments and how to get along with just about every personality type. This by far is one of the greatest gifts of the game... One which can serve a youngster for a lifetime.
If you doubt the power of junior golf. Give a kid a golf club and see what happens. It's pretty remarkable!
-Matt Swanson
