Golf is a hard game to master, so that makes growing the game more difficult.
That’s one of the reasons, Rob MacPherson, the head professional and general manager at the Ponoka Community Golf Club, instituted a junior golf camp about three years ago.
“It’s an intensive three-day program to help the youth golfers get better,” MacPherson said in an interview during the camp, which ran from July 4 to 6 and attracted some local golfers along with youth from as far away as Calgary.
“In order to get better, you need to work hard on your game. Playing golf is difficult and if you don’t feel like you are improving then you tend to get discouraged quickly. It can be lots of fun, but if you are struggling at it, then the more likely it is you will back off or stop altogether.
“With this program, the aim is to peek the kids’ interest, to help them improve their game so that they are still playing golf in 20 years, which keeps the sport growing.”
The camp is kept small intentionally - just seven students - in order to provide a lot of one-on-one instruction. The students focused on learning a variety of skills - from bunker shots to reading greens to placement of their shots - during the mornings they got to have some fun by playing a round in the afternoon.
“The idea of the camp is for kids that want to progress their game and are a bit more serious about improving their skills in order to take their golf game to another level,” he added.