Youth golf continues to boom at New Richmond Golf Club

• Putting instruction

John Larson tries to help Leah DeYoung develop a smooth putting stroke at the putting station at the Joe Swanda Learning Center.
• Ross Johnson

New Richmond Golf Club general manager Ross Johnson talks to a group of girls about the techniques used for chipping during a session of the Tiger Youth Golf Program last week.
• Kyle Montgomery

Instructor Kyle Montgomery shows Garret Thomas where his feet should be located at the end of his drive.
• Individual attention

New Richmond girls varsity coach Neal Ziller, one of the instructors in the Tiger Youth Program, helps Presley Flatten to find the proper grip on her club.

Talk about it

With nearly 200 youngsters taking part, the youth golf programs at the New Richmond Golf Club continue to flourish.

This year there were 164 kids taking part in the Tiger Youth Program, which is for kids ages 8-13. There were 20 more golfers in the Accelerated Junior Program for golfers with more advanced skills.

The programs are led by Ross Johnson, NRGC general manager and PGA professional and Scott Cole, PGA professional at NRGC. They have a staff of 8-10 instructors, many of whom are products of the program or are coaches in the New Richmond High School golf programs.

The young golfers spend 10 Thursday mornings of the summer learning the game of golf. The first Thursday is devoted to a golf etiquette lesson, which teaches the kids the type of behavior that is expected when they are at the golf club. There is even a “code of ethics” which the kids learn that details the expectations for their behavior.

The youth program has been in place at NRGC for several decades, but the interest boomed when it was opened to the public. There have been more than 100 kids involved the past six years and more than 150 the past four years.

The youth have five Thursdays when they receive instruction at the Joe Swanda Learning Center. The kids are divided into groups by age and gender. The groups rotate around five stations designed for instruction in chipping, putting, pitching, and how to use irons and woods. The groups spend 25 minutes at each station.

Last Thursday was the final day of lessons for the young players. The next two Thursdays will be used for the Tiger Junior Club Championship.

There are a number of benefits built into being part of the Tiger program. On Thursday, Aug. 23, it is guest day, where the kids can bring a parent or grandparent to play a round with them. Kids in the Tiger program can also become NRGC junior members for $40, giving them unlimited golf for the year.

Johnson and Cole said the benefits of the program are shown in the success seen by the New Richmond High School boys and girls teams each year. They said several kids who went through the program have gone on to play college golf. The latest example is Cody Rozales, who was an honorable mention all-conference player at Waldorf College during the past collegiate season.

Tags: sports, tigers, golf, prep