Juniors and etiquette

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slugger

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Played a bounce game yesterday teeing off at 3.30. We teed off a full 25 minutes after the group in front. By the 3rd hole we had caught them. By the 6th hole, there was a big hold up behind us. In front of the group in front of us was a couple of groups of Juniors holding up the hole course. The guys in front got past the junior group and then we were stuck behind them until the 9th hole after waiting for up to 10 minutes to take each shot and no sign of them letting us through. When they did let us through, only one of their group seemed to understand what this actually meant, as the other two continued to play their shots to the hole as we played through them! A couple of them even walked out straight in front of one of my playing partners when they were mid shot.

After the hole, the junior that appeared to know what he was doing moaned about his playing partners saying they were the slowest he'd ever seen and they have no idea of the basic rules of golf, and that on one tee (the 3rd) they had waited for 1 hour for a junior group 3 groups in front of them looking for balls.

Anyone ever had it so bad catching up on young 'uns and struggling to get passed?

Who is responsible for them learning the rules? The club? themselves (got to remember that some of them are only aged between 10 - 16)? Their parents? The club captain?

Who should i approach to make some suggestions to? I'd be surpried if there wasn't some kind of club programme that encourages junior players to learn etiquette at the same time as learning to swing a club...
 
Interesting thread this one. I'm quite involved with our Junior section at the moment. We have Junior coaching at this time of year. Our first two weeks were taken up with Rules and Etiquette and a general overview of how the game is played. Only on the third session did they get a club in their hands. We've got a series of 12 weeks with a varied programme that the Pro has used as the basis of the teaching. The R&A have some interesting short versions of the rumles etc that can be helpfull to the youngsters.

It's really the up to each individual club to invest in their Juniors and to teach them what is and isn't acceptable in this great game.

Clubs also need to do something to get the younger/smaller ones playing. How about trying a shortened course for the newbies ? get them out there playing and enjoying themselves.

A good Junior convenor is worth their weight in salt in my opinion. They can make or break the Junior section.

We have a very good one at the moment, so it's a thriving section with lots of enthusiasm.

Rather than wondering who to talk to about the issue, find out who to talk to to get involved, it's hard work but it's also great fun :D
 
I quite often take my 6 year old daughter out on par 3 courses and make sure i teach her rules of the course as we go around. She is quite slow because of her age so we let a fair few people through and i make sure she understands why we do it.

I do see a fair few juniors at my place and they do tend to walk out in front of you without a care in the world. I tend to explain to them in a polite manner what they are doing wrong and why it is wrong. I tend to get a better reaction if i explain why rather than just say dont do it.
 
I played a course last year following three juniors two of which had no idea, one boy took his coat on and off between every shot and most the time hos ball travelled no more than 50 yards.

Waiting on a par three the group behind caught us up realised what happened, said they were members and asked if they could play through.

The juniors looked back, saw them, picked up their clubs and left!
 
I must stick up for the juniors. I played with one on Saturday and the kid was a delight. A bit sure of himself but not a bit obnoxious, just full of youth. He played the game better than a lot of adults and his etiquette was superb. A credit to the game. A lot of adults forget we were once youngsters with all of the cockiness of youth and we too easily become grumpy old men, especially when out driven by a teen, not that I was (luckily) lets give our golfing youngsters a bit of credit, there is a lot worse they could be doing than playing golf, just check out your local bus stop or phone box destroyed by chav's They have a hobby and the majority are very well behaved.They are the future Rory Mcilroys & Sergio's give 'em a break.
 
The juniors at our place are brilliant. The club runs an academy and part of the teaching plan involves etiquette etc. Every time I have played with one in competition, they have been well behaved, polite and threw less temper tantrums at bad shots than some of the adult members on our course!
 
I have to say the majority of our juniors are pretty good especially the younger ones. Its the 12-16 year olds that seem a bit full of themselves and won't rush to let you through or can be a bit lax with green repairs etc. I was at the wifes club yesterday and they had a load of juniors on the range and short game area and they were immaculately behaved.
 
As a junior myself i have to stick up for them at my club. We let people through when needed, dont play in more than 3 balls and even let men and woman play along with us if they want to that is :rolleyes: ;)
 
As a junior myself i have to stick up for them at my club. We let people through when needed, dont play in more than 3 balls and even let men and woman play along with us if they want to that is :rolleyes: ;)
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I totally agree. I can (just remember being a junior and back in the 80's it was soul destryoing. We could only sit and eat/drink in the snooker room or changing room (usually through a nicotine cloud) had limited access to the course and competitions and were generally looked down on even though the majority of my peers were as good or better than 75% of the main membership. It was only once one guy took over the section and made things happen did the junior membership pick up and flourish. Today at Ascot the juniors are generally very well behaved in the clubhouse and most are courteous and have a good grounding in etiquette.
 
you can teach the juniors the rules but as with most things its down to the individul some will do as they are ment to others will just do what they want, thats kids cant say i was much differnt a few years back.
 
Generally 2 types of junior in my experience at my club.

The 1st is a horrible little rich brat who despite 100s of £ks worth of education by their teens couldn't even spell etiquette and have mouths bigger than you could believe. Had 1 roll into our group on the 1st today who lasted til the 3rd before we subtley invited him to play on ahead as we were holding him up - not that 1 of our group wanted to drown him in the lake after he'd spun back into it and brat pipes up "should of taken another club really shouldn't you". Said brat was roughly 12 years old with a remote controlled trolley, Galvin Green everything, £1k+ worth of equipment and a smarmy arrogance/self obsession that would test Gary Glitter's patience with him!

The 2nd is the type we activitely integrate into the adult membership crowd via members days (randomly drawn groups) and the juniors looking for games board in the locker room. Especially for people like myself who have at least 1 weekday off per week from march through september every week it's a very easy way to get paired up when all your mates are working.

The proviso for getting their name on this board is they have to be "played in" on a members day and their course etiquette/manner backed up by an adult member from the group on that day. Nothing silly just being polite and having consideration for the course and others on it.

The vast majority of our 60+ year old members and a lot of the other members could learn a lot from these juniors!
 
This is what bugs me! I am a junior and have been playing golf for 11 years!

I find that actually whenever I have played with other juniors we always let people through if need be! And although some may appear to be a bit stand-offish at times I actually think that is due to the more mature members constantly giving juniors a bad name!

I actually think that it is the seniors who need a lesson or two… Simply because for a good 50% or more of them started the game later in life and never had the rules of golf explained to them, and they have "more experience" and better "morals" therefore everybody else is wrong!

And then what about off the course…

I do not even go into the clubhouse anymore such is the attitude of the older members.

I think people don't realise also that juniors play the sport like everyone else for enjoyment, not to annoy others! And, that unlike a few golfers have taken steps to take up what can be a very time and money consuming game for youngsters, therefore making a very big commitment, especially when for most my age golf is seen as a 65 year olds and older game,and they get a lot of stick for playing such an old fashioned game!

Personally, I think juniors get a real hard time, and actually if people got to know them, they would hold much different opinions of them.

Anyway, rant over! Give us a break!!!!
 
I hope i never offended anyone with my OP. It wasn't directed towards the whole junior golfing world, far from it. We were unlucky to get held up behind these 3 juniors and i was questioning their understanding of etiquette on the course. At no time did i have a dig at anyone else apart from two of these three. I was more enquiring about what is in place at other clubs to make sure that up and coming players learn about the important aspects of the game other than the bit that involves getting the ball in the hole.

I do not even go into the clubhouse anymore such is the attitude of the older members.

I think people don't realise also that juniors play the sport like everyone else for enjoyment, not to annoy others! And, that unlike a few golfers have taken steps to take up what can be a very time and money consuming game for youngsters, therefore making a very big commitment, especially when for most my age golf is seen as a 65 year olds and older game,and they get a lot of stick for playing such an old fashioned game!

Personally, I think juniors get a real hard time, and actually if people got to know them, they would hold much different opinions of them.
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that's a big shame you don't feel you can use the clubhouse anymore.

Totally agree with your other points and for what it's worth, i did play a few holes with a couple of juniors last week and they were switched on in every regard and very good company on the course.
 
I have no problem playing golf with junior members.

Generally they are better golfers and have a LOT more courtesy than the majority of adult players.
 
I agree. There are a handful of older juniors (16 ish) who are arrogant beyond belief and when I caught them in our environmental area looking for a ball (big no no and almost certainly a ban if not dismissal if caught by anyone of any standing) they gave me a mouthful. Suffice to say I was going to let it go having made my point but decided to report the trappy idiot. Funnily enough his mates pleaded with me (he never showed his face) not to do it. I said if he apologised in person that would be the end of it. He sheepishly appeared uttered some half hearted apology and sauntered off almost smirking.

Its idiots like him who a) bring others to his level b) put adult members off getting involved with the juniors and c) damage the reputation of the whole section.

The vast majority of our juniors are great. Some are very talented and destined for good times ahead but there are those irritating few that have to flout the rules (flop shots onto the putting green, drivers on the practice ground - too short and they pepper and clear the back fence etc) and you just get wound up. I've tried being polite and explaining that I don't have an issue per se but if the captain or the top guys in the club see them its going to lead to trouble. I've even tried being downright blunt but they have this chip that their parents have bought them all the gear and they are members and so can do what they like.

I guess the point is to try and not let a few bad uns ruin it for the others. I know from my own experiences how soul destroying adult memebers can make it for juniors and so I'll happily play a few holes with most of them. A few are asking about my blog, GM in general and the forum so hopefully they might log on soon and benefit from your collective wisdom.
 
I love watching the juniors play and have played with a few 5 and 6 handicappers recently and was mightily impressed all the juniors at our club seem very professional,could do with a few more though.
 
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