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JUNIORS

Good to see some encouraging figures. I wonder what the long term conversation rate will be from hitting balls at a range or on a simulator, to playing golf on a course? I imagine for some the driving range is a means to an end itself especially with the technology now available at ranges to gamify things a lot more.

I would be interested to see the numbers on junior club membership too. I've found it's a real mixed bag how they are treated at clubs, some being very welcoming, and others seeing young people on the course as the worst thing ever!
 
Covid boom and junior organisers is this area have worked very hard to get juniors in

Add in schools partnerships and golf clubs being more “welcoming” and allowing these juniors to be part of the club is helping massively

Three years ago we had very little juniors - a new junior organiser plus the pro and we have hit our limit and have a waiting list now , they are doing superb with handicaps tumbling and junior comps winning , we are also keeping them at the club as opposed to seeing them disappear to Woburn
 
What the figures represent was clear as mud to me from that presentation.
I was left completely unclear as to how many more or less are going to golf courses as opposed to simulators ranges etc.

I am not criticising these activities just left totally unsure as to what the figures represent.
 
Massive culture of support to juniors at my place…100+ in Junior Academy and Junior section…and quite a number of girls. Over the last 15yrs or so, the pros have developed an approach to making coaching sessions fun and a laugh, and the club has established a short Junior academy course.

Obviously the ‘Lottie factor’ has been huge in attracting juniors, both boys and girls, into the academy - if they aren’t aware of her before joining many parents are. And of course when Lottie is about you can see the juniors hold her in awe - and what a role model they have to work at their game.

There is push-back from some members over the amount of support the club provides through giving juniors access to the course, and the support the club gives to county, regional and the occasional national comps…but when you join the club you know this.
 
We have a really good junior section at our place, some teens with low single figure handicaps. Hopefully most will still be involved when they pass into adulthood and all the distractions that brings .
 
8 years ago when I joined my club, I hardly saw a junior. They weren’t on the putting green, nor at the range, definitely not on the course!

Now, there’s a good handful of juniors in every competition (often winning!), there’s always groups on the chipping green, junior matches out on course etc.

It’s fantastic to see and I think there’s been a big shift in attitude towards them even during those 8 years. They’re a good bunch.
 
SwingsitlikeHogan said:
Massive culture of support to juniors at my place…100+ in Junior Academy and Junior section…and quite a number of girls. Over the last 15yrs or so, the pros have developed an approach to making coaching sessions fun and a laugh, and the club has established a short Junior academy course.

Obviously the ‘Lottie factor’ has been huge in attracting juniors, both boys and girls, into the academy - if they aren’t aware of her before joining many parents are. And of course when Lottie is about you can see the juniors hold her in awe - and what a role model they have to work at their game.

There is push-back from some members over the amount of support the club provides through giving juniors access to the course, and the support the club gives to county, regional and the occasional national comps…but when you join the club you know this.
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The support for juniors at your place is great, having both attended a few junior events, and played in events with players/teams from there.

I've tried to encourage the same where I am. but it's not easy. There is support for juniors in theory, but less so in practical terms like hosting comps, having shorter tees, etc.. I'll keep working away at that though.
 
Golf is fun said:
The support for juniors at your place is great, having both attended a few junior events, and played in events with players/teams from there.

I've tried to encourage the same where I am. but it's not easy. There is support for juniors in theory, but less so in practical terms like hosting comps, having shorter tees, etc.. I'll keep working away at that though.
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Your note of theory and practice is absolutely spot on for the vast majority of British golf clubs.
Yes we do encourage juniors after 4 pm at weekends and so long as the cheating little sods don't play in the mens/womens competitions.
 
Doon frae Troon said:
Your note of theory and practice is absolutely spot on for the vast majority of British golf clubs.
Yes we do encourage juniors after 4 pm at weekends and so long as the cheating little sods don't play in the mens/womens competitions.
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Our juniors can play in our Club Champs…though they have to have a HI of 9.0 or less 👍
 
Lord Tyrion said:
Why have different rules for them?
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I think that it'll be to do with a rapidly improving junior golfer's HI lagging their potential to score miles under their current HI. If we had it completely open to juniors of HI up to 28.0 an issue would only arise for the handicap comp side of things...and that comp is really for the full member. But for the scratch side off things and when identifying the Club Champion - we want to include any junior capable of winning that - and that's very unlikely to be a junior with HI of over 9.0. Also, as it happens, the club made a special provision three years ago for the then 17yr old Lottie Woad to play in the club champs...if she was the best golfer in the club then she should be able to be Club Champion. She went off to Uni in the States and never played - and most likely now never will. Pity.
 
SwingsitlikeHogan said:
I think that it'll be to do with a rapidly improving junior golfer's HI lagging their potential to score miles under their current HI. If we had it completely open to juniors of HI up to 28.0 an issue would only arise for the handicap comp side of things...and that comp is really for the full member. But for the scratch side off things and when identifying the Club Champion - we want to include any junior capable of winning that - and that's very unlikely to be a junior with HI of over 9.0. Also, as it happens, the club made a special provision three years ago for the then 17yr old Lottie Woad to play in the club champs...if she was the best golfer in the club then she should be able to be Club Champion. She went off to Uni in the States and never played - and most likely now never will. Pity.
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Can an adult with a h/c over 9 play in the club champs? I'd expect this to be a scratch comp so the rapidly improving aspect doesn't matter.
 
Lord Tyrion said:
Can an adult with a h/c over 9 play in the club champs? I'd expect this to be a scratch comp so the rapidly improving aspect doesn't matter.
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Yes...limit is HI of 28.0. There are both Scratch (for Club Champ) and Handicap prizes. That a limit of 9.0 is imposed on Juniors is simply a cutoff for any Junior likely to win the scratch.
 
About 10 years ago we stopped charging subscriptions for juniors whose parents, guardians or grandparents were full members. This actually cost the club little money (Junior subs are pretty low) but had a great effect in galvanising participation and ending up with the largest Junior section in the County and great success at County, Regional and National level.
 
D-S said:
About 10 years ago we stopped charging subscriptions for juniors whose parents, guardians or grandparents were full members. This actually cost the club little money (Junior subs are pretty low) but had a great effect in galvanising participation and ending up with the largest Junior section in the County and great success at County, Regional and National level.
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This is a good idea. Someone once explained to me that a token amount e.g. £50 was best for children / grand children of members, because if it was free then a lot of parents would sign up their children with no intention of ever playing.
 
sunshine said:
This is a good idea. Someone once explained to me that a token amount e.g. £50 was best for children / grand children of members, because if it was free then a lot of parents would sign up their children with no intention of ever playing.
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They still have to fill out the relevant safeguarding forms etc. however if they do that and still never play, in reality it is no harm, no foul. But this has not been the case for the vast majority and has transformed the Junior membership and apparently has helped attract and retain members (this was more the case before the COVID boom as we have had a waiting list since then).
 
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