V
vkurup
Guest
At the advice of his coach, we let Jr out on his first kids competition so that he can get a 'handicap'. Having just turned 6 (or 16 in his mind), he was looking fwd to this all week. Woke up this morning with a "I dont want to go because I am nervous!!" Quick pep talk and he was out of the door in no time for a 8:45 tee off.. (where do kids get the energy on a weekend). The club does kid comps every month for the under-10 kids in the academy. It is played over 9 holes on our Par 3 course. Everyone gets a 'handicap' and you can see how you progress. Anyways, my observations about what happened - (disclaimer: will have biases and assumptions)
Overall a good outing and a great learning experience. It is a joy to watch the kids play and the happiness when they score. We had someone who chipped in from about 15y and he was over the moon. My son one putted on the last hole and nearly did a victory lap.
My son almost had a double bogie round. He shot a 47 over a par 27 course. So I think he will get a official handicap of about 40. He had one par and a couple of bogies and doubles with the rest exceed them. It was a very damp and a bit cold to start and I did not realise that he had a cut in his palm when he had fallen over at school on Friday. So for all his efforts arranged for the Pro to give him a 'prize' for shooting his first par in a competition. The sleeve of Titelist is now resting next to the picture of Rory in his room....
.... Being a kid is a great time to be.
- Kid golf is very stressful for the daddy caddy - esp if Daddy plays golf. Mummy's are alright (esp if they dont play) because they are there to shepard the kid whereas Daddy is part-coach, part-crowd and part-player.
- Not all kids enjoy it and you can sense they are there for the parents. But kids they go thru the phases of loving it and loathing it... so cant judge on that.
- Kids learn from each other.. It was my son's first outing, and he was watching the older kids and their parents speak. On the 7th, he was trying to say, 'Get on the green' to his ball and 'thats bad luck' to someone who missed the fairway!!!!.. So be careful of what you say at all times.
- The kids game is fairly reflective of the adult game. We had slow play in front of us (and a Dad in my group getting increasingly upset), all kit and no swing (kitted out in Galvins and nice clubs, but struggling), some counting errors (was that 6 or 7, lets say 6), mindgames (more from parents than kids), questionable rules interpretation (winter rules when not on fairway), inflated expectation of self (Me: Use a driver; Son: I can get there with a iron; then hits the driver and comes short)
- Prize giving can be heartbreaking. As it was our first outing, my son was not in contention - though he came fairly close to NTP. So when the prizes were given away, he nearly started crying. Life is tough son.. play better next time.
- Some kids are just natural... it is fab to watch them play
Overall a good outing and a great learning experience. It is a joy to watch the kids play and the happiness when they score. We had someone who chipped in from about 15y and he was over the moon. My son one putted on the last hole and nearly did a victory lap.
My son almost had a double bogie round. He shot a 47 over a par 27 course. So I think he will get a official handicap of about 40. He had one par and a couple of bogies and doubles with the rest exceed them. It was a very damp and a bit cold to start and I did not realise that he had a cut in his palm when he had fallen over at school on Friday. So for all his efforts arranged for the Pro to give him a 'prize' for shooting his first par in a competition. The sleeve of Titelist is now resting next to the picture of Rory in his room....
.... Being a kid is a great time to be.
ne:
