Up and coming junior golfers

[Mel Smooth]

Now obviously I've got a bit of a vested interest in junior golf as it forms a significant part of my 'golf life', ferrying the youth around to different events I get to see some great players, and there are a few who look to have something that might set them apart from the rest. Jamie plays regularly with a lad called Ed Fearnley, who at the age of 11 is down to a 10.5 Handicap Index and is pretty good for his age and size, but seemingly .not as good as the lad that finished 1st in the 10-11 boys in the Daily Mail World Junior Championships where Ed was competing last week.

Dimitrii Elchaninov - blew the competition away with a 8 under final score to finish 13 shots ahead of his nearest competitor!!

I think the course was set up at around 5200 yards, so not exactly short given the age of the competitors.

One to keep an eye on to see if he maintains those levels through the next 5 or 6 years.

https://brjgt.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/brjgt25/event/brjgt251/contest/34/leaderboard.htm

 

[HPIMG]

Nowadays there’s loads of scratch or better players at 10/11 years old. My boys club has a girl who’s +4 at 12 years old and she looks like a child not as if she’s massive and just bullies the ball around.

 

[Neilds]

Is that off scratch? Amazing scoring

 

[Doon frae Troon]

In my time of 'ferrying' juniors around the UK the best looking 'future stars' at the time never made it to the top.
Gordon Sherry and Gary Harris were good examples
The ones who did make it were under the radar....... Luke Donald, Paul Casey and David Howell.

 

[Golf is fun]

Being fairly heavily involved in junior golf although on the girls side not the boys side, there are a few things I observe that make me think the results are not that representative of adult potential:

1. The motivations of the kids, you can see some of them want to be there, and some are forced to be there by their parents. I can only assume the same applies to practise, so it's hard to know whether the kid burns out, rebels or maintains this as they get older.
2. Long term skill development vs immediate gratification, this may apply more to the girls, but I notice a lot of them are very robotic, typically a dad gives them instructions and they execute. This leads to success at the junior level but isn't necessarily building long term skill and autonomy.
3. The age brackets can favour the older kids, especially in the younger categories, kind of how you see in school years groups, but magnified because the age ranges are generally 2 years. Last year we played in a tournament that had the age determined on 1st Jan, but the competition in September. In the 7-8 category there was a child with a December birthday who was 7 and 9 months old and a child with a January birthday who was 9 and 9 months old, the physical difference was massive, so the older kid appears better but may not be necessarily so.

 

[IanM]

I remember Garry Harries well, as I was in Swindon as he and Howeller were coming through. He won the Brabazon and was a fine player.

The step up to earning money playing, is a tough one to make. Takes a bit more than just having a good golf game.

But these kids are the next generation of club golfers too. I hope they learn to "smell the flowers" too.

 

[Mel Smooth]

0

Is that off scratch? Amazing scoring

It is yeah.

 

[upsidedown]

If they have the desire and dare I say it financial backing good juniors can make it. Keenly follow Kazuma Kobori and Momoka Kobori ,brother and sister who as juniors were always practicing around the putting green and short game area at Rangiora in New Zealand.Both now professionals

 

[garyinderry]

I remember seeing this wee lad on YouTube years ago. His father documented pretty much all of his development. It was clear he was on a path to success but he obviously had talent and the drive to succeed. On the PGA tour now.

Dreams do come true.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

I remember Garry Harries well, as I was in Swindon as he and Howeller were coming through. He won the Brabazon and was a fine player.

The step up to earning money playing, is a tough one to make. Takes a bit more than just having a good golf game.

But these kids are the next generation of club golfers too. I hope they learn to "smell the flowers" too.

Gary won the Wheatabix British Age Groups Championship three years on the trot.
His club mate Vicki Hanks won the Girls title twice in three years.

Karen Stupples was another player who far exceeded her junior 'prospects'.

 

[Deleted member 36735]

It's like any sport, a bit of natural talent at a young age is nice but just the beginning.
They've got to be interested, motivated, hard working and be able to keep improving to progress as they get older.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

It's like any sport, a bit of natural talent at a young age is nice but just the beginning.
They've got to be interested, motivated, hard working and be able to keep improving to progress as they get older.

This has been the bedrock of the success Lottie Woad had as a junior and as she made her way to World #1 Am in the Ladies game. She and her coach never say or lean much about natural ability.

Simple fact is that she has an obsessive and utterly single-minded mindset - and as she says - she just loves practice. Her parents basically left her to it - to decide what sport she wanted to focus on and then let her work with her 1st ever and still swing coach. All her dad did was drive her around.

Will she succeed professionally? Who knows. There are a lot of very good under 21s Am girls chasing her at the moment. This coming six months will give strong pointers as she plays the Augusta National as holder, and then the pros in the US Open and hopefully also the Chevron and others. So, if Lottie is anything to go by,‘natural ability and talent’? Yes it’s good to have it. Determination, self-motivation and love of practice - crucial.

I’ll add -the men’s game may well be a bit different and require great natural ability and flair to make it simply due to the numbers of lads trying. Don’t know.

 

[IanM]

Gary won the Wheatabix British Age Groups Championship three years on the trot.
His club mate Vicki Hanks won the Girls title twice in three years.

Karen Stupples was another player who far exceeded her junior 'prospects'.

I worked with Vicki, at that time she wasn't playing golf at all. This was about 2007... I hope she's got back into it.

Recently, we've had some great girls at Newport. Some went to American colleges. One is now a club pro locally, lost track of the others.

 

[D-S]

Knowle locally has got Caley McGinty who has been a great Junior, went to college in the USA but always comes back to the club to play when she’s back. Goes to all the Gloucestershire training sessions and get togethers, caddies for the County if she is around and is not playing. A really good person as well as a golfer. She was a top 3 amateur in her time in the US.
Happily she qualified and has a full card on the LPGA tour this year coming through Q school. Really hopes she has a great rookie season.

 

[Mel Smooth]

It's like any sport, a bit of natural talent at a young age is nice but just the beginning.
They've got to be interested, motivated, hard working and be able to keep improving to progress as they get older.

There’s a guy in one of the builders merchants I use who played with Matt Fitzpatrick through the junior ranks. He was a solid player as a junior, and tells me he was as good as Fitzpatrick, but, when he reached the age where going out and having a drink becomes part of life he took that path and MF stayed focused on his golf.. "Look at me now, carrying wood round a yard"..

The reality of course is that it's incredibly difficult to reach the absolute elite levels of pro golf, but the game does offer multiple career opportunities within the game that most other sports don't - we're hoping to get Jamie into Myerscough in Preston after he finishes school in 2026, I know a few lads that go there and it looks like they get a really good experience there.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

There’s a guy in one of the builders merchants I use who played with Matt Fitzpatrick through the junior ranks. He was a solid player as a junior, and tells me he was as good as Fitzpatrick, but, when he reached the age where going out and having a drink becomes part of life he took that path and MF stayed focused on his golf.. "Look at me now, carrying wood round a yard"..

The reality of course is that it's incredibly difficult to reach the absolute elite levels of pro golf, but the game does offer multiple career opportunities within the game that most other sports don't - we're hoping to get Jamie into Myerscough in Preston after he finishes school in 2026, I know a few lads that go there and it looks like they get a really good experience there.

BIB…Lottie Woad’s younger sister is a decent golfer…perhaps has more ‘natural ability’ than Lottie at her age…when asked what she feels about Lottie being World #1 she replied … great - but I’ve got friends…

 

[Deleted member 36735]

but the game does offer multiple career opportunities within the game that most other sports don't - we're hoping to get Jamie into Myerscough in Preston after he finishes school in 2026, I know a few lads that go there and it looks like they get a really good experience there.

Yeah but then what?

The golf industry is massively overstaffed, especially with pros, personally I'd advise any youngster who loves golf to avoid it like the plague.

 

[pendodave]

Yeah but then what?

The golf industry is massively overstaffed, especially with pros, personally I'd advise any youngster who loves golf to avoid it like the plague.

I'm not sure, in a world with robot lawnmowers, that it's still the case, but I remember greenkeeping being a recommended career in golf. The thinking being that it was much better paid and with more opportunities for advancement than for assistant pros, range coaches etc.

 

[Mel Smooth]

Yeah but then what?

The golf industry is massively overstaffed, especially with pros, personally I'd advise any youngster who loves golf to avoid it like the plague.

.
Well he'll be working in a pro-shop in a years time, so he'll get the opportunity to decide whether it's for him or not.

From what I've seen, there are plenty of opportunities in our local clubs for young people to progress, and if you are good at what you do, then like any other career - you'll achieve success.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Yeah but then what?

The golf industry is massively overstaffed, especially with pros, personally I'd advise any youngster who loves golf to avoid it like the plague.

There is golf management as a route to go down

Know a young lad that went down that route and now a couple years later works at The Berkshire