As golf lessons start up again at Bowen Island Golf Club I am again getting the very common (and understandable) question, “How young is too young?” for golf lessons. My pat answer is I teach all ages from three to 93 (the 94-year-olds are too grumpy). In all seriousness the youngest student I taught last summer was indeed three years old. And did better than two of the five-year-olds in his group.
A common follow-up question is, “What can you teach a three-year-old in golf?” And my answer is always the same. “To love the game.” At the end of the day golf is a game that involves hitting a ball with a stick, and what child does not love hitting a ball with a stick? Better yet, golf teaches kids to hit a ball with a stick, with some decorum!
My first introduction to golf was my dad taking me to a driving range at a private club only to be kicked off the range because I was too young. Not a great introduction to the game and I am so relieved that experience alone did not drive me away from golf. Teaching young kids the game of golf is all about making the experience fun while, at the very same time, teaching them some good habits. Like don’t hit people with the stick. Fun stuff like that.
We have always had a very good junior program at Bowen Island Golf Club and it is even better now that kids play for free. Yes, not a typo - Bronwyn would have caught it. Kids play for free. The goal is simple: to introduce the game of golf to as many kids as possible. It is good for the kids, and the course as well, as kids who play golf become adults who play golf. We have adults now at Bowen Island Golf Club who were just kids when I first started giving them golf lessons. A couple of them have even been Club Champions. Not Junior Club Champions. Club Champions. And on top of kids playing for free, junior lessons are half price.
Golf is a rare game in that kids who play the game, can play with parents who play the game. And grandparents who play the game. I cannot think of another sport in the world so conducive to full family involvement. At home here on Bowen, or on travels all over the world. Remember travels? The moral of the story is there is no “too young” to learn the game of golf. Just keep those 94-year-olds away from me.
For more information or to sign up for lessons, contact: [email protected].
