The Franklin County Junior Golf program had its first free clinic of 2012 last Sunday.
The program is open to boys and girls ages 6-14 interested in learning how to play the game of golf.
Participating courses are Wolf Hollow Golf Club, Franklin County Country Club, Meramec Lakes Golf Course and Sullivan Golf Club.
The first clinic was held at Wolf Hollow.
“It was a really good day. We had 76 kids turn out plus their parents,” said Wolf Hollow General Manager Doug Warden. “We had 14 instructors helping the kids. The biggest hit was Golfzilla, a 20-foot tall Godzilla-like target for the kids to take aim at. They really liked it. It was a good turnout. We even had one kid younger than 6 years old participate.”
The second and final free clinic takes place Sunday, June 3, at Meramec Lakes in St. Clair from 1-3:30 p.m.
If kids do not have golf equipment, it will be provided at the clinic.
“We expect about the same turnout at Meramec Lakes,” Warden said. “Golfzilla will be back.”
Tournaments will then take place at the four participating courses.
The tournaments are scheduled for June 28 at Wolf Hollow, July 11 at Meramec Lakes, July 19 at Sullivan Golf Club and July 26 at Franklin County Country Club.
“We’ve had several sign up for our tournaments, but are always looking for more,” Warden said. “The tournaments are low competition. We don’t want kids who have played in competitive tournaments. The courses will be modified to make them shorter and all age groups will play nine holes.”
There is a one-time registration fee of $5 per golfer to enter the program. The fee for each tournament is $10 per golfer.
A fundraiser tournament to support the program, which will be a four-person scramble, will be held June 22 at Wolf Hollow at 12:30 p.m.
The fee of $100 per golfer includes 18 holes with a cart, beverages, lunch and dinner.
“We still need players for the fundraiser tournament,” Warden said. “We need to raise money for the program to provide affordable golf for kids.”
Goals for Franklin County Junior Golf are:
•To create junior players who will grow the demand for the game for the future;
•To create a soft competition giving area juniors a chance to compete on a lesser level than the PGA Junior events;
•To create a feeder system for the PGA junior events;
•To offer a competitive junior program close to home;
•To make the program inexpensive; and
•To recognize and honor junior players in the area.
For details, contact Wolf Hollow Golf Club at 636-390-8100, Franklin County Country Club at 636-239-6678, Meramec Lakes Golf Course at 636-629-0900 or Sullivan Golf Club at 573-468-5803.
Additional details can be found at www.fcjuniorgolf.org.
