Michigan is one of 12 states participating in the Youth on Course program, which invites junior golfers to pay an initial $5 fee, and another $5 for a round at 53 participating golf courses. The program is supported by the Golf Association of Michigan Foundation and more than 500 kids have signed up in the state.
Through the Youth on Course initiative, spearheaded by the Golf Association of Michigan (GAM), golf courses in the state have begun hosting youth golfers for $5 per round, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Youth on Course was first developed more than 10 years ago by the Northern California Golf Association. It has spread to a dozen other states that now include Michigan. More than 500 kids in the state have signed up for the program, the Free Press reported.
To join the Youth on Course program, junior golfers pay a $5 fee initially. If they travel to another state that supports the YOC program, they are able to use their membership card to play $5 rounds there as well, the Free Press reported.
“One of the biggest factors in golf that people see as a barrier to the game for kids is the costs to play, especially when you compare it to what people from my generation and even before grew up with,” said Hartland High coach Nathan Oake, director of the Kensington Junior Golf Tour. “The Youth on Course opportunity is so innovative that our Kensington Junior Golf Tour decided to purchase the $5 Youth on Course membership for each of our junior tour golfers, so they can play even more often and benefit from our goals as a tour that tries to make the game educational, affordable and fun. The feedback so far this spring from our kids and their parents has been fantastic.”
GAM executive director David Graham said his staff, with endorsements from the Michigan PGA and the Michigan Golf Course Owners Association, has been working since last fall with various junior golf associations, local youth leagues and First Tee chapters “throughout the state to develop an easy to use approach for kids to participate in this program in 2017. With these $5 rounds, young golfers have the necessary bridge to allow them to develop their games through ongoing and regular play.”
The plan, which has worked out west for a decade, is for sponsors and contributors to build up a fund; in Michigan’s case, it’s the GAM Foundation. The national Youth on Course organization helps with subsidizing the program in the beginning in each state as well, but GAM will need to raise more funds via donations for the long term, the Free Press reported.
From this funding source, golf courses get reimbursed for the difference in cost between its normal youth greens fees and the $5 the youths pay at the time of playing. This way, the golf course doesn’t sacrifice its bottom line even more, while filing some open tee times with their future customer base. Graham said the GAM Foundation raised over $100,000 in its first year, the Free Press reported.
“We anticipate that as the Youth on Course program gains momentum, it will generate more opportunities for fund raising. We believe the future for supporting this program is extremely positive,” Graham said.
A recent initiative with the Detroit Tigers is another fundraising opportunity for the general public. Details can be found here.
Susan Smiley, GAM director of membership and communications, said the current list of participating youth organizations are: First Tee chapters from Eastern Michigan, Greater Detroit, Mid-Michigan and Northern Michigan, as well as Spartan Junior Golf (at MSU’s Forest Akers), Flint Junior Golf, Midnight Golf/Royal Oak Golf Center, Gaylord Junior Golf and Kensington Junior Golf. High school golf coaches are also spreading the word that their players can get extra practice time in at member courses for $5 each, the Free Press reported.
“We are so excited to be able to help junior golfers who live in our area be able to play more golf at such a reasonable price,” said Judy Mason, director of golf at Michaywe Pines. “We also hope that families who are traveling from other regions and other states might seek out Gaylord and come to the Gaylord Golf Mecca and try out our course and others nearby as more courses join Youth on Course in the Gaylord area.”
In a TV interview discussing Youth on Course on the Golf Channel, golf travel reporter Matt Ginella said: “I think it’s one of the most effective and impactful grow-the-game initiatives that we have. I think First Tee is obviously great. We know about the PGA junior league, which is great. The Drive, Chip, and Putt is awesome; aspirational concept that is bringing kids to the game.
“You can have all those initiatives, but at the end of the day, they need to go out and play golf somewhere, and when they go to play golf, the average junior green fee is upwards of $18 to $25 and that’s a lot more than what we used to pay when we were kids,” Ginella said.
Here are the 53 Michigan golf courses fully vetted for youth play as of April 25 (another 30 courses are still in process):
Angels Crossing
Arrowhead Golf Club
Battle Creek Golf Club
Beechwood Greens Golf Club
Belle Isle Golf Club
Bird Creek Golf Club
Boyne Resorts – Heather and Moor
Cedar Chase Golf Club
Chandler Park Golf Club
College Fields Golf Club
Concord Hills Golf Club
Eastern Hills Golf Club
Fenton Farms Golf Club
Fieldstone Golf Club
Forest Akers Golf Club
Fox Hills Plymouth
Gaylord Country Club
Gull Lake View – West
Hartland Glen Golf Club
Hastings Golf Club
Hawk Hollow Properties – The Falcon and Woodside
Heather Highlands Championship and nine-hole course
Heather Hills Golf Club
Huron Hills Golf Club
IMA Brookwood Golf Club
Indian Trails Golf Club
Island Hills Golf Club
Lake Forest Golf Club
Leslie Park Golf Club
Links at Bowen Lake
Lost Lake Woods
Michaywe Pines Golf Club
Milham Golf Club
Morrison Lake Golf Club
Mystic Creek Golf Club
The Natural
Oceana Golf Club
Palmer Park Golf Club
Pigeon Creek Golf Club
Rackham Golf Club
Red Arrow Golf Club
Riverview Highlands
Rouge Park Golf Club
Saskatoon Golf Club
Seifert Golf Club
Solitude Links Golf Club
Stonebridge Golf Club
Sugarloaf
Swartz Creek Golf Club
Treetops Resort – Fazio Premier, Jones Masterpiece and the Tradition
Ubly Heights Golf & Country Club
Verona Hills Golf Club
Vienna Greens Golf Club
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