Modifying an idea from the Colorado PGA, the town is allowing students to play on the golf course as part of a physical education program. If the kids complete all four days of golf, they are permitted to borrow clubs and hit range balls for free all summer.
More than 270 middle schoolers spent four days last week learning how to play golf at Gypsum (Colo.) Creek Golf Course, and now high schoolers are on the property thanks to a variation on a Colorado PGA idea, the Vail (Colo.) Daily reported.
The Colorado PGA came up with the concept of putting golf clubs in kid’s hands during P.E. classes, which would be held indoors with whiffle golf balls, the Daily reported.
However, since the town of Gypsum bought a golf course a few years ago, they politely told the Colorado PGA that they had a better idea. Kids would play their golf course all four class days. In fact, they’d close the front nine so the kids could play the course, the Daily reported.
And because it’s their golf course, that’s what they did. It’s not complicated, and the program seems to be a success, the Daily reported.
“Middle school and high school kids want to hit real golf balls on a real golf course,” Head Pro Tom Buzbee said. “It’s a whole new world for some of these kids.”
P.E. teacher, Deb Jordan, drives the students from school to the golf course and back, the Daily reported.
“It’s a new experience. I like it and I’d like to keep doing it,” said Luis Landeros, an eighth-grader at Gypsum Creek Middle School.
“Golf is a mental game. The most important part is what you’re thinking, not your physical ability,” said Aubree Kaehuel, another Gypsum Creek eighth-grader.
If the kids complete the four days, and Buzbee and his crew see that they do, then they can come back all summer, borrow clubs and hit range balls for free. If they bring a friend, and they’re encouraged to bring several, their friends can hit balls, too, the Daily reported.
“The town is very committed to making sure that if you have the interest, you’re provided the opportunity,” Buzbee said. “Someone has to make it available to you. The scariest thing about the game is walking through that pro shop door the first time and saying, ‘I want to play golf.’”
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