Bacon Park Golf Course in Savannah, Ga. and a local businessman launched a program called BP JG200, which gives 200 junior golfers ages 12 and under the opportunity to play unlimited golf on the nine-hole Legends Course for a deeply discounted rate.
Some memories are just too good to keep to oneself. Just ask O.C. Welch of Savannah, Ga. The recollections he has of playing golf as a boy at Bacon Park Golf Course in Savannah, Ga.—and the lifelong friends he has made on the golf course—have stayed with him through the years, and he decided to return the favor to today’s youth.
In December, he launched a program called BP JG200, which gives 200 junior golfers ages 12 and under the opportunity to play unlimited golf on the nine-hole Legends Course at Bacon Park for $50 a year—the same amount that a junior membership cost when he was a child.
“It adds another way for kids to have access to golf,” says Gordon Gnann, Head Golf Professional at Bacon Park. “This is an extremely affordable option for kids.”
Welch started playing golf at Bacon Park, which also includes an 18-hole Donald Ross course, when he was 5 years old, and he got his first job there as a cart boy at age 11.
“I grew up out there. I could play anytime I wanted during the week,” says Welch, a local auto dealer. “It’s not where you play. It’s who you play with. I have been playing with some people for 50 years.”
The membership begins when the juniors sign up for the program, but rates apply to play the 18-hole course. Bacon Park also provides balls and junior clubs to those that need equipment.
Spreading the word about BP JG200 through social media, word-of-mouth, and the junior golf page on the Bacon Park website, Welch and the Bacon Park staff hope that the program will take off in the spring. They are putting up billboards to advertise the initiative, and a couple of local TV stations have picked up the story as well.
In addition to introducing the sport to junior players, Welch also wants them to understand that golf is a gentleman’s game.
“Golf teaches them a level of respect they don’t get somewhere else. It teaches them to respect themselves,” he says. “Golf is the only game where you can call a penalty on yourself. You can cheat, but you’ll have to live with that.”
The juniors also have to learn to take care of the property, which teaches them responsibility, adds Gnann. He says they learn off-the-course lessons on the course as well.
“Golf teaches so many life lessons,” Gnann says. “You can play golf from a young age to an old age.”
BP JG200 is not the only way that Bacon Park is trying to attract junior golfers to the game, however. The municipal golf course also offers summer camps, a team-oriented PGA Junior League, and a parent/child tournament in December. Middle school and high school golf programs practice at Bacon Park, and the municipal course is the site of school matches on Tuesdays.
In addition, Bacon Park introduced an after-school program during this academic year for beginners ages 6 to 13. The program, which started in September, runs until May. Lessons are conducted in class form every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, and members have access to the Legends Course free of charge for the duration of the program.
The Birdie membership, which costs $150 per month, includes unlimited classes each month, and the $175 Eagle membership offers unlimited classes, plus one private 30-minute lesson per month.
The staff also is developing clinics, blitzes with team competitions, tournaments, and other opportunities for junior golfers throughout the year.
“Juniors are our future in the golf industry,” Gnann says. “They’re the ones who will have jobs and disposable income in the future. The program is an investment in the industry and Bacon Park’s future.”
Welch calls the golf course, which opened in 1926 and was close to going out of business, “a 150-acre playground” for the juniors.
“There’s nothing more beautiful than seeing a kid carrying a golf bag or the look on their faces when they fall in love with the game,” he says. “If they hit a bad shot, the coach doesn’t yell at them. The sooner you can start playing golf, the happier you will be in your life.”
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