I want to start off with a big thank you to all of the parents and families that have been a part of our junior programming in our first two years of developing a junior program!! As you know, we were limited to usage of the back range tee and a (less than ideal) small putting green. This certainly posed some challenges to provide an optimal and fun learning environment but we’ve had over 75 kids participate in one or more of our programs thus far! Thanks for seeing the vision of where we are going and jumping in head first!
As I’ve worked on the curriculum over this winter, I’m so excited and thankful (Thanks Brooks!!!) for the MASSIVE improvements to our practice facilities! Our kids will have a dedicated area during their classes to work on their putting (to real holes), a designated area for short game on the old #9 green, and a newly sodded tee box in my teaching area at the back of the tee to hit off of! With that said, here are some of the exciting improvements we have planned:
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- New training tools/aids that keep kids focused, maximize learning through age and skill-appropriate activities, and make it fun while building confidence through measured improvement (enhanced with these awesome facility improvements!!).
- Addition of a Practice Incentive Program (PIP). Utilizing the Operation 36 App, your child will be able to earn points towards the purchase of fun “golf swag” as they compete with one another in their practice and play.
- Addition of periodic equipment evaluations. Golf is hard enough as it is. Therefore, I believe it’s critical that your child has the age, size, and skill-appropriate equipment they need to learn efficiently and effectively. Every signup will get a 15-minute free equipment evaluation that is scheduled separate from the group practices. My aim is not only to get your child the right equipment but to do so in a cost-effective way that saves you money in both the short and long term! (they grow at unpredictable rates don’t they?!
- Personalized Practice Program. Because every child learns, develops, and grows at different rates and in different ways, each week your child will receive a practice exercise and item of focus that is of the greatest importance to their progress. This may remain the same from week to week or change based on their specific needs. It may include a practice game/drill, specific tip, or ways you can assist as a parent.
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- PGA Junior League Qualification. Connecting with the idea of “building confidence” and having age/skill-appropriate challenges, we’ve made the move to require that each child pass the 25 and 50-yard scoring requirement of a score of 36 on 9 holes in order to be on our PGA Junior League Teams. After years of running this summer “team match play” on course playing program, we believe this a great move to provide an exciting, fun, and appropriately challenging experience with the kids and their families! Do keep in mind, that we are setting up everything in such a way to help every kid try to pass these requirements and join us this summer!!
- Addition of PGA Junior League Team Practices! After the completion of our 8 week Operation 36 program that kids on the course and on the range, those that qualify for PGA Junior League, will have team-specific practices that are 90 minutes in length geared at prepping them to play in matches against the other clubs. We will cover additional rules, strategy, etiquette, etc that is necessary to get them comfortable on the course in a match format.
- Addition of PGA Family Cup and PGA Tour Trip. More details to follow on these two items but essentially these are chances for you to enjoy the game of golf WITH YOUR KIDS. I’m most excited about the PGA Tour Trip to Memphis in August, as I developed and ran this program for 6 years in Birmingham. We will travel (kids and a parent(s) to Memphis for a PGA Tour event completing some simple and fun education while just having a great time at a PGA Tour tournament! More to follow on both of these.
- Two Summer Interns. I’m excited to welcome back Erica Feuerhelm and announce the addition of Chris Hastings to our summer programming. Erica, as many of you know, interned in the first two summers here and was a key component to the improvements and growth of our adult and junior programs. Chris has been a part of The First Tee for nearly ten years, has run summer junior programs in Nashville and Memphis, and will be graduating with a degree in Psychology this spring. These two college students are incredible students, people, players, and have become good teachers in their own rights, both with a passion for helping kids and growing the game!
- Nike Summer Golf Camps are back! These week-long full-day camps will immerse your kids in the game of golf with kids of like ages. Erica and Chris will serve as specialists in certain areas as we provide a fun week of golf and learning for your child(ren). Just drop them off in the morning and come back at the end of the day! Hopefully we will have instilled a love of the game and thoroughly exhausted them for you all (wink wink)! To reserve your spot in these camps please visit the link below (these require you to pay up front in order to hold your spot)
NIKE SUMMER GOLF CAMP SIGNUP: https://www.ussportscamps.com/golf/nike/nike-junior-golf-camps-franklin-bridge-golf-club-tn
AS YOU CAN SEE…WE HAVE A LOT PLANNED and have made some big improvements! Take a look at the attached flyer to see a condensed outline, schedules, and associated costs for these programs! We look forward to serving your children and families through this wonderful game that we all love! Don’t miss out…reserve your spot today!
