Category: Youth

I am not sure if you all knew this or not, but I also help out with the First Tee of Greater Charleston. It is a great program to support the growing of the game of golf in our youth! If you have any questions about the program please let me know and I would love to discuss it further with you. But they reached out to me to see if I would post some videos to help support kids still being a part of the game at home!

So, I grabbed some of our neighbors kids (still social distancing) and we came up with Chalk Golf.  No special equipment needed; just chalk, a rock, paper, and a pen! We did 9 holes around our sidewalk. Every hole had different shapes, sizes, and all sorts of obstacles. Seriously, you can be as creative as you want. Plus, the fun part is you can play like the rules of golf or make up your own. Just need a place to start and a place to finish! Check out the video for the full course my neighborhood did!! They are out there practicing even more to have a tournament tomorrow!!!

One of my favorite activities here at Kiawah Island Golf Resort is called The Family Tee Program.

Family Tee Program:

– Tees markers are setup on the golf course half way down the hole (no more than 180 yards)

– All members of the family must play from these tee markers. Kids are FREE and adults pay half the normal rate

– Starts everyday at 4:30-6pm. Tee Times are 10 minutes apart.

– Offered the week before Easter and week after Easter, Memorial Day-Labor Day, week of Thanksgiving and Christmas

This program is all about FAMILY!!! The holes are 180 yards….parents this is a great time to grab three clubs: putter, SW, PW. It is time to work on your short game!!! Kids, it is time to out drive your parents and hit the ball far with all your clubs. Yes, this time is not about us, it is time to be about the kids. Parents should be out there to support your kids and show them how much fun the game is! Play a scramble together, play partners, play match play, the options are endless! The best part is everybody around you on the golf course is there also because of their family!

Now, I understand that your golf course might not have this program and you can’t just hop on a plane to come to Kiawah but……you can do this on your own. Take your scorecard cut the holes in half and play from that yardage on each hole. Maybe make a suggestion to your golf pro about possibly adding this program to your course. Let the kids play well! This is just another way to make it fun for you and your kids. As they improve back the tees up a little bit. Before you know it, you and your family will be playing from your tee box and beating you!!!

Christmas is right around the corner, so I thought we could discuss how to purchase a child a set of golf clubs. This process is realitively simple but very important. You want your child to have the right size clubs so they have a better chance of hitting the ball correctly.  It is important to check your child’s clubs every year, especially since the kids tend to grow every month it seems.

If you look at the chart above, you will notice it is based on height and not age. This is extremely important because a child at the age of 8 might not be the same height as another child at the age of 8.  U.S. Kids does a very good job at sizing every child properly. They have simplified the process by applying a color code to a range in height. For example if your child is 45 inches tall he would be in the blue clubs. If your child is 49 inches he/she would be in the orange clubs. Now, if they are in the color orange, this doesn’t mean you think your child is still growing and should buy purple the next color up. You want the child to be in the correct set, and this means you should buy the orange set. But if you are on the border, look at your child and his/her abilities.

Another great option for a child just beginning or thinking of beginning is going out to buy individual clubs. My suggestion is purchase at least a putter and 8 iron. These two clubs can get them started. If you choose to buy a third a hybrid is a great choice. The hybrid can be used to hit off the tee box and also to hit off the fairway and is generally an easier club to hit longer shots with. These three clubs any kid can take to the course.