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GOLF RESOURCE GUIDE:
Founders' Note
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 Good thing there’s another generation to pick up the slack. But they need our help, especially if they have aspirations of becoming great in certain fields, including golf. They need the guidance of parents, mentors and coaches, in addition to the opportunity to play through junior organizations and course operators that hold junior clinics and set aside time for young players to get on the course. Luckily, we live in the Southland, where opportunities abound, particularly in the summer months. Our junior golf stories this month focus on the people, sites and ideas that help grow the game, in addition to Eric Tracy’s column that shows a father’s pride after teeing it up with his young son for the first time. The articles and columns support our contention that Southern California’s junior golf programs, organizations and players rank among the best in the world. But junior golf also is about parents and families — something we learned in our cover story, in which we asked parents of 18 of the best and brightest junior golfers to comment on the keys to their children’s golf-related success and the advice they have for other parents of junior golfers. Some through-lines emerged: the juniors love to play; they are dedicated to improving their games; and they enjoy the competition. But the one commonality that hit home was familial support. Most of our top juniors learned the game by playing with their mother or father. They also had parents who took an interest in their children’s hobbies, recognizing that they liked golf enough to begin playing seriously. And, of course, every junior’s family must be willing to make sacrifices to accommodate their child’s dedication, whether it’s the cost of buying equipment or lessons or simply taking the time to transport them to the range or golf course. So although the main article is asking parents about the keys to their children’s success, it could also have been asking parents the keys to their own success. Richard Whiston, the father of two rising stars in junior golf, articulated it best by describing his family unit as a team. A junior golfer who knows their parents and siblings are behind them “feel empowered to put effort into golf, or any other activity they are interested in. They are not afraid to try, they are not afraid to lose, and they are not afraid to strive to be the best they can be because they have a backup — their parents. “I see the best and happiest junior golfers as kids not with coaches and dictating parents, but with family that is supporting and nurturing. This, in my humble opinion, is the core of junior golf.” But that support and nurturing doesn’t just happen. It’s a product of the most important element in any parent-child dynamic. As Whiston says: “Remember, it’s all about love. Love for the game, and love of the family.” We couldn’t have said it better. |
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