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"Eighteen holes of match play will teach you more about your foe than nineteen years of dealing with him across the desk. " |
-Grantland Rice |
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Junior golf doesn’t always get the ink of the professional tours. But we’ll be the first to admit that nothing is as important for this game to remain relevant in the years to come. And if there is a future in golf, it will be lived by the boys and girls who tee it up in our regional junior golf programs. Whether they go on to great professional success, as so many of Southern California’s junior golf products have done, become teaching professionals, or just stay connected to the game by playing with their buddies on an occasional weekend, they are the seeds that must be nurtured if the game of golf is to continue to take root on Southern California soil. Without the SCPGA junior golf program, neither of us would have become so involved in the game. That program is where we learned how to swing a club, play the game and compete against other juniors. It taught us the game and it taught us a respect for the game, for other players, and for ourselves. The importance of junior golf cannot be underestimated. That’s why we’ve devoted a good deal of space in this month’s issue to promoting junior golf. In the pages that follow, you’ll meet an amazing young golfer named Jaden Cantafio, a 5-year-old prodigy from Long Beach who is beating players twice his age. From the girls side, there’s Azusa’s Lizette Salas, bound for USC on a golf scholarship after dominating the competition this year as one of Southern California’s top-ranked girl golfers. We also look inside Southern California’s outstanding junior golf programs, as well as what parents and kids should look for when deciding to take up the game. We also have a couple of instruction articles geared toward juniors, and a piece on apparel for kids in the lifestyle section. Finally, there’s a Q & A with MacKinzie Kline, a 15-year-old Encinitas resident, who is one of the country’s top-rated junior golfers. At the end of this month, she’ll play in the Ginn Tribute, an LPGA event hosted by Annika Sorenstam, who invited the talented teen to play. Kline has game, but, more importantly, she has heart. And that’s not as generic a sentence as you might think. Twice before she was 2, Kline, who was born with only one ventricle in her heart, underwent open-heart surgery. Two years ago, a hole in her heart had to be repaired. But she hasn’t let physical maladies get her down. She continues to excel both on and off the course. And she’s making history all the while At the LPGA event, she’ll become the first player in the Tour’s history to ride a cart during her rounds, since she needs oxygen when walking long distances. The fact that the LPGA issued that landmark ruling is one of the few times a major sports organization has seemed to have done the exact right thing lately. Kline qualified, but could not play, in the Women’s U.S. Amateur because the use of carts is prohibited. Along with her inspiring story on the course, Kline has become a national spokesperson for the Children’s Heart Foundation, raising more than $750,000 for the group. She’s a great golfer and a great person. And any time MacKinzie Kline tees it up in a golf tournament, we’re rooting for her with all our hearts. SG |
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