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High School Golf Thread

Jman said:
Slow play won't stand. Tournaments will always dictate the overall pace, but my kids will NOT be the slow ones.
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It used to kill me to watch Matt's tournaments. Most of the kids don't know the simplest things to keep moving. I think they really never were taught how to walk an play efficiently.
 
Jman said:
Slow play won't stand. Tournaments will always dictate the overall pace, but my kids will NOT be the slow ones.
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From monitors everywhere - THANK YOU
 
Jman said:
Slow play won't stand. Tournaments will always dictate the overall pace, but my kids will NOT be the slow ones.
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OMG Yes! Most of my time working with the JV players was working on improving pace of play. They had absolutely no concept of "ready golf". Granted we had 16 JV players and half of them should've been cut, but they just couldn't grasp the concept of - when it's your turn you should hit immediately. Also worked on some of the kids cutting down on their practice swings. I told my worst kid "everyone else is playing nine and you're playing 27." And digging 3 trenches instead of 1 wasn't helping
 
Sounds like a great first gathering of your golfers James. I love what you're saying about your thoughts about teaching these kids. Pace of play is going to be big for them later if they move on in the game. Rules are a big thing for these kids and someone suggest classroom work on rules. Sounds like this would work for you next fall.
I will be follow along and I hope it's an enjoyable experience for you. Sounds like it's going to be fun.
 
Jman said:
I'll be taking over the Boys HS Golf program at the school where I teach, finally, this year. There have been a lot of bumps on the road to getting this job finally, but we made it.

Boys and Girls programs are pretty much in shambles from what they should be, both have multiple championships and a plethora of all-staters as well. Part of it was the local Country Club collapsing from a beautiful little Perry Maxwell designed course which hosted some impressive events over the decades to the point of literally having to chip over dead spots in the greens. Luckily, a local family purchased it, and have sunk a LOT into bringing it back, its once again going to be a beautiful and challenging little track. Add to that, the coach prior to me was a basketball coach collecting a check for golf, one who literally went to the clubhouse at practice and tournaments and asked to be left alone, besides not doing ANY fund-raisers in a non school funded program for the last 3 years of course.

So, taking over was more daunting than I ever thought it would be. Luckily, we have had a couple stellar fundraisers with one more to go, have engaged parents, and a course that is bending over backwards for us and our kids. Add into that the girls coach is just as passionate about fixing the program as I am (she was a 2x state champion here so that helps) and things are starting to come together.

Girls have only 5 in a 4A school, but the team qualified for state last year and are predominantly Juniors. As for the boys, I had 13 in my meeting today and there is one more who I am trying to get to come back out (qualified as a freshman, stopped playing as a sophomore and won 3-4 medals in state track, hahaha), mostly underclassmen, no seniors. There's a low 70's stick in there, probably a couple that can break 80 consistently by the end of the year, and then some mid 80's kids.

Practice starts this week for us, if its 45* or above, we are getting out there. Its exciting really, granted there are a LOT more housekeeping things than realized, but it will be worth it I think. I'm being challenged again and have a chance to make a difference again, which is exciting in its own right. Plus, lets face it, the kids are getting someone who knows a thing or two about the game, and that in itself is already better than what they have had the last 3 years.
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Just found my way to this thread. Congrats on the gig, you will enjoy it.

The high school where my kids go has won team state championships in 1973, 1988, 2004, 2008, 2010 & 2011 and individual state titles in 2005 & 2012. They were runner-up in team competition another half a dozen times and have had numerous runners-up for the individual title. The whole golfing community in this area supports the team and it shows with the results. My club allows them to have "junior memberships" for, I believe, $150 a year but they must walk. Adult members of my club will play them as often as possible for non-monetary wagers such as, if they lose, they must wash our vehicles. From March until November, there will be no fewer than two dozen kids between 12-18 playing on any given day. It is great to see. We have one man to thank for all of this. His name is John Patterson. He took over coaching an already somewhat successful program in the mid 1990's. Approached the club about supporting the program, which it did. Then got the membership base, which is mostly parents anyway, to buy into his vision. It has developed into something this community is immensely proud of.

If you can get a club behind the school program and the community within that club to support it, the success will take care of itself. Good luck and have fun.
 
We have our first day of practice today. Really looking forward to getting out and playing with these kids. From what I hear, two are studs, but the rest of the team isn't very talented. Here's to a lot of fun and hopefully improvement along the way.
 
Miller Time said:
We have our first day of practice today. Really looking forward to getting out and playing with these kids. From what I hear, two are studs, but the rest of the team isn't very talented. Here's to a lot of fun and hopefully improvement along the way.
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Good luck!

Man, it seems weird listening to HS players golfing in the spring. It's strictly a fall sport up here in OH
 
Had a pretty cool experience yesterday. The runner up in the state in girls golf came in looking for a new driver. Really nice girl and had a really, really solid swing. She was a junior last season and lost by 1 stroke, so she's going to dominate this year. Multiple D1 offers and in talking to her dad while she tested a bit, she is going to power 5.

There is a sad part to the encounter. She attends my Alma mater so I have heard a lot about her already. The golf coach there is in it for the paycheck for both the boys and girls programs. It's so bad, they cannot field another girl from the entire 400+ females population in the school to play for the team. The boys used to have a JV team and all, but now, they can barely fill out a full varsity lineup. It's so incredibly sad to see this, it makes me want to get involved to see some improvements, but I'm not sure I want to touch that program with a 10 foot pole because of the financial issues I'd assuredly face. Ugh, tough time right now.
 
First day of practice yesterday. We had 7 high schoolers and 8 middle schoolers. Middle school only has two matches (both at Reynolds Plantation, I think I need to go scout), but it's a good introduction for those kids and hopefully we can get them started early on learning the basics of being out on the course. The head coach wanted me to stick with the high schoolers. Worked on short game for awhile and then headed over to the range. After a few minutes of guys just wailing away, I tried to stop at each person and say one thing I liked they were doing. Then we all got together and I asked for volunteers to come up and hit a shot in front of everyone. There were some nerves, but they all enjoyed it. When someone hit a good one everyone cheered and that was fun.

I then split them into groups of three (a couple of the experienced middle schoolers were with us) and each person would hit three balls and then switch out. That helped us use less space on the range and it seemed to help them not wear out so quickly. It also helped me look at their swings and some of the guys were really receptive to my feedback and when they made one small adjustment and turned that topped shot or that big slice into a nice, high and straight ball they would just turn around and grin. Man, that got me pumped up. This is going to be a lot of fun.
 
Miller Time said:
First day of practice yesterday. We had 7 high schoolers and 8 middle schoolers. Middle school only has two matches (both at Reynolds Plantation, I think I need to go scout), but it's a good introduction for those kids and hopefully we can get them started early on learning the basics of being out on the course. The head coach wanted me to stick with the high schoolers. Worked on short game for awhile and then headed over to the range. After a few minutes of guys just wailing away, I tried to stop at each person and say one thing I liked they were doing. Then we all got together and I asked for volunteers to come up and hit a shot in front of everyone. There were some nerves, but they all enjoyed it. When someone hit a good one everyone cheered and that was fun.

I then split them into groups of three (a couple of the experienced middle schoolers were with us) and each person would hit three balls and then switch out. That helped us use less space on the range and it seemed to help them not wear out so quickly. It also helped me look at their swings and some of the guys were really receptive to my feedback and when they made one small adjustment and turned that topped shot or that big slice into a nice, high and straight ball they would just turn around and grin. Man, that got me pumped up. This is going to be a lot of fun.
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Thats awesome! I feel like that moment of those kids turning around with that huge smile would make all the difficulties 100% worth it
 
Great thread! I played 4 years of HS golf (1968-71), and had 4 different "coaches", only one of which actually played golf at all. Too bad, because we always had good talent on the top end of the team, and enough from #3 on down to win a lot if it had been developed well. We generally won more than we lost, but were never the power I think we could have been, especially my first two years when we had #3,#4, and #5 guys that could break 80.

My freshman year I played #2 all year, then when we went to regionals, my "coach" didn't start me - he thought our #6 guy should play because he was a senior (it was play 5, top 4 scores). So, after the team teed off, I got to play the back 9 with a couple of other teams' coaches, and made 9 straight pars. #6 shot in the 90's.
 
Miller Time said:
First day of practice yesterday. We had 7 high schoolers and 8 middle schoolers. Middle school only has two matches (both at Reynolds Plantation, I think I need to go scout), but it's a good introduction for those kids and hopefully we can get them started early on learning the basics of being out on the course. The head coach wanted me to stick with the high schoolers. Worked on short game for awhile and then headed over to the range. After a few minutes of guys just wailing away, I tried to stop at each person and say one thing I liked they were doing. Then we all got together and I asked for volunteers to come up and hit a shot in front of everyone. There were some nerves, but they all enjoyed it. When someone hit a good one everyone cheered and that was fun.

I then split them into groups of three (a couple of the experienced middle schoolers were with us) and each person would hit three balls and then switch out. That helped us use less space on the range and it seemed to help them not wear out so quickly. It also helped me look at their swings and some of the guys were really receptive to my feedback and when they made one small adjustment and turned that topped shot or that big slice into a nice, high and straight ball they would just turn around and grin. Man, that got me pumped up. This is going to be a lot of fun.
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Great work MT! I like your idea of making kids hit shots with everyone watching - puts a little pressure and others can start to learn how to critique someone else's game.
I also liked the "3 shots & switch" idea - anything to stop the mindless pounding of balls is a good thing!

I might just steal some of these ideas next year!
 
Grins said:
Great work MT! I like your idea of making kids hit shots with everyone watching - puts a little pressure and others can start to learn how to critique someone else's game.
I also liked the "3 shots & switch" idea - anything to stop the mindless pounding of balls is a good thing!

I might just steal some of these ideas next year!
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It reminded me of that first tee at a THP event feeling! They were nervous and struggled, but I told them to remember that feeling on the course. Hopefully by the end of the year, we'll have almost everyone able to hit a good iron shot in front of the team.

I got the 3 shots and switch idea from my time at topgolf. Figured it was worth a shot and it worked better than I thought.
 
How many of your kids are taking private lessons from someone else? At my school almost all the golfers do, so it puts me in a bit of a tough situation, because I'm going to defer to the golf pro. (Although I notice most of the kids are working on full swings, so I've been focusing on short game - specially around the green - and putting)

Almost all of the JV players really struggle around the green. Trying to get them to chip with their feet close together, the assistant coach (OH women's am winner, & a 2 HC currently I think) & I could not get them to change their setup for the longest time. It took days & weeks even
 
Grins said:
How many of your kids are taking private lessons from someone else? At my school almost all the golfers do, so it puts me in a bit of a tough situation, because I'm going to defer to the golf pro. (Although I notice most of the kids are working on full swings, so I've been focusing on short game - specially around the green - and putting)

Almost all of the JV players really struggle around the green. Trying to get them to chip with their feet close together, the assistant coach (OH women's am winner, & a 2 HC currently I think) & I could not get them to change their setup for the longest time. It took days & weeks even
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Our two top golfers are finishing with basketball and they might, but I know the rest of the kids are not. Yeah, I agree. We will be spending lots of time around the green. I'm trying to find team drills or something that won't be mindless chipping and putting.
 
Had a great day of practice yesterday. We have 7 guys that are going to stick around it looks like and we got them out on the course yesterday in a 3 hole loop to kind of see what they could do. We have about 3 kids that with some work can for shoot 45 and under and that would win the region, according to guys on the team last year. I tried not to say too much during their swings, but around the greens, I really talked to them about short game setup and chipping and they were really receptive. After talking basics, a couple of them were chipping it closer than me, which we all had a good laugh about. We're having fun, not taking ourselves too serious, but I think we're getting a little better each day.
 
Miller Time said:
Had a great day of practice yesterday. We have 7 guys that are going to stick around it looks like and we got them out on the course yesterday in a 3 hole loop to kind of see what they could do. We have about 3 kids that with some work can for shoot 45 and under and that would win the region, according to guys on the team last year. I tried not to say too much during their swings, but around the greens, I really talked to them about short game setup and chipping and they were really receptive. After talking basics, a couple of them were chipping it closer than me, which we all had a good laugh about. We're having fun, not taking ourselves too serious, but I think we're getting a little better each day.
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Great start MT! If you can build that camaraderie up & the kids have fun while at the same time improve while working hard? Man...that's gold right there!
 
Question for those more experienced with junior golf and school events, are there usually a good number of kids out there with push carts or are they not allowed? My kids were giving me a hard time about mine calling me an old man, but now that they see it's so much easier than carrying, they want one.
 
Miller Time said:
Question for those more experienced with junior golf and school events, are there usually a good number of kids out there with push carts or are they not allowed? My kids were giving me a hard time about mine calling me an old man, but now that they see it's so much easier than carrying, they want one.
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None of our kids like using them, even though I know several of them one one. At the state tournament the past couple years most of the girls will use one, but the majority of the boys will carry.
 
Bucketsofjoy said:
None of our kids like using them, even though I know several of them one one. At the state tournament the past couple years most of the girls will use one, but the majority of the boys will carry.
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I think I saw 1 boy use one last year. A lot of girls use them though
 
Frustrating day yesterday. It was super windy out and there was a wind advisory, so only 4 guys showed up. Our first match is next week and it might be ugly. Still seeing improvement from the guys that showed up and they're asking a lot of questions, so it's good to know some of them care.
 
Miller Time said:
Question for those more experienced with junior golf and school events, are there usually a good number of kids out there with push carts or are they not allowed? My kids were giving me a hard time about mine calling me an old man, but now that they see it's so much easier than carrying, they want one.
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I was just thinking about this. I could've sworn that I saw a college event on the Golf Channel where some of the men's teams were using push carts. If you can show the kids that college players use them, I bet that would change their minds pretty quick. I'll ask around to see if this is true or not.
 
Grins said:
I was just thinking about this. I could've sworn that I saw a college event on the Golf Channel where some of the men's teams were using push carts. If you can show the kids that college players use them, I bet that would change their minds pretty quick. I'll ask around to see if this is true or not.
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You did, more and more teams are using push carts. Pretty stupid not to between better for the back and why willingly use more energy than needed. Might not seem like a lot but silly to carry.
 
ntanygd760 said:
You did, more and more teams are using push carts. Pretty stupid not to between better for the back and why willingly use more energy than needed. Might not seem like a lot but silly to carry.
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I was going to mention this. Have them play two practice rounds. One using a pull/push cart and one carrying and see if they notice a difference in how they feel at the end of the rounds. I bet they are slightly less tired after using the cart. I used one when I was young. Heck, I even asked for it as a Christmas present so I could have one.
 
It isn't a huge difference but enough of one and their backs will thank them 20 years down the line, really just silly to put undue stress on the body for no reason.
 
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