Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2015 - 8

(editor's letter
)
Thoughts on Junior Golf and
Youth Hockey in Minnesota
M
There are
few places
on this
planet that
enjoy the
public
access to
public golf
that we do.
innesota boasts more than
500 golf courses, and the overwhelming
majority are open
to the public. In fact, there are few places on
this planet that enjoy the kind of public access
to quality golf that we do. And few golfers
can lay claim to playing as many of them
as Art Hennington. Last autumn, Hennington,
a retired school teacher who plays out
of Elk River Golf Club, celebrated playing all
526 golf courses in Minnesota with a glass
of bubbly on Sept. 25 after sinking his last
putt at the final hole of Minnesota's oldest
golf club, St. Paul's Town & Country Club.
Cheers to you, Art!
The " Five Families " of golf-Augusta National,
the USGA, the PGA of America, the
PGA Tour and the LPGA-got together last
spring to discuss the game's future. Growing
minority participation was one of the topics
that came up. The National Golf Foundation
puts the number of golfers in the
U.S. at 24.7 million; of those, 5.4 million, or
21.8 percent, were identified as non-Caucasian
(which the NGF defines as AfricanAmerican,
Asian-American and Hispanic).
Wikipedia pegs the U.S. population at 320
million, with roughly 37 percent categorized
as non-Caucasian. Obviously, golf participation
in America could stand a little more
diversity. The other important topic discussed
was bringing the game to more
young people.
If you're a kid in Rochester, the seasonal
junior golf fee for Eastwood, Hadley Creek,
Northern Hills and Soldier Memorial golf
courses is $125, $150 without the required
etiquette training, and $815 if the whole
family (including grandkids) wants to play.
Compare those costs to the costs related
to another sport popular in our state. At a
recent Wild hockey game, my daughter and
I purchased one fountain drink and two soft
pretzels. It set me back $18. If the tickets
and parking hadn't been gratis, the activity
would have been beyond the reach of my
budget. According to recent reports, the typical
hockey parent spends between $4,000
and $8,600 annually on traveling play. Edina
recently opened a new ice rink and dome to
the tune of $5.9 million (or $12.4 million,
if you include other improvements) to meet
the growing demand for youth ice time and
alleviate the " inordinate amount of time "
youth teams spend traveling around the
metro in search of ice.
To be fair, Edina is also investing in improvements
to its flagship golf facility, Braemar,
including renovations of its practice
range and short course. But 2014 saw the
closing of Fred Richards, a short course in
the Pentagon Park business district of Edina.
For the 2015 season, at least, parents of
youth golfers will have to drive beyond the
borders of Edina if they want their kids to
play golf.
See you on the tee.
W.P. Ryan, Editor-in-Chief
6
MINNESOTAGOLFER Directory 2015
www.mngolf.org
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2015

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