Minnesota Golfer - Spring 2021 - 4

INSIDE
THE MG A
What is MGA
Membership?
* BY TOM RYAN *
Rejuvenating
Minnesota's Caddie
Program
L
ike many of my generation,
my lifelong
love of golf began at
age 11 caddying at Town
& Country Club, and later
working in the golf shop
through college at the
University of Minnesota,
where I had been awarded
the Chick Evans Scholarship.
Caddying was my ideal fi rst
job, and the Evans Scholar
experience absolutely had a
profound impact on my life.
It's been disheartening to
see how many caddie programs
have gone the way
of the persimmon driver. I
do get it. On the one hand,
golf carts are a major revenue
source for many clubs
and have taken many of the
rounds previously played
with a caddie, and on the
other, there are many more
job opportunities for young
teens now than there were
" back in the day. "
But the biggest loss associated
with the downturn
in caddying is the impact
on the industry. An important
pipeline of new golfers
being introduced to and
embracing the game diminished.
Oddly,
the COVID pandemic
is actually turning
both of these situations
around.
When the pandemic hit,
all Twin Cities clubs put a
pause on their caddie programs.
To address this and
other issues, a committee of
Minnesota based Western
Golf Association directors
who oversee the Evans program
have been meeting
regularly for the past year.
Their goal-to rejuvenate
Minnesota's caddie programs.
With the support of
the MGA, they are working
with clubs to identify ways
to
recruit more
caddies;
to work with local schools
to attract minority kids to
caddying;
to identify and
develop best practices in
training and retention; to
appeal to club members to
use more caddies, and to
identify those kids with the
qualifi cations to earn an
Evans Scholarship.
The result has been
a resurgence in interest
among Twin Cities and
greater Minnesota clubs in
their caddie programs going
into this year,
including
some clubs that had not had
viable programs in some
time.
Meanwhile, the " pipeline "
issue is being addressed
though the explosion of
Minnesota's Youth on
Course program,
where
4
MINNESOTAGOLFER Spring 2021
junior golfers pay $5 or less
to play at any of 90 participating
courses throughout
the state. This national program,
based in northern
California, saw a 53% membership
increase in 2020
from the previous year, and
tripled in size in Minnesota.
With golf being one of
just a handful of recreational
activities open last
year,
12,000 Minnesota
juniors joined the Youth on
Course program,
playing
60,000 rounds, and arguably
enjoying every minute of it.
With the program now in
its 4th year, I think we can
safely say it has the potential
to be the modern pipeline
needed to grow and sustain
the game going forward.
When I caddied, I literally
loved the game before I truly
learned how to play. Youth
on Course is giving kids the
opportunity to play golf and
to learn and love the game
in an unstructured environment,
similar to sandlot
baseball or pond hockey.
Not all will stick with it for
sure, but I'm certain enough
will to pave the way for them
to be the next generation of
avid golfers as adults. They
are the future.
See you on the course.
It's your invitation
to play some of the
fi nest golf courses
around, through
participation in MGA
Associate Members' Days or
the MGA Senior Tour. * It's
your USGA Handicap Index,
now updated daily, after
a posted score. * It's your
subscription to Minnesota
Golfer magazine, delivered to
your home. * It's your support
of programs and services
that make the game better.
YOUTH ON COURSE
Organizers call YOC " beautifully
simplistic, " for its mission to help
young golfers gain access to the
game for $5 or less. The program
began in Northern California in
2006 and is now in all 50 states,
including Minnesota. Nationally,
YOC serves more than 100,000
golfers ages 6 to 18 at more than
1,400 golf courses across the U.S.
and Canada.
NOTEWORTHY NUMBERS
33% are kids of color
25% are female
42% YOC rounds are played with
an adult
65% say YOC helped their family
spend more time together
90% say they feel welcome at YOC
facilities
$100,000: the MGA fund-raising
goal for MNYOC in 2021 to keep
the program sustainable, through
the 100 Hole Hike, the Play Golf
Minnesota license plate, donations
and partnerships with organizations
such as SKOR North, 2nd
Swing and Twigs Golf. See mngolf.
org/YouthOnCourse.
mngolf.org
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Spring 2021

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