Spectators and fans were not limited to watching the world’s best players deliver exciting match-play golf this week at the Sybase Match Play Championship. Junior players had the opportunity to learn from professional instructors tunning up their game on Saturday. Hosted by MGA Metlife, the clinic saw about 75 youth players come out ranging in ages from 6 to 16. Several youth golf groups including 1st Tee and LPGA Girls Golf, brought members out for the day.
LPGA professionals, Christina Kim, Beatriz Recari, and Azahara Munoz, stopped by before the start to lend some encouraging words to the young players. Director of Instruction at The Golf Zone in Flanders, NJ, Gary Danback, applauded the young players for their attentiveness. “They listened, they did what we asked and they had a good time and picked up some pointers.”
The clinic was broken up into three stations: the driving range, the chipping area, and the putting green. Nine small groups received tips from instruction professionals throughout the two-hour clinic. Mark Harrel of Clinton Twp., NJ, took in some tips, particularly on the practice green. “I have to keep my weight forward more when I’m chipping so that I can get more accurate.” Harrel was one of two raffle winners at the clinic that landed him two Yankees tickets in which his father said ‘are pretty good seats too.’
Clinic attendee, Bradley Robinson of Jersey City, says his dad got him involved in golf at the age of six. Robinson, now fourteen, recently made his local travel team. He realizes the dedication required to excel at the sport and said that clinics like these help him. A true student of the game, he said, “Well I watch Golf Fix, I just follow that every night and that helps me a lot.”
With plenty of beginners on hand, Danback stresses the most important part of the game to new players. “Having fun, you want them to have fun. And then we’ll sneak in some things we’ll say ‘each time you start out to swing you get into the letter Y. And then we’ll say ‘feet together!’ or ‘small step left or small step right, bend from your waist!’ ”
Three-year amateur Dominique Wilcher of Irvington, NJ was notified about the clinic at the last minute, but couldn’t wait to attend. “I’m with Essex County First Tee and our coordinator, coach Chaz Moses, he told me about it today. And I said sure I’ll come!” Wilcher spoke about how clinics like this one is beneficial to young players.
“I think it helps kids to know more tools of how to play the game of golf, the different areas. There’s long game, there’s short game, there’s putting. And it also helps them to see other people playing golf and loving it, and then they’re just like, ‘oh cool!’ It gives them better insight.”
The setup not only allows the amateur golfers to have the opportunity to learn, but to actually play where the best players in the world swing their clubs. When asked how great it was to tee off where the pros practiced, Wilcher responded, “I know! That’s pretty cool, right?”
Written by Meghan Flanagan